Comparison of variations in atmospheric quantities with sea surface temperature variations in the equatorial eastern Pacific.

Abstract

Sea surface temperature (SST) variations in the equatorial eastern Pacific (0-10oS, 180-90oW) are compared with variations in atmospheric temperature, circulation, rainfall and trace-constituent amount. Significant at the 99.9% level is the zero-lag correlation of -0.62 between this SST and the Southern Oscillation Index during 1932-79, the correlation of 0.72 between this SST and the zonally averaged temperature in the tropical troposphere 2 seasons later during 1958-79, and the correlation of -0.62 between this SST and Indian summer monsoon rainfall 1-2 seasons earlier during 1868-1977. -from Author NOAA, Air Resources Laboratories, Silver Spring, MD 20910, and CSIRO Division of Atmospheric Physics, Mordialloc, Victoria 3195, Australia.