Exploratory Analysis of Surface Winds in the Equatorial Western Pacific and El Niño

Changes of the prevailing trade winds over the islands of Hawaii and the North Pacific

“…As in Chu et al [1991], 95% of the data lie between the bounded broken lines extending from each side of the box plot.…”

“…The eight cardinal directions are plotted on the horizontal x axis against speed in meters per second (m s −1 ) on the y axis, while the frequency of each direction interval is labeled below the abscissa. As in Chu et al [1991], 95% of the data lie between the bounded broken lines extending from each side of the box plot.…”

An Analysis of the Atmospheric Water Balance Over the Southern Hemisphere

“…For example, increased precipitable water over the eastern Pacific and reduced easterlies (or possibly westerlies) over the western Pacific would be consistent with the dynamics of an El Niño event (Chu, Frederick, and Nash, 1991). Figures 5 and 6 provide some limited evidence that might indicate variations due to the El Niño event.…”

“…The 1982 El Niño was the most significant event of its type in recent climatic history (Rasmusson and Wallace, 1983). Conse quently, considerable effort has been directed towards an examination of circula- tion features associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phe nomenon (e.g., Murakami and Sumathipala, 1989;Karoly, 1989;Chu et al, 1991). However, very few studies (e.g., Stephens, 1990;Prabhakara, Short, and Vollmer, 1985) have examined the impact on the moisture fields.…”