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Low-frequency variability of hydrometeorological fields and heat fluxes over the North Atlantic

  • Analysis of Observations and Methods for Calculating Hydrophysical Fields in the Ocean
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Physical Oceanography

Abstract

The linear and quadratic trends of the parameters of interaction of the atmosphere with the ocean in the North Atlantic are computed according to the archival data of the Russian Hydrometeorological Center accumulated for 1957–1990. The linear trends are regarded as probable manifestations of the anthropogenic processes. At the same time, the quadratic trends are regarded as manifestations of natural low-frequency oscillations with a characteristic period of ~65 yr. The linear trends of the sea-surface temperature (SST) and the surface air temperature (SAT) are negative at high latitudes. The thermal (SST-SAT) contrasts and the deficiency of humidity ΔE decrease over the most part of the investigated water area, thus revealing the active influence of the North Atlantic on the trends of SAT caused by the negative feedback in the system supported by the changes in the evident and latent heat fluxes. The significant quadratic trends of various hydrometeorological parameters and total heat fluxes confirm the predominance of natural variability with a period of ~65 yr in the North Atlantic. The quadratic trend of the heat fluxes is mainly caused by the quadratic trend of ΔE. The coincidence of the phases of long-period anomalies of the SAT and ΔE over the major part of the North Atlantic reveals the decisive role of the variability of the ocean in supporting the interdecadal oscillations in the ocean-atmosphere system.

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Translated from Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 4, pp. 19–38, July–August, 2004.

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Voskresenskaya, E.N., Polonskii, A.B. Low-frequency variability of hydrometeorological fields and heat fluxes over the North Atlantic. Phys Oceanogr 14, 203–220 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11110-005-0015-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11110-005-0015-4

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