Controlling Spatiotemporal Chaos in a Realistic El Niño Prediction Model

A method for controlling low-order chaotic behavior of continuous spatiotemporal systems is developed and demonstrated in a complex, realistic 3D partial differential equation model that is used successfully for predicting El Nino events in the equatorial Pacific. An unstable periodic orbit that involves a full-domain oscillation is stabilized using a feedback control applied to a single degree of freedom at a carefully chosen single “choke point” in space. A general criterion is presented for determining the optimal points in reconstructed delay-coordinate phase space at which to apply the feedback control. [S0031-9007(97)03780-0]

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