Sea surface temperature anomaly in the tropical North Atlantic during El Niño decaying years

Abstract

Based on reanalysis data from 1979 to 2016, this study focuses on the sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly of the tropical North Atlantic (TNA) in El Niño decaying years. The TNA SST exhibits a clear warm trend during this period. The composite result for 10 El Niño events shows that the TNA SST anomaly reaches its maximum in spring after the peak of an El Niño event and persists until summer. In general, the anomaly is associated with three factors—namely, El Niño, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), and a long-term trend, leading to an increase in local SST up to 0.4°C, 0.3°C, and 0.35°C, respectively. A comparison between 1983 and 2005 indicates that the TNA SST in spring is affected by El Niño, as well as the local SST in the preceding winter, which may involve a long-term trend signal. In addition, the lead–lag correlation shows that the NAO leads the TNA SST by 2–3 months. By comparing two years with an opposite phase of the NAO in winter (i.e., 1992 and 2010), the authors further demonstrate that the NAO is another important factor in regulating the TNA SST anomaly. A negative phase of the NAO in winter will reinforce the El Niño forcing substantially, and vise versa. In other words, the TNA SST anomaly in the decaying years is more evident if the NAO is negative with El Niño. Therefore, the combined effects of El Niño and the NAO must be considered in order to fully understand the TNA SST variability along with a long-term trend.摘要基于1979年到2016年多种再分析资料, 本文分析了El Niño衰减年热带北大西洋的海温异常. 结果表明, 热带北大西洋海温在此期间呈显著变暖趋势. 10次El Niño事件的合成结果表明热带北大西洋海温异常在El Niño事件峰值之后的春季达到最大值, 并持续到夏季. 一般而言, 这种异常与三个因子有关, 即El Niño, 北大西洋涛动和长期趋势, 能分别导致局地海温上升0.4°C, 0.3°C和0.35°C. 1983年和2005年的对比分析表明, 尽管El Niño强度对春季北大西洋海温起到决定性作用, 与长期趋势密切相关的前冬海温也很重要. 此外, 超前-滞后相关结果表明北大西洋涛动超前海温约2–3个月. 比较两个冬季相反位相北大西洋涛动的年份 (即1992年和2010年) , 表明北大西洋涛动也能调制北大西洋海温异常. 冬季负位相北大西洋涛动能显著增强El Niño的强迫影响, 反之亦然. 换言之, 如果北大西洋涛动与El Niño位相相合, 衰减年北大西洋海温异常才更为显著. 因此, 为全面理解热带北大西洋海温变化, 除长期趋势外, 还必须考虑El Niño和北大西洋涛动的综合影响.