The Phase‐Locking of Tropical North Atlantic and the Contribution of ENSO
Abstract
The Tropical North Atlantic (TNA) is characterized by significant interannual variability in sea surface temperature (SST), which is phase‐locked to the boreal spring. In this study, the phase‐locking of TNA is investigated by adopting a linear stochastic‐dynamical model (SDM) using seasonally modulated TNA feedbacks together with the seasonal modulation of ENSO forcing. In the observations, the role of local TNA feedbacks and ENSO forcing in TNA phase‐locking are equivalently important with both preferring the peak of TNA variability to appear in the boreal spring. Besides, the seasonal modulation of TNA feedbacks and ENSO forcing strength are both mainly controlled by thermodynamic processes. In most climate models, the contribution of ENSO on TNA phase‐locking is weaker than that in observations. The strength of ENSO‐related TNA phase‐locking is highly correlated with the relationship between ENSO and TNA, which is mainly determined by the amplitude of ENSO and its teleconnection patterns.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Nov 30, 2021
- Source ID
- 10.1029/2021gl095610
Entities
People
- Fei-Fei Jin
- Han‐Ching Chen
- Leishan Jiang
Organizations
- National Science Foundation
- United States Department of Energy
- University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa