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A Quasi‐Biennial Oscillation in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean
Author(s) -
Tseng Lishan,
Mechoso Carlos R.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2000gl011206
Subject(s) - madden–julian oscillation , climatology , oscillation (cell signaling) , atmosphere (unit) , quasi biennial oscillation , atlantic equatorial mode , tropical atlantic , atlantic multidecadal oscillation , north atlantic oscillation , sea surface temperature , geology , ocean dynamics , general circulation model , ocean current , oceanography , atmospheric sciences , physics , meteorology , troposphere , climate change , convection , chemistry , biochemistry
A quasi‐biennial oscillation with features characteristic of equatorial coupled modes is found in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean. The origins of the phenomenon are investigated by using a coupled atmosphere‐ocean general circulation model, in which the fully coupled domain is restricted to the Tropical Atlantic (20°S–30°N). The simulations capture a similar oscillation regardless of whether sea surface temperatures prescribed outside the coupled domain correspond to the observed or the climatology (i.e., lack year‐to‐year variability). It is concluded that the equatorial Atlantic hosts a quasi‐biennial oscillation generated by coupled atmosphere‐ocean interactions internal to the basin with little influence from remote events, even from El Niño/Southern Oscillation.