Composite Response of the California Current System to ENSO in the ROMS-NEMURO

California Current System (CCS) is characterized as one of the main Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems in the world. The California Current Ecosystem supports important commercial fisheries of sardine and anchovy, as well as recreational fishing. This important region is under the influence of climate phenomena such as El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) that affect the physical drivers of the California Current Ecosystem. In this study we use the Regional Oceanographic Model System (ROMS) coupled to the North Pacific Ecosystem Model for Understanding Regional Oceanography (NEMURO) to describe the physical and biological response of the California Current System to ENSO events. The results show composite El Niño and La Niña events for the simulation period from 1959 to 2007 over a 7 km resolution grid. Composite anomalies of SST and isotherms characterize the physical response to ENSO events. The biogeochemical response in the surface and subsurface is represented by composite anomalies of diatoms and nano-phytoplankton averaged from 0 to 100 m, and nutrient concentrations averaged from 25 m to 100 m. In addition we show the results of the 3-month lagged correlation of the physical and biological fields with the Oceanic Niño Index. These results will improve our understanding of how different ecosystem components respond to ENSO events, and will shed light over future steps to exploit ENSO-related predictability of the CCS.