On the Role of the Indian Ocean in a Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Model of El Niño and the Southern Oscillation

Abstract

The coupled ocean-atmosphere model of Anderson and McCreary is extended to include two oceans. An advantage of the two-ocean system is that it is not necessary to specify externally convection over land. For a basin geometry that most resembles the Indian and Pacific Oceans, strong permanent convection exists in the eastern Indian Ocean, and there is an oscillation in the Pacific Ocean with a period of about five years. Associated with this oscillation is a patch of convection that develops in the central and western ocean and propagates into the eastern ocean before dissipating.