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Coupling between the Atlantic cold tongue and the West African monsoon in boreal spring and summer

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Caniaux, Guy, Giordani, Hervé, Redelsperger, Jean-Luc, Guichard, Françoise, Key, Erica, Wade, Malick·2011·Journal of Geophysical Research
DOI 10.1029/2010jc006570
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Abstract

[1] The formation of the Atlantic cold tongue (ACT) is the dominant seasonal sea surface temperature signal in the eastern equatorial Atlantic (EEA). A comprehensive analysis of variability in its spatial extent, temperature, and onset is presented. Then, the physical mechanisms which initiate ACT onset, as well as the feedbacks from the ACT to the maritime boundary layer, and how the ACT influences the onset of the West African monsoon (WAM) are discussed. We argue that in the EEA, the air-sea coupling between the ACT and WAM occurs in two phases. From March to mid-June, the ACT results from the intensification of the southeastern trades associated with the St. Helena anticyclone. Steering of surface winds by the basin shape of the EEA imparts optimal wind stress for generating the maximum upwelling south of the equator. During the second phase (mid-June–August), wind speeds north of the equator increase as a result of the northward progression of the intensifying trades and as a result of significant surface heat flux gradients produced by the differential cooling between the ACT and the tropical waters circulating in the Gulf of Guinea (GG). It is anticipated that the atmospheric divergence induced at low levels north of the equator reduces convection over the GG and that increased northward winds shift convection over land. Correlations between the ACT and the WAM onset dates over the last 26 years (1982–2007) measure as much as 0.8. This suggests that the ACT plays a key role in the WAM onset.

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  • By multiplying EOF1 with its related PC, typical ACT cold years are 1990, 1992, 1997, 2005 and warm years are 1984, 1987, 1998.

    “By multiplying EOF1 with its related PC, we observe some typical ACT cold years, such as 1990, 1992, 1997, 2005and warm years 1984, 1987and 1998(Caniaux et al., 2011).”

    From Sea surface temperature patterns in the Tropical Atlantic: Principal component analysis and nonlinear principal component analysis (2017) · cites this paper as Caniaux et al., 2011

    Section 2.2 identifies 1992 and 2005 among the coldest ACT years and 1984 and 1987 among the warmest. It does not identify 1990 or 1997 as cold years, or 1998 as a warm year, and the passages found do not describe an EOF1–PC calculation. The paper uses an ACT temperature index for the reported classifications. (LLM, conf=0.87)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • There is interannual variability in the ACT spatial pattern in the Gulf of Guinea, which is not fully understood.

    “Caniaux et al. (2011) shows that there is interannual variability in the ACT spatial pattern in GoG, which is not fully understood.”

    From Sea surface temperature patterns in the Tropical Atlantic: Principal component analysis and nonlinear principal component analysis (2017) · cites this paper as Caniaux et al. (2011)

  • From boreal winter to summer, part of the skipjack stock located in equatorial waters performs a northward migratory movement off NW Africa, from the western Gulf of Guinea to the Canary Islands-often reaching Madeira and Azores-favoured by the seasonal northward shift of warm waters.

    “From boreal winter to summer, part of the skipjack stock located in equatorial waters performs a northward migratory movement off NW Africa, from the western Gulf of Guinea to the Canary Islands -often reaching Madeira (Hermida et al., 2019) and Azores-(ICCAT TASK II catch and effort statistics data) favoured by the seasonal northward shift of warm waters (Caniaux et al., 2011).”

    From African desert dust influences migrations and fisheries of the Atlantic skipjack-tuna (2023) · cites this paper as Caniaux et al., 2011

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Cites

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5 of the 56 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 8

  1. Caniaux, 2007, Evaluation of sea surface flux fields from NWP models
  2. Okumura, 2004, Interaction of the Atlantic equatorial cold tongue and the African monsoon, J. Clim., 17, 3589, 10.1175/1520-0442(2004)017<3589:IOTAEC>2.0.CO;2 · DOI
  3. Philander, 1990, El Niño, La Niña, and Southern Oscillation
  4. Picaut, 1983, Propagation of the seasonal upwelling in the eastern equatorial Atlantic, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 13, 18, 10.1175/1520-0485(1983)013<0018:POTSUI>2.0.CO;2 · DOI
  5. Sultan, 2003, The West African monsoon dynamics. Part II: The “preonset” and “onset” of the summer monsoon, J. Clim., 16, 3407, 10.1175/1520-0442(2003)016<3407:TWAMDP>2.0.CO;2 · DOI
  6. Voituriez, 1977, Etude de la production pélagique de la zone équatoriale de l'Atlantique à 4°W. Partie I: Relations entre la structure hydrologique et la production primaire, Cah. ORSTOM Ser. Oceanogr., 15, 313
  7. Wallace, 1989, The influence of sea surface temperature on surface wind in the eastern equatorial Pacific: Seasonal and interannual variability, J. Clim., 2, 1492, 10.1175/1520-0442(1989)002<1492:TIOSST>2.0.CO;2 · DOI
  8. Wang, 2002, Atlantic climate variability and its associated atmospheric circulation cells, J. Clim., 15, 1516, 10.1175/1520-0442(2002)015<1516:ACVAIA>2.0.CO;2 · DOI

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Authors
Caniaux, G., Giordani, H., Redelsperger, J.-L., Guichard, F., Key, E., & Wade, M.
Affiliations
  • Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
  • Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (US)
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Geophysical Research
Publisher
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Published
2011-04-05
Volume
116
Issue
C4
ISSN
0148-0227 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1029/2010jc006570
OpenAlex
W2054909156
Semantic Scholar
c5fae53840bc84ce804257827b919529d41a2e75
Cited by
153
References
56
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 6
FWCI
8.38
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
doi.wiley.com/10.1002/tdm_license_1.1 (tdm, 1610 d)
Locations
Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Climate variability and models
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Oceanography › Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes
Keywords
Atlantic cold tongue, air-sea coupling, eastern equatorial Atlantic, coastal upwelling, Gulf of Guinea, sea surface temperature variability

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