Link between North Atlantic wave climate and circulation changes
Conference
·
OSTI ID:467641
- Oceanweather, Inc., Cos Cob, CT (United States)
- Columbia Univ., Palisades, NY (United States). Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
A secular trend in the mean wave height of the North Atlantic (NA) Ocean has been proposed recently by Bacon and Carter (1991). This estimate was based mainly upon the analysis of wave observations from Seven Stones Light Vessel (SSLV) (1962--1986) located off the southwest tip of England, and Ocean Weather Station Lima (LIMA) (1975--1988) at 57{degree}N, 20{degree}W. The positive trend in the annual mean originates mainly in the monthly means for December, January and February. Kushnir (1994) reports a pattern of NA ocean-atmosphere interaction that indicates a change in the mean low level atmospheric circulation beginning around 1960. This change corresponds to a gradual increase in sea-level pressure in the central NA Ocean. Kushnir linked the change to interdecadal variations in NA sea surface temperature. This raises the possibility that the change in wave climate is associated with this interdecadal air-sea interaction. In this study, this possibility is explored by first hindcasting the sea state over the entire NA over a 10-year period using a calibrated hindcast method and then correlating the variations in the hindcast monthly and seasonal wave height means in the Northeast NA with variations in the circulation index used by Kushnir to monitor changes in the large-scale low level atmospheric circulation. The positive correlation found between these variations, especially during the winter, provides a plausible explanation for the proposed trend in wave climate off the Northwest Coast of Europe as a manifestation of a longer term interdecadal variation resembling the North Atlantic Oscillation.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 467641
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9409461--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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