Open AccessLow‐frequency climate variability in the Atlantic basin during the 20th century
Author(s) -
Tourre Y. M.,
Paz S.,
Kushnir Y.,
White W. B.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
atmospheric science letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.951
H-Index - 45
ISSN - 1530-261X
DOI - 10.1002/asl.265
Subject(s) - atlantic multidecadal oscillation , climatology , north atlantic oscillation , pacific decadal oscillation , sea surface temperature , environmental science , tropical atlantic , structural basin , el niño southern oscillation , atlantic hurricane , oceanography , geology , tropical cyclone , paleontology
From joint sea surface temperature/sea level pressure (SST/SLP) EOF analyses, low‐frequency variability modes are compared. The multi‐decadal oscillation (MDO) changed phases twice during the 20th century, with its north Atlantic SST patterns resembling the Atlantic multi‐decadal oscillation (AMO). The quasi‐decadal oscillation (QDO) SST patterns displayed a double tripole configuration over the entire Atlantic basin, leading to tropical inter‐hemispheric out‐of‐phase relationship. From the mid‐1960s onward, while SST anomalies were negative to the north (negative phases of MDO/AMO), the Sahelian drought persisted with a weaker hurricane power dissipation index (PDI). During that period, the QDO modulated the intensity of the Sahelian drought. Copyright © 2010 Royal Meteorological Society