THE TROPICAL VERY LOW-FREQUENCY OSCILLATION ON INTERANNUAL SCALE

This is a review on the studies of tropical very low-frequency oscillation (VLFO) on interannual scale, mainly on the recent researches undertaken by Chinese scientists which are not well known outside of the country.This paper summarizes the basic features of VLFO in the tropics, the characteristic time and spacial structure of oscillation, especially the new concept of Low Latitude Oscillation consisted of two components: the well-known Southern Oscillation (SO) and the so-called Northern Oscillation (NO). A large number of evidences have been provided to illustrate the relationship between VLFO in tropics and the climate variation in China, such as the long-term variation of north Pacific high, the frequency of typhoon and the cyclone over the East China Sea, the summer monsoon rainfall in Yangtze valley basin and the cold summer disaster in Northeast China, and so on. Finally throw some lights on the nature of VLFO on imerannual scale.