Journal
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
Volume 37, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
DOI: 10.1029/2010GL044001
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- NOAA's Climate Program Office
- Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean at the University of Washington
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Interaction between the tropical Atlantic meridional and Nino modes is investigated using observations and a quasi-analytical linear equatorial wave model. It is found that equatorial zonal wind stress anomalies associated with the boreal spring meridional mode generate eastward propagating equatorial Kelvin waves in the central and eastern Atlantic Ocean, where variability associated with the Nino mode is strongest. These same wind stress anomalies force westward propagating equatorial Rossby waves that reflect at the western boundary into eastward propagating Kelvin waves during boreal spring and summer. The boundary-generated Kelvin waves are of the opposite sign to those directly forced by the winds earlier in the spring, so they tend to damp the Nino mode during boreal summer. The interaction between the boreal spring meridional mode and the summer Nino is therefore mediated by directly wind-forced equatorial Kelvin waves and the delayed negative feedback from western boundary reflections of wind-forced Rossby waves. Citation: Foltz, G. R., and M. J. McPhaden (2010), Interaction between the Atlantic meridional and Nino modes, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L18604, doi: 10.1029/2010GL044001.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available