A Comparison of Ocean Model Results with Satellite Observations during the Development of the strong 1997–98 El Niño

Abstract. Satellite data from the equatorial Pacific is compared with results from a high resolution ocean model during a period including the strong El Niño of 1997–98. The results show that the ocean model realistically captures the changes in sea surface temperature and the propagation of the annual Rossby wave although it may overestimate the reduced energy of tropical instability waves during development of an El Niño. The results provide additional confidence in the oceanic mechanisms which model analysis implicated as being responsible for the development of both the 1982–83 and the 1997–98 El Niños.