A modeling study of the relative roles of tropical and extratropical SST anomalies in the variability of the global atmosphere-ocean system

Lau Ngar-Cheung Lau, M. J. Nath

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

324 Scopus citations

Abstract

The principal modes of coupling between the imposed SST forcing and the simulated Northern Hemisphere wintertime 515-mb height field in various experiments have been identified using a singular value decomposition (SVD) procedure. The leading SVD mode for the GOGA experiment is qualitatively similar to that based on observational data, although the amplitudes of the simulated height anomalies are notably lower than the observed values. The SST pattern of this mode resembles that associated with El Nino events. The accompanying 515-mb height anomaly is dominated by a wavelike pattern in the North Pacific/North American sector. The TOGA experiment reproduces many of the atmosphere-ocean relationships discerned from the GOGA output. Conversely, the MOGA run yields a much weaker and less reproducible response. The contrast between the TOGA and MOGA runs is indicative of the primacy of tropical Pacific SST anomalies in forcing the midlatitude atmospheric circulation. -from Authors

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1184-1207
Number of pages24
JournalJournal of Climate
Volume7
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - 1994

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Atmospheric Science

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