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Solar wind: A possible factor driving the interannual sea surface temperature tripolar mode over North Atlantic

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Abstract

The effect of solar wind (SW) on the North Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) in boreal winter is examined through an analysis of observational data during 1964-2013. The North Atlantic SSTs show a pronounced meridional tripolar pattern in response to solar wind speed (SWS) variations. This pattern is broadly similar to the leading empirical orthogonal function (EOF) mode of interannual variations in the wintertime SSTs over North Atlantic. The time series of this leading EOF mode of SST shows a significant interannual period, which is the same as that of wintertime SWS. This response also appears as a compact north-south seesaw of sea level pressure and a vertical tripolar structure of zonal wind, which simultaneously resembles the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) in the overlying atmosphere. As compared with the typical low SWS winters, during the typical high SWS winters, the stratospheric polar night jet (PNJ) is evidently enhanced and extends from the stratosphere to the troposphere, even down to the North Atlantic Ocean surface. Notably, the North Atlantic Ocean is an exclusive region in which the SW signal spreads downward from the stratosphere to the troposphere. Thus, it seems that the SW is a possible factor for this North Atlantic SST tripolar mode. The dynamical process of stratosphere-troposphere coupling, together with the global atmospheric electric circuit-cloud microphysical process, probably accounts for the particular downward propagation of the SW signal.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China

    Ziniu Xiao  (肖子牛) & Delin Li  (李德林)

  2. State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Ziniu Xiao  (肖子牛)

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  1. Ziniu Xiao  (肖子牛)
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  2. Delin Li  (李德林)
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Correspondence to Delin Li  (李德林).

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Supported by the National (Key) Basic Research and Development (973) Program of China (2012CB957804) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (41490642 and 41375069).

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Xiao, Z., Li, D. Solar wind: A possible factor driving the interannual sea surface temperature tripolar mode over North Atlantic. J Meteorol Res 30, 312–327 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13351-016-5087-1

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