Influence of the Antarctic Oscillation, the Pacific–South American modes and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation on the Antarctic surface temperature and pressure variations

Abstract

AbstractIn this study, the impacts of the Antarctic Oscillation (AAO), the Pacific–South American teleconnection (PSA) and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on Antarctic sea level pressure and surface temperature are investigated using surface observational data, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) 40 Year Re-analysis (ERA-40) and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction-National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP-NCAR) re-analysis data from 1958–2001. There is the most significant correlation between PSA and Antarctic sea level pressure and surface temperature in the northern Antarctic Peninsula during four seasons. But the correlation between Southern Oscillation Index and surface temperature and sea level pressure is significant at some stations only in spring. The three indices can explain a large portion of the trends found in sea level pressure and temperature at some stations, but not at all stations. Among the three indices the most important contribution to the trends in the two surface variables comes from AAO, followed by PSA, and finally by ENSO. The two re-analysis datasets show great similarity for the trends in surface temperature and sea level pressure in April–May and October–November, but not December–February. In summer the trends in surface temperature and sea level pressure in East Antarctica for ERA-40 re-analysis are opposite to those of NCEP re-analysis.