CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 93Climate variability and modelsOceanographic and Atmospheric ProcessesMeteorological Phenomena and Simulations

Interannual atmospheric variability forced by the deep equatorial Atlantic Ocean

Brandt, Peter, Funk, Andreas, Hormann, Verena, Dengler, Marcus, Greatbatch, Richard J., Toole, John M.·2011·Nature
DOI 10.1038/nature10013
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Climate variability in the tropical Atlantic Ocean is determined by large-scale ocean-atmosphere interactions, which particularly affect deep atmospheric convection over the ocean and surrounding continents. Apart from influences from the Pacific El Niño/Southern Oscillation and the North Atlantic Oscillation, the tropical Atlantic variability is thought to be dominated by two distinct ocean-atmosphere coupled modes of variability that are characterized by meridional and zonal sea-surface-temperature gradients and are mainly active on decadal and interannual timescales, respectively. Here we report evidence that the intrinsic ocean dynamics of the deep equatorial Atlantic can also affect sea surface temperature, wind and rainfall in the tropical Atlantic region and constitutes a 4.5-yr climate cycle. Specifically, vertically alternating deep zonal jets of short vertical wavelength with a period of about 4.5 yr and amplitudes of more than 10 cm s(-1) are observed, in the deep Atlantic, to propagate their energy upwards, towards the surface. They are linked, at the sea surface, to equatorial zonal current anomalies and eastern Atlantic temperature anomalies that have amplitudes of about 6 cm s(-1) and 0.4 °C, respectively, and are associated with distinct wind and rainfall patterns. Although deep jets are also observed in the Pacific and Indian oceans, only the Atlantic deep jets seem to oscillate on interannual timescales. Our knowledge of the persistence and regularity of these jets is limited by the availability of high-quality data. Despite this caveat, the oscillatory behaviour can still be used to improve predictions of sea surface temperature in the tropical Atlantic. Deep-jet generation and upward energy transmission through the Equatorial Undercurrent warrant further theoretical study.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1038/nature10013

Cites

27 of 27 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Jochum, M., Murtugudde, R., Malanotte-Rizzoli, P. & Busalacchi, A. in Earth Climate: The Ocean-Atmosphere Interaction (eds Wang, C., Xie, S.-P. & Carton, J. A. ) 181–188 (Geophys. Monogr. Ser. 147, American Geophysical Union, 2004)
  2. Lebedev, K. V., Yoshinari, H., Maximenko, N. A. & Hacker, P. W. YoMaHa’07: Velocity Data Assessed from Trajectories of Argo Floats at Parking Level and at the Sea Surface. IPRC Technical Note 4 (International Pacific Research Center, 2007)
  3. Gouretski, V. V. & Koltermann, K. P. WOCE Global Hydrographic Climatology. Report 35 (Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie, 2004)

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Brandt, P., Funk, A., Hormann, V., Dengler, M., Greatbatch, R. J., & Toole, J. M.
Affiliations
  • GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (DE)
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (US)
Corresponding author
Brandt, Peter
Venue
Nature
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2011-05
Volume
473
Issue
7348
Pages
497-500
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
DOI
10.1038/nature10013
OpenAlex
W2038103745
Cited by
93
References
27
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 6
FWCI
3.56
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR) (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
  • Met Office
  • Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
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 › Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations
Keywords
interannual variability, ocean-atmosphere interaction, sea surface temperature anomalies, rainfall variability, Equatorial Undercurrent, tropical Atlantic climate, climate prediction

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review