Abstract
The Equatorial Pacific Ocean Climate Studies (EPOCS) Project of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Environmental Research Laboratories was initiated in 1979 to investigate the role of the tropical Pacific Ocean in influencing large‐scale interannual climate fluctuations. The principal hypothesis of EPOCS is that inter‐annual variability of sea surface temperature (SST) in the equatorial Pacific Ocean is intimately related to atmospheric fluctuations associated with the Southern Oscillation. This hypothesis is supported by numerous empirical and theoretical studies. The coupled ocean‐atmosphere signal has become known as the ENSO (El Niño‐Southern Oscillation) phenomenon, and it is recognized as one of the principal modes of global interannual climate change.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 442-444 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union |
Volume | 67 |
Issue number | 18 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 6 1986 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- General Earth and Planetary Sciences