The different relationship of Pacific interior subtropical cells and two types of ENSO

The Pacific interior subtropical−tropical cells (STCs) and their relation to the two types of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) are investigated by using GODAS reanalysis ocean data for the period of 1980–2017. The results show that the interior STC transport into the equatorial region across 9°S and 9°N has a close relationship with the eastern Pacific (EP) ENSO, while it is much weaker with the central Pacific (CP) ENSO. It is suggested that the effect of interior STCs on the tropical Pacific climate is reflected in its relation with the western Pacific thermocline depth or SSHA. During the EP El Niño, the anomalous interior STCs at 9°S and 9°N converge to the equatorial region from the lag months of − 25 to − 8, leading to an accumulation of heat content in the equatorial Pacific; from the lag months of − 8 to 10, they diverge poleward, inducing a discharge of equatorial heat content. The peak poleward interior STC anomaly first appears at 9°N at a zero-lag time, while that at 9°S is observed 4–5 months later. But there is also no appearance of a time lag between the interior STCs at 9°N and 9°S in recharging the period during the EP La Niña mature phase. However, during CP El Niño, only the conspicuous anomalous interior STC divergence appears during the mature and decay phases for the lag months of − 2 to 10, with being symmetric at 9°N and 9°S.