Dominant patterns of interannual variability in the north Atlantic

Nahed, Farhana (2007) Dominant patterns of interannual variability in the north Atlantic. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The low frequency variability of surface climate over the North Atlantic is described using 55 years of observations from the Comprehensive Ocean-Atmospheric Data set and NCEP reanalysis. Results are based on empirical orthogonal function analysis of sea surface temperature (SST), air temperature, wind, heat flux, and precipitation. The dominant spatial patterns of these parameters and sea level pressure are identified by using canonical correlation analysis. It is shown that the zonal wind and air temperature in the Labrador Sea are strongly correlated with the dominant modes of variability in the atmospheric circulation. The SST anomalies in the Labrador Sea are weakly correlated to the Sea Level Pressure (SLP) dominant modes of variability especially during the decadal periods of warming in the 1950s and the 1990s. It is suggested that the long term variability in the ocean circulation and sea ice at decadal time scale play a major role for the SST in the Labrador Sea during these periods.

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