The Extraordinary Equatorial Atlantic Warming in Late 2019

Sea‐surface temperatures (SSTs) in the eastern equatorial Atlantic are subject to variability on interannual timescales but during the last 20 years, this variability has shown comparatively little activity. In late 2019, however, the warmest event in the satellite observation period developed. Anal...

Celý popis

Uloženo v:
Podrobná bibliografie
Vydáno v:Geophysical research letters Ročník 49; číslo 4
Hlavní autoři: Richter, Ingo, Tokinaga, Hiroki, Okumura, Yuko M.
Médium: Journal Article
Jazyk:angličtina
Vydáno: Washington John Wiley & Sons, Inc 28.02.2022
Témata:
Anomalies
Atlantic Nino
Atlantic zonal mode
Dipoles
Downwelling
El Nino
El Nino phenomena
Equator
equatorial Atlantic
Equatorial regions
interannual variability
IOD
Kelvin waves
Monitoring
Ocean surface
Ocean temperature
Oceans
Planetary waves
Rossby waves
Satellite observation
Sea surface
Sea surface temperature
Sea surface temperature anomalies
Surface temperature
Surface wind
Tropical climate
Variability
Wave propagation
Wind stress
Wind stress curl
Zonal winds
ISSN:0094-8276, 1944-8007
On-line přístup:Získat plný text
Tagy: Přidat tag
Žádné tagy, Buďte první, kdo vytvoří štítek k tomuto záznamu!
Popis
Shrnutí:Sea‐surface temperatures (SSTs) in the eastern equatorial Atlantic are subject to variability on interannual timescales but during the last 20 years, this variability has shown comparatively little activity. In late 2019, however, the warmest event in the satellite observation period developed. Analysis suggests that zonal wind stress anomalies in the western equatorial Atlantic contributed to the development of the warm SST anomalies. Furthermore, wind stress curl anomalies north of the equator generated downwelling Rossby waves that propagated to the western boundary and were reflected into downwelling Kelvin waves that helped to precondition the event. Neither the contemporaneous positive Indian Ocean Dipole nor the El Niño Modoki appears to have contributed substantially to the Atlantic warming, though some uncertainty remains. Based on large‐scale multidecadal variability patterns, a return to enhanced variability is not imminent but careful monitoring will be important. Plain Language Summary Year‐to‐year variability of ocean surface temperatures in the eastern equatorial Atlantic has been relatively weak over the last 20 years. In late 2019, however, an exceptionally strong event developed. This event appears to have been generated by surface wind stress forcing both on and north of the equator. Remote influences from other tropical basins do not seem to have played a large role. Based on large‐scale multidecadal variability patterns in the region, the equatorial Atlantic may return to relatively low variability but continued monitoring will be important. Key Points One of the strongest equatorial Atlantic warm events of the last 40 years developed in late 2019 Wind stress forcing both on and off the equator contributed to the exceptionally strong warming Analysis suggests that remote forcing from other basins was not a major factor in the genesis of the event
Bibliografie:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
ISSN:0094-8276
1944-8007
DOI:10.1029/2021GL095918