The intraseasonal variability of winter semester surface air temperature in Antarctica

This study investigates systematically the intraseasonal variability of surface air temperature over Antarctica by applying empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis to the National Centers for Environmental Prediction, US Department of Energy, Reanalysis 2 data set for the period of 1979 through...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polar Research
Main Authors: Lejiang Yu, Zhanhai Zhang, Mingyu Zhou, Shiyuan Zhong, Bo Sun, Hsiaoming Hsu, Zhiqiu Gao, Huiding Wu, Junmei Ban
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Norwegian Polar Institute 2011
Subjects:
Antarctic climate
surface air temperature
intraseasonal variability
Antarctic Oscillation
geo
envir
Antarctic
Pacific
Southern Ocean
The Antarctic
Antarc*
Antarctica
Polar Research
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v30i0.6039
https://doaj.org/article/f69d4e3cb2374a03964f70c666890817
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Summary:This study investigates systematically the intraseasonal variability of surface air temperature over Antarctica by applying empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis to the National Centers for Environmental Prediction, US Department of Energy, Reanalysis 2 data set for the period of 1979 through 2007. The results reveal the existence of two major intraseasonal oscillations of surface temperature with periods of 26–30 days and 14 days during the Antarctic winter season in the region south of 60°S. The first EOF mode shows a nearly uniform spatial pattern in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean associated with the Antarctic Oscillation. The mode-1 intraseasonal variability of the surface temperature leads that of upper atmosphere by one day with the largest correlation at 300-hPa level geopotential heights. The intraseasonal variability of the mode-1 EOF is closely related to the variations of surface net longwave radiation the total cloud cover over Antarctica. The other major EOF modes reveal the existence of eastward propagating phases over the Southern Ocean and marginal region in Antarctica. The leading two propagating modes respond to Pacific–South American modes. Meridional winds induced by the wave train from the tropics have a direct influence on the surface air temperature over the Southern Ocean and the marginal region of the Antarctic continent.

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