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A decadal climate variation in the tropical Atlantic Ocean from thermodynamic air-sea interactions

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  • Ping Chang

    (Texas A & M University)

  • Link Ji

    (Texas A & M University)

  • Hong Li

    (Texas A & M University)

Abstract

Rainfall variability in northeast South America1 and the Sahel region of Africa2–4 is profoundly influenced by the sea surface temperature (SST) of the tropical Atlantic Ocean. Of particular importance are relative changes in SST between the hemispheres on decadal timescales, a phenomenon often called the Atlantic SST dipole1,5. Here we propose that the decadal variation in the tropical SST dipole may be attributed to an unstable thermodynamic ocean–atmosphere interaction between wind-induced heat fluxes and SST. Using coupled ocean–atmosphere models, we show that the coupled dipole mode has a typical oscillation period of about a decade. The notion that the Atlantic dipole-like SST variability may be related to an oscillatory coupled mode might assist attempts to predict decadal climate variability in the tropical Atlantic region.

Suggested Citation

  • Ping Chang & Link Ji & Hong Li, 1997. "A decadal climate variation in the tropical Atlantic Ocean from thermodynamic air-sea interactions," Nature, Nature, vol. 385(6616), pages 516-518, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:385:y:1997:i:6616:d:10.1038_385516a0
    DOI: 10.1038/385516a0
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    Cited by:

    1. Mario Andres Fernandez & Pei Huang & Bruce McCarl & Vikram Mehta, 2016. "Value of decadal climate variability information for agriculture in the Missouri River basin," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 139(3), pages 517-533, December.
    2. Vögler, Rodolfo & Arreguín-Sánchez, Francisco & Lercari, Diego & del Monte-Luna, Pablo & Calliari, Danilo, 2015. "The effects of long-term climate variability on the trophodynamics of an estuarine ecosystem in southern South America," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 317(C), pages 83-92.
    3. David P. Rowell & Catherine A. Senior & Michael Vellinga & Richard J. Graham, 2016. "Can climate projection uncertainty be constrained over Africa using metrics of contemporary performance?," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 134(4), pages 621-633, February.
    4. Yuan, Naiming & Fu, Zuntao, 2014. "Different spatial cross-correlation patterns of temperature records over China: A DCCA study on different time scales," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 400(C), pages 71-79.
    5. David Rowell & Catherine Senior & Michael Vellinga & Richard Graham, 2016. "Can climate projection uncertainty be constrained over Africa using metrics of contemporary performance?," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 134(4), pages 621-633, February.

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