Anomalous Upper-Ocean Circulation of the Western Equatorial Pacific following El Nino Events

Mooring measurements at similar to 140 degrees E in the western equatorial Pacific Ocean documented greatly intensified eastward subsurface currents, which largely represent the nascent Equatorial Undercurrent, to similar to 67 cm s(-1) in boreal summer of 2016. The eastward currents occupied the entire upper 500m while the westward surface currents nearly disappeared. Historical in situ data observed similar variations after most El Nino events. Further analysis combining satellite and reanalysis data reveals that the eastward currents observed at similar to 140 degrees E are a component of an anomalous counter-clockwise circulation straddling the equator, with westward current anomalies retroflecting near the western boundary and feeding southeastward current anomalies along the New Guinea coast. A 1.5-layer reduced-gravity ocean model is able to crudely reproduce these variations, and a hierarchy of sensitivity experiments is performed to understand the underlying dynamics. The anomalous circulation is largely the delayed ocean response to equatorial wind anomalies over the centralto-eastern Pacific basin emerging in the mature stage of El Nino. Downwelling Rossby waves are generated by the reflection of equatorial Kelvin waves and easterly winds in the eastern Pacific. Upon reaching the western Pacific, the southern lobes of Rossby waves encounter the slanted New Guinea island and deflect to the equator, establishing a local sea surface height maximum and leading to the detour of westward currents flowing from the Pacific interior. Additional experiments with edited western boundary geometry confirm the importance of topography in regulating the structure of this cross-equatorial anomalous circulation.