Influence of the Amazon/Orinoco Plume on the summertime Atlantic climate

Abstract

A plume of fresh water forms in the Atlantic due to discharge from the Amazon and Orinoco rivers and creates a stable barrier layer near the surface that is associated with warm sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs). The boreal summer atmospheric response to this sea surface temperature (SST) forcing is investigated using a regional atmospheric model. Results from two ensembles, one with the plume SSTA removed, and the other with an idealized plume SSTA imposed, reveal that the scale of the SSTA forcing is large enough to influence the summer climate over the tropical western Atlantic and Central America. Rainfall increases over the SSTAs and downstream over the Caribbean Sea and Central America, as sensible and latent heating associated with the plume SSTAs force a Rossby/Kelvin wave dynamical response. The result is westward shift by 12° of longitude of the North Atlantic subtropical anticyclone, a northward repositioning of the summertime subtropical anticyclone extension over the Gulf of Mexico, and increased moisture convergence into Central America. Warm SSTAs associated with the plume also influence simulated summer tropical Atlantic storms. The presence of the plume increases the number of Atlantic basin storms by 60% (i.e., 4.66 more storms). An increase in storm intensity also occurs, with a 61% increase of the number of storms that reach tropical storm and hurricane strength. However, these storms tend to be shorter lived and are associated with a 12% decrease in the number of tropical storm days. Storm trajectories also shift westward over the western Atlantic associated with the presence of the plume, bringing them closer to the U.S. coast as both the steering winds and vertical wind shear over the Atlantic are modified. These results suggest that the August storm systems may be more likely to track closer to the U.S. coast and/or over the Gulf of Mexico. Since the Amazon and Orinoco rivers are fed primarily by rainfall in the Amazon Basin during austral summer, the influence of the plume SSTs on Atlantic climate is an example of interhemispheric forcing of climate variability across seasons.