Seo, H., M. Jochum, R. Murtugudde and A. J. Miller, 2006:
Effect of ocean mesoscale variability on the mean state of tropical Atlantic climate.
Geophysical Research Letters,
33, L09606, doi:10.1029/2005GL025651.
Abstract.
A regional coupled ocean-atmospheric model is used to investigate the effect of oceanic
mesoscale features on the mean climate of the tropical Atlantic. It is shown that, compared
to a non-eddy resolving ocean model, resolving oceanic mesoscale variability leads
to a cooler mean equatorial cold tongue and a cooler coastal upwelling zone. This
changes the meridional SST gradient, and the resulting weaker low-level convergence
reduces the mean of rainfall in the marine Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). The
reduced rainfall and the cooler coastal upwelling regions represent a clear improvement
of the model solution.
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