Variations of Winter Climate in Association with the Interannual Variability of Atmospheric Mass over Water Oceans, Continents, and Sea Ice-Covered Arctic Region

Abstract:

Using reanalysis data from NCEP/NCAR, ERA-interim, and HadISST for period 1979-2012, variations of atmospheric mass (AM) over water oceans, continents, and sea-ice-covered arctic region during boreal winter are investigated. It is found that the AM may migrate compensatively among these three types of surfaces on interannual time scales. There are two pairs of strong anti-phase relations. The one is in zonal between Eurasian continent and mid-latitude Pacific (referred to as EPAR), which is a teleconnection pattern characterizing with two strong correlation centers respectively over Eurasia and North Pacific. The other anti-phase relation of AM, referred to as OIAR, is found in meridional between ice-covered Arctic and water oceans including Atlantic and Pacific. In the context of OIAR, two teleconnection patterns are found. One is MANP, which merges as three strong correlation centers respectively over the Mediterranean, Arctic, and North Pacific when AM fluctuates over water oceans. Another is MAEA, which characterizes with three strong correlation centers respectively around the Mediterranean, Arctic, and East Asia when AM fluctuates over the ice-covered Arctic. The MAEA looks largely different from MANP in anomalous surface air pressure over the northwest Pacific. These teleconnections including MANP, MAEA, and EPAR are resulted from thermal contrasts among the three types of surfaces. Rossby waves and vertical circulations play important roles in forming these teleconnection patterns. Interestingly, these teleconnections may significantly influence the winter climate widely in the Northern Hemisphere, especially in regions around the Mediterranean, the northern part of Eurasia, parts of North America, and East Asia.