ocean-atmosphere coupling in the extratropics

• Main Authors: Bo Qiu, Fei-fei Jin
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.367.4717; http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/met/Faculty/jff/1997_04 Antarctic circumpolar waves An indication of ocean-atmosphere coupling in the extratropics.pdf

Abstract. Recent observational studies have detected self can give rise to the observed decadal-to-interdecadal coherent oceanic and atmospheric Antarctic circumpo- signals. So far, a solid explanation of this coupling has lar waves (ACWs) which propagate eastward at speeds been lacking, partially because the observational data of 6-8 cms-x with a circumpolar wavenumber of 2. Analysis of global wind data suggests that the ACWs are not remotely forced by tropical E1 Nifio activity through atmospheric teleconnection. Rather, a coupled instability of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and its overlying atmospheric motion is proposed to be reare still too limited to clarify the detailed phase relationships among oceanic and atmospheric variables so as to verify the proposed theories. In this study, we present observational evidence and a theoretical model to illustrate that regional oceanatmosphere dynamical coupling in the extratropics is responsible