Cover Journal of Climate
Journal of Climate

  • Chiang, J. C., and A. Sobel, 2002: Tropical tropospheric temperature variations caused by ENSO and their influence on the remote tropical climate. J. Climate, 15 , 2616–2631.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Chiang, J. C., Y. Kushnir, and A. Giannini, 2002: Deconstructing Atlantic ITCZ variability: Influence of the local cross-equatorial SST gradient and remote forcing from the eastern equatorial Pacific. J. Geophys. Res.,107, 4004, doi:10.1029/2000JD000307.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Czaja, A., P. van der Vaart, and J. Marshall, 2002: A diagnostic study of the role of remote forcing in tropical Atlantic variability. J. Climate, 15 , 3280–3290.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Feldstein, S. B., 2000: The timescale, power spectra, and climate noise properties of teleconnection patterns. J. Climate, 13 , 4430–4440.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Frankignoul, C., and E. Kestenare, 2002: The surface heat flux feedback. Part I: Estimates from observations in the Atlantic and North Pacific. Climate Dyn, 19 , 633–647.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kalnay, E., and Coauthors, 1996: The NCEP/NCAR 40-Year Reanalysis Project. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc, 77 , 437–471.

  • Levitus, S., and T. P. Boyer, 1994: Temperature. Vol. 4. World Ocean Atlas 1994, NOAA Atlas NESDIS 4, 117 pp.

  • Nobre, P., and J. Shukla, 1996: Variations in sea surface temperature, wind stress, and rainfall over the tropical Atlantic and South America. J. Climate, 9 , 2464–2479.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Rasmusson, E. M., and T. H. Carpenter, 1982: Variations in tropical sea surface temperature and surface wind fields associated with the Southern Oscillation/El Niño. Mon. Wea. Rev, 110 , 354–384.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Ruiz de Elvira, A., and P. Lemke, 1982: Langevin equation for stochastic climate models with periodic feedback and forcing variance. Tellus, 34 , 313–320.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Sutton, R. T., S. P. Jewson, and D. P. Rowell, 2000: The elements of climate variability in the tropical Atlantic region. J. Climate, 13 , 3261–3284.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Zebiak, S. E., 1993: Air–sea interaction in the equatorial Atlantic region. J. Climate, 6 , 1567–1586.

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 0 0 0
Full Text Views 266 34 4
PDF Downloads 90 20 4
Editorial Type:
Article
Article Type:
Research Article

Why Is North Tropical Atlantic SST Variability Stronger in Boreal Spring?

Arnaud CzajaDepartment of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Search for other papers by Arnaud Czaja in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMedClose
Print Publication:
01 Aug 2004
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(2004)017<3017:WINTAS>2.0.CO;2
Page(s):
3017–3025
Restricted access

Abstract

It is suggested that the seasonal dependence of interannual variability displayed by observed sea surface temperature (SST) over the north tropical Atlantic primarily reflects the seasonality of the remote forcing associated with the North Atlantic and Southern Oscillations and is controlled by the mean damping time scale of SST anomaly. A stochastic model including a seasonally dependent forcing is used to test this hypothesis against observations.

Corresponding author address: Dr. Arnaud Czaja, Department of Earth, Ocean, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rm. 54-1517, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139. Email: czaja@ocean.mit.edu

Abstract

It is suggested that the seasonal dependence of interannual variability displayed by observed sea surface temperature (SST) over the north tropical Atlantic primarily reflects the seasonality of the remote forcing associated with the North Atlantic and Southern Oscillations and is controlled by the mean damping time scale of SST anomaly. A stochastic model including a seasonally dependent forcing is used to test this hypothesis against observations.

Corresponding author address: Dr. Arnaud Czaja, Department of Earth, Ocean, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rm. 54-1517, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139. Email: czaja@ocean.mit.edu

Save