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Impact of the North Atlantic sea surface temperature tripole on the East Asian summer monsoon

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Abstract

A strong (weak) East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) is usually concurrent with the tripole pattern of North Atlantic SST anomalies on the interannual timescale during summer, which has positive (negative) SST anomalies in the northwestern North Atlantic and negative (positive) SST anomalies in the subpolar and tropical ocean. The mechanisms responsible for this linkage are diagnosed in the present study. It is shown that a barotropic wave-train pattern occurring over the Atlantic-Eurasia region likely acts as a link between the EASM and the SST tripole during summer. This wave-train pattern is concurrent with geopotential height anomalies over the Ural Mountains, which has a substantial effect on the EASM. Diagnosis based on observations and linear dynamical model results reveals that the mechanism for maintaining the wave-train pattern involves both the anomalous diabatic heating and synoptic eddy-vorticity forcing. Since the North Atlantic SST tripole is closely coupled with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), the relationships between these two factors and the EASM are also examined. It is found that the connection of the EASM with the summer SST tripole is sensitive to the meridional location of the tripole, which is characterized by large seasonal variations due to the north-south movement of the activity centers of the NAO. The SST tripole that has a strong relationship with the EASM appears to be closely coupled with the NAO in the previous spring rather than in the simultaneous summer.

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Authors and Affiliations

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

    Jinqing Zuo  (左金清)

  2. Laboratory for Climate Studies, National Climate Center, China Meteorological Administration, Beijing, 100081, China

    Jinqing Zuo  (左金清), Weijing Li  (李维京), Chenghu Sun  (孙丞虎) & Hong-Li Ren  (任宏利)

  3. Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Science, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, 22030, USA

    Li Xu

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  1. Jinqing Zuo  (左金清)
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  2. Weijing Li  (李维京)
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  3. Chenghu Sun  (孙丞虎)
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  4. Li Xu
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  5. Hong-Li Ren  (任宏利)
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Correspondence to Jinqing Zuo  (左金清).

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Zuo, J., Li, W., Sun, C. et al. Impact of the North Atlantic sea surface temperature tripole on the East Asian summer monsoon. Adv. Atmos. Sci. 30, 1173–1186 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-012-2125-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-012-2125-5

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