Manifestation of the 11-year solar cycle in the North Atlantic climate

Abstract

Analysis of fluctuations in the climate of the North Atlantic associated with the 11-year solar cycle is done using empirical data of the sea level pressure (SLP) and sea surface temperature (SST) for 1870-2012 and data of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index and Central England temperature. Emphasis is placed on the regions of the Icelandic and Azores atmospheric centers of action (CA). Methods of multiple linear regression and cross-wavelet analysis are used. The analysis reveals decadal oscillations of the SLP lagging by ∼3 years relative to the sunspot number, in the area of the Azores CA in the winter and autumn seasons. SLP variations that are approximately in phase with the solar cycle are noted in autumn in the Icelandic CA. Solar-related SLP variations in the Icelandic CA in winter occur approximately in anti-phase with the variations in the Azores CA, at smaller lag behind the solar cycle. SLP variations associated with the solar cycle are comparable in amplitude to variations due to the El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). SST variations associated with the solar cycle are also revealed. They are several times weaker than variations due to the AMO, but of the same order of magnitude as variations due to the ENSO. The relation of the NAO index to the solar cycle is alternating and experiences modulation with a period of about 50 years.