Relationship of Late-Winter Temperatures in Europeto North Atlantic Surface Winds: A Correlation Analysis |
| |
| Authors: | J Otterman R Atlas J Ardizzone D Starr J C Jusem J Terry |
| |
| Institution: | (1) Land-Atmosphere-Ocean-Research; at Data Assimilation Office, NASA, GSFC, Greenbelt, MD, U.S.A., US;(2) Laboratory for Atmospheres, NASA, GSFC, Greenbelt, MD, U.S.A., US;(3) General Sciences Corporation, Laurel, MD, U.S.A., US |
| |
| Abstract: | Summary The relationship between European surface temperature and winds over the eastern North Atlantic are investigated for the
years 1988 to 1997. Daily Special Sensor Microwave Imager SSM/I observations are used to evaluate a monthly surface wind index
that quantifies the influence of southwesterly flow. Our wind index and the monthly-mean surface-air temperatures in late
winter and early spring over France and northern-latitude Europe are highly correlated. In February, the year-to-year increases/decreases
match every year for France (correlation of 0.82 with the Index); and every year with just one exception for Europe (correlation
with the Index of 0.76 for a longitudinal strip through Europe 45–50° N, and 0.73 for the 50–60° N strip). In March, the increases/decreases
of the wind Index and of the temperatures for France also match, but the correlation with the Index is lower, 0.65.
The high correlation between our Index and the large interannual fluctuations in the monthly temperature in late winter and
early spring indicate that the onset of the spring conditions in Europe is significantly influenced by the wind patterns over
the eastern North Atlantic.
Coinciding with the fluctuations from warm-Europe/high-Index winter to the opposite conditions, we observe “seesaw” effects,
fluctuations over the North Atlantic, in opposite directions in the east (25–5° W), and the west (65–45° W). In the low-Index
years we find that: (a) the surface-air temperatures in the west are appreciably higher than in the east (but slightly lower
in the high-Index year), and (b) the difference between the 500 mb meridional wind in the west and that in the east is positive
and large, exceeding 10 m s−1 (but it becomes negative and small in the high-Index years). The “seesaw” effects suggest that a positive feedback exits
between these cross-Atlantic temperature differences and the surface winds.
Received August 7, 1998 Revised April 23, 1999 |
| |
| Keywords: | |
| 本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录！ |
|
