Asymmetry of the Antarctic Oscillation in Austral Autumn

Abstract The annular structure of Antarctic oscillation (AAO) is a research hotpot, but its asymmetry receives less attention. In this paper, the self‐organizing map method is employed to cluster the AAO patterns into symmetric and asymmetric modes in austral autumn. The asymmetry is mainly reflecte...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical Research Letters
Main Authors: Yuheng Tang, Anmin Duan
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL105678
https://doaj.org/article/b587c0979d8f415891fe0318a729c1db
Description
Summary:Abstract The annular structure of Antarctic oscillation (AAO) is a research hotpot, but its asymmetry receives less attention. In this paper, the self‐organizing map method is employed to cluster the AAO patterns into symmetric and asymmetric modes in austral autumn. The asymmetry is mainly reflected in the Pacific‐Atlantic sector, and the AAO evolves toward asymmetric positive polarity, with the most pronounced asymmetry in May. Originating from near Australia, the asymmetry indicates a zonal wave train in the Pacific‐Atlantic sector. Both modeled and observed results demonstrate that the sea surface temperature anomaly in the equatorial western Pacific stimulates a local meridional circulation anomaly and induces anomalous Rossby wave sources near Australia subsequently. An anomalous wave train propagating toward the Antarctic Peninsula is formed, and the associated geopotential anomaly enhances the asymmetry of AAO. Asymmetric AAO is conducive to the Antarctic dipole, which modulates the air temperature and sea ice anomalies around Antarctica.