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Southern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation response to the El Chichón and Pinatubo eruptions in coupled climate models
Author(s) -
Karpechko Alexey Yu.,
Gillett Nathan P.,
Dall'Amico Mauro,
Gray Lesley J.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
quarterly journal of the royal meteorological society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.744
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1477-870X
pISSN - 0035-9009
DOI - 10.1002/qj.683
Subject(s) - stratosphere , polar vortex , climatology , southern hemisphere , troposphere , atmospheric sciences , northern hemisphere , atmospheric circulation , volcano , vulcanian eruption , geology , quasi biennial oscillation , environmental science , seismology
We study the response of the Southern Hemisphere circulation to the 1982 eruption of El Chichón and 1991 eruption of Pinatubo volcanoes in a suite of up‐to‐date coupled climate models. We find a significant response in austral spring and autumn in the years following the eruptions, which consists of a stronger stratospheric polar vortex and lowered sea‐level pressure over the Antarctic, both consistent with the positive phase of the Southern Annular Mode. The seasonality of the response may be explained in terms of zonal flow–planetary wave interactions. This dynamical response is inconsistent with the observational reanalyses in the polar stratosphere in spring, but not in the troposphere where the internal variability is large compared to the magnitude of the response. Copyright © 2010 Royal Meteorological Society