Relationship between the equatorial and meridional modes of climatic variability in the tropical Atlantic
Abstract
The tropical Atlantic Ocean exhibits two primary modes of interannual climate variability: an equatorial mode analogous to, but weaker than, the Pacific El Niño phenomenon, and a meridional mode that does not have a Pacific counterpart. The equatorial mode is responsible for warm (and cold) sea surface temperature (SST) events, mainly in the Gulf of Guinea, and is identifiable by abnormal changes in the equatorial thermocline slope resulting from zonal‐wind anomalies in the western tropical Atlantic. The meridional mode is characterized by a north‐south interhemispheric gradient of SST anomalies. Here it is shown, using observed surface and subsurface oceanic temperatures, that the meridional mode is linked to the equatorial mode, at both decadal and short‐interannual (1–2 years) time scales. Both modes involve north‐south displacements of the ITCZ, as in the annual response.
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This picture is consistent with the Atlantic dipole.
“This picture is consistent with the Atlantic dipole (Servain et al., 1999).”
From Sea surface temperature patterns in the Tropical Atlantic: Principal component analysis and nonlinear principal component analysis (2017) · cites this paper as Servain et al., 1999
The meridional mode is characterized by a north-south inter-hemispheric gradient of SST anomaly that has no equivalent in the Pacific Ocean.
“The meridional mode is characterized by a north-south inter-hemispheric gradient of SST anomaly that has no equivalent in the Pacific Ocean (Servain et al., 1999).”
From Sea surface temperature patterns in the Tropical Atlantic: Principal component analysis and nonlinear principal component analysis (2017) · cites this paper as Servain et al., 1999
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References 27 · Cited by 181
- Authors
- Servain, J., Wainer, I., McCreary, J. P., & Dessier, A.
- Affiliations
- Universidade de São Paulo (BR)
- Nova Southeastern University (US)
- Venue
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Publisher
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- Published
- 1999-02-15
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 485-488
- ISSN
- 0094-8276 (ISSN-L)
- 1944-8007
- OpenAlex
- W2115014490
- Cited by
- 181
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 4.30
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Geophysical Research Letters (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Climate variability and models
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Oceanography › Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
- Keywords
- meridional modes, interannual climate variability, sea surface temperature anomalies, Gulf of Guinea, zonal wind anomalies, Intertropical Convergence Zone, decadal variability
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