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Detailed Reference Information |
Münnich, M. and Neelin, J.D. (2005). Seasonal influence of ENSO on the Atlantic ITCZ and equatorial South America. Geophysical Research Letters 32: doi: 10.1029/2005GL023900. issn: 0094-8276. |
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In late boreal spring, especially May, a strong relationship exists in observations among precipitation anomalies over equatorial South America and the Atlantic intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), and eastern equatorial Pacific and central equatorial Atlantic sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA). A chain of correlations of equatorial Pacific SSTA, western equatorial Atlantic wind stress (WEA), equatorial Atlantic SSTA, sea surface height, and precipitation supports a causal chain in which El Ni¿o/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) induces WEA stress anomalies, which in turn affect Atlantic equatorial ocean dynamics. These correlations show strong seasonality, apparently arising within the atmospheric links of the chain. This pathway and the influence of equatorial Atlantic SSTA on South American rainfall in May appear independent of that of the northern tropical Atlantic. Brazil's Nordeste is affected by the northern tropical Atlantic. The equatorial influence lies further to the north over the eastern Amazon and the Guiana Highlands. |
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BACKGROUND DATA FILES |
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Abstract |
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Keywords
Hydrology, Climate impacts, Global Change, Oceans (1616, 3305, 4215, 4513), Global Change, Land/atmosphere interactions (1218, 1843, 3322), Global Change, Climate dynamics (0429, 3309), Global Change, Climate variability (1635, 3305, 3309, 4215, 4513) |
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Publisher
American Geophysical Union 2000 Florida Avenue N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009-1277 USA 1-202-462-6900 1-202-328-0566 service@agu.org |
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