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Statistical models for the pattern of sea surface temperature in the North Atlantic during 1973–2008
Author(s) -
McNeil Nittaya,
Chirtkiatsakul Busaban
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
international journal of climatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.58
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-0088
pISSN - 0899-8418
DOI - 10.1002/joc.4598
Subject(s) - latitude , climatology , sea surface temperature , environmental science , subtropics , tropical atlantic , atmospheric sciences , geology , geodesy , fishery , biology
Monthly seasonally adjusted surface temperature patterns in the North Atlantic Ocean from 1973 to 2008 were investigated using statistical methods. The data were obtained from the Climate Research Unit and comprised 78 regions of 5° × 10° covering latitudes 0°–65°N and longitudes 10°–70°W. Linear regression was initially used to model the seasonally adjusted sea surface temperatures. The data were filtered with second order autoregressive process to remove the autocorrelations between temperature lags. Factor analysis was used to account for the spatial correlation between grid boxes giving six regions. Temperatures were found to have significantly increased in all six regions with increases ranging from 0.06 to 0.13 °C per decade. Three different patterns of average annual surface temperatures were found over the 36‐year period. First surface temperatures increased with some high fluctuations occurring in the tropical and subtropical zones. Second, surface temperatures increased overall with temperatures stabilizing during the ten‐year period from 1985 to 1995 in the high latitude regions. Third, surface temperatures increased consistently with small fluctuations occurring in the mid‐latitudes of the North Atlantic Ocean.