Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan. Ser. II
Online ISSN : 2186-9057
Print ISSN : 0026-1165
ISSN-L : 0026-1165
Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Inter-Decadal Modes in the Tropics
B. N. GoswamiMann Anna Thomas
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2000 Volume 78 Issue 6 Pages 765-775

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Abstract

Homogeneous upper air data for 50 years (1949-1998) from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalyses project, sea surface temperatures and sea level pressure are used to bring out the three dimensional structure of two dominant decadal/multi-decadal variations in the tropics. The global three dimensional modes represent generalized forms of inter-decadal modes studied earlier only with surface data. In the vertical, both modes show approximate first baroclinic structures over the tropics. The Walker circulation associated with the multi-decadal mode has a wavenumber two structure in the zonal direction. It is shown that the magnitude of major ascending and descending motions associated with the multi-decadal Hadley and Walker circulations, are comparable to those associated with the dominant inter-annual mode. Implications of these large scale global circulations associated with the low frequency oscillations in modulating regional climate on a inter-annual time scale are discussed.

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