Signature of the Antarctic oscillation in the northern hemisphere

Abstract

Using the ECWMF daily reanalysis data, this paper investigates signatures of the Antarctic Oscillation (AAO) in the upper troposphere of the northern hemisphere. It is found that during boreal winter, a positive (negative) phase of the AAO is associated with anomalous easterlies (westerlies) in middle-low latitudes (~30–40°N) and anomalous westerlies (easterlies) in middle-high latitudes (~45–65°N) of the upper troposphere about 25–40 days later. While there is also a response in zonal wind in the tropics, namely over the central-eastern Pacific, to some extent, these tropical zonal wind anomalies can trigger a Pacific/North American teleconnection patterns (PNA)-like quasi-stationary Rossby waves that propagate into the Northern Hemisphere and gradually evolve into patterns which resemble North Atlantic teleconnection patterns. Furthermore, these quasi-stationary Rossby waves might give rise to anomalous eddy momentum flux convergence and divergence to accelerate anomalous zonal winds in the Northern Hemisphere.