Impact of Multidecadal Variability in Atlantic SST on Winter Atmospheric Blocking
Abstract
Recent studies have suggested that coherent multidecadal variability exists between North Atlantic atmospheric blocking frequency and the Atlantic multidecadal variability (AMV). However, the role of AMV in modulating blocking variability on multidecadal times scales is not fully understood. This study examines this issue primarily using the NOAA Twentieth Century Reanalysis for 1901–2010. The second mode of the empirical orthogonal function for winter (December–March) atmospheric blocking variability in the North Atlantic exhibits oppositely signed anomalies of blocking frequency over Greenland and the Azores. Furthermore, its principal component time series shows a dominant multidecadal variability lagging AMV by several years. Composite analyses show that this lag is due to the slow evolution of the AMV sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies, which is likely driven by the ocean circulation. Following the warm phase of AMV, the warm SST anomalies emerge in the western subpolar gyre over 3–7 years. The ocean–atmosphere interaction over these 3–7-yr periods is characterized by the damping of the warm SST anomalies by the surface heat flux anomalies, which in turn reduce the overall meridional gradient of the air temperature and thus weaken the meridional transient eddy heat flux in the lower troposphere. The anomalous transient eddy forcing then shiftsmore »
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER). Earth and Environmental Systems Science Division
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1593720
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0019492
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Climate
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 33; Journal Issue: 3; Journal ID: ISSN 0894-8755
- Publisher:
- American Meteorological Society
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 58 GEOSCIENCES
Citation Formats
Kwon, Young-Oh, Seo, Hyodae, Ummenhofer, Caroline C., and Joyce, Terrence M. Impact of Multidecadal Variability in Atlantic SST on Winter Atmospheric Blocking. United States: N. p., 2019.
Web. doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-19-0324.1.
Kwon, Young-Oh, Seo, Hyodae, Ummenhofer, Caroline C., & Joyce, Terrence M. Impact of Multidecadal Variability in Atlantic SST on Winter Atmospheric Blocking. United States. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-19-0324.1
Kwon, Young-Oh, Seo, Hyodae, Ummenhofer, Caroline C., and Joyce, Terrence M. Tue .
"Impact of Multidecadal Variability in Atlantic SST on Winter Atmospheric Blocking". United States. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-19-0324.1. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1593720.
@article{osti_1593720,
title = {Impact of Multidecadal Variability in Atlantic SST on Winter Atmospheric Blocking},
author = {Kwon, Young-Oh and Seo, Hyodae and Ummenhofer, Caroline C. and Joyce, Terrence M.},
abstractNote = {Recent studies have suggested that coherent multidecadal variability exists between North Atlantic atmospheric blocking frequency and the Atlantic multidecadal variability (AMV). However, the role of AMV in modulating blocking variability on multidecadal times scales is not fully understood. This study examines this issue primarily using the NOAA Twentieth Century Reanalysis for 1901–2010. The second mode of the empirical orthogonal function for winter (December–March) atmospheric blocking variability in the North Atlantic exhibits oppositely signed anomalies of blocking frequency over Greenland and the Azores. Furthermore, its principal component time series shows a dominant multidecadal variability lagging AMV by several years. Composite analyses show that this lag is due to the slow evolution of the AMV sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies, which is likely driven by the ocean circulation. Following the warm phase of AMV, the warm SST anomalies emerge in the western subpolar gyre over 3–7 years. The ocean–atmosphere interaction over these 3–7-yr periods is characterized by the damping of the warm SST anomalies by the surface heat flux anomalies, which in turn reduce the overall meridional gradient of the air temperature and thus weaken the meridional transient eddy heat flux in the lower troposphere. The anomalous transient eddy forcing then shifts the eddy-driven jet equatorward, resulting in enhanced Rossby wave breaking and blocking on the northern flank of the jet over Greenland. The opposite is true with the AMV cold phases but with much shorter lags, as the evolution of SST anomalies differs in the warm and cold phases.},
doi = {10.1175/JCLI-D-19-0324.1},
journal = {Journal of Climate},
number = 3,
volume = 33,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Dec 31 00:00:00 EST 2019},
month = {Tue Dec 31 00:00:00 EST 2019}
}
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