Abstract
Abstract A number of linear models of the steady-state response of the tropical atmosphere to sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies have been proposed, all based on the shallow-water equations. Despite their formal similarity, the various models have very different physical interpretations and suggest widely varying values for key parameters, including the mechanical damping rate (or coefficient of Rayleigh friction), the strength of the coupling to SST, and the “effective stability” of the lower troposphere. In order to place empirical constraints on these coefficients, the linear momentum equations are inverted to obtain the scalar forcing fields P′(interpreted as vertically integrated boundary-layer pressure anomalies) that best reproduce observed surface wind anomalies through the period 1984–90. This gives an optimum value for the mechanical damping rate, independent of the coupling parameterization. Direct optimization of a fully linear Gill-type model of ocean-atmosphere coupling reveals that the...
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