Abstract: based on the monthly analysis data of the sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) and the surface wind stress anomaly,typical wind stress patterns associated with the El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) are determined with the techniques of linear regression and EOF analyses. The results show that the wind stress variation linearly associated with the ENSO is a lower frequency process and exhibits four typical spatial patterns,while the wind stress anomaly linearly independent of the ENSO seems to be a high frequency process with a typical pattern that has the large amplitude off the equator. Furthermore, an ocean anomaly model has been run in response to the typical wind stress anomaly patterns,and primarily reproduced the major signal of the ENSO. This indicates that the typical wind stress anomaly patterns presented from the observational analysis are fundamental to the El Nino.