Neural-dynamical hybrid coupled model forecasts of the tropical

Pacific sea surface temperatures

contributed by Youmin Tang and William W. Hsieh

University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada

The forecast model is the neural-dynamical hybrid coupled model with the assimilation of the NCEP sea level height anomaly data (Tang and Hsieh, 2003). Fig 1 shows our latest forecasts (initialized using data till the end of August, 2003), indicating that in the equatorial Pacific, the near-normal to slightly warm conditions relax towards near-normal

conditions in 2004.

Fig.1 Predicted SSTA of the tropical Pacific. Contour interval is 0.25 degree Celsius, with positive anomalies indicated by solid contours, negative anomalies by dashed contours, and zero by thick contours. Positive anomalies above 1 degree are shaded in red, and negative anomalies below -1 degree are in green. The zero contour is in purple.

References:

Tang, Y. and W. W. Hsieh, 2003: ENSO simulation and prediction in a hybrid coupled model with data assimilation. J. Meteorol. Soc. Japan. 81:1-19.