ENSO‐induced decadal variability in the tropical Pacific subsurface in CMIP6 models

Abstract

The tropical Pacific decadal variability (TPDV) is an important component of the global interdecadal variability. Previous studies have shown that the TPDV in the sea surface temperature (SST) has two clear patterns, the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO)‐like and ENSO‐induced patterns, but the pattern of TPDV in the ocean subsurface is still a matter of debate in observations and models. The present study analyses the subsurface TPDV in the simulations of 26 CMIP6 models. The ENSO‐like and ENSO‐induced TPDVs in the subsurface are defined by the regression of the interdecadal anomalies of the oceanic subsurface temperature (Tsub) onto the PCs of two leading EOF modes of the interdecadal SST anomalies in the tropical Pacific. The pattern of the ENSO‐like TPDV in the subsurface shows high model consistency, whereas the ENSO‐induced TPDV in the subsurface has two distinct modes among the models, one with a centre in the central Pacific and the other showing a zonal dipole in the equatorial Pacific. The zonal pattern of the ENSO‐induced TPDV in the subsurface is mainly induced by the SST skewness in the equatorial eastern Pacific, which is further related to the surface heat flux feedback during La Niña.