Advances in Earth Science ›› 0, Vol. ›› Issue (): 1-. doi: 1001-8166(2015)03-0367-18

   

Review of the Introduction and Debates of the Annular Modes

Li Xiaofeng   

  1. State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029,China
  • Online:2015-03-20 Published:2015-03-20

Li Xiaofeng. Review of the Introduction and Debates of the Annular Modes[J]. Advances in Earth Science, 0, (): 1-.

Annular Mode is a newly-developed concept in atmospheric teleconnection, which is accepted and implemented widely by the climate community. Annular Mode is a “mass seesaw” between the middle and high latitudes, representing the primary atmospheric variability in extratropics, impacting the climate of near surface on both the tropics and the extratropics, including the East Asia and China. It is also called as the “The North’s ‘El Niño’”. Therefore, the Annular Mode is a very important concept in atmospheric science. However, the introduction of the Annular Mode has elicited different reactions in different parts of the community. The arguments among them are not only exiting but also splendid, which are rarely happened in previous modern climate researches. These arguments or debates make the concept of Annular Mode well-known, which is an important step in popularizing the concept of Annular Mode. Three questions become the core topics of these debates, including “whether the Annular Mode is real or not?”, “Whether the signals of Annular Mode originate in stratospheric or not?”, “Whether the NAM paradigm or NAO paradigm is a better representation of the preferred mode of planetary-scale fluctuations in extra-tropics of Northern Hemisphere?” The processes of the debates on the Annular Mode are not only a resemblance of high levels and skills of research of relevant scientists, but also a resemblance of their spirits of seeking the truth. Review and clarification of the primary ideas and points of these debates are important, which would not only augment the existing knowledge for better understanding the general circulation, but also gave us some important enlightenment in the handling of similar questions. Thus, this review summarizes the introduction to the proceses of Annular Mode, paying specially attention to the primary ideas and points about the debates on the Annular Modes.

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