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Interannual Climate Variations Over the Tropical Atlantic Ocean

  • Conference paper
Book cover Prediction of Interannual Climate Variations

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASII,volume 6))

Abstract

The capability to predict climate variations on various time scales depends on the ability to comprehend the complex interplay of many processes which determine the present climate and its variability. Through the years, various scientists have correlated the low- frequency atmospheric oscillations to changes occurring in the tropical oceans. The principal elements of the tightly coupled tropical atmosphere-ocean system are the relatively fast dynamical response of tropical ocean basins to changes in the surface winds, associated changes in mixed layer depth, heat content, and surface temperature (SST) and, in the atmosphere, the response of tropical convection, precipitation and surface winds to variation of SST. The purpose of the current 10-year program Tropical Ocean - Global Atmosphere (TOGA) is to observe and understand year-to-year climate variability. The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon, with its marine effect which occurs principally over the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, is undoubtedly the most noted and pronounced case of such variability. ENSO events, as for instance that developed during 1982–1983 (Quiroz, 1983), received justifiably explosive interest during the last decade that somewhat shadowed the role and importance of other ocean sectors.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire d’Océanographie Dynamique et de Climatologie Centre ORSTOM (IFREMER), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 29280, Plouzané, France

    J. Servain

  2. Institut Français de Recherche Scientifique pour le Développement en Coopération Laboratoire d’Océanographie Dynamique et de Climatologie, Université P. et M. Curie, 75252, Paris Cédex 05, France

    J. Merle

Authors
  1. J. Servain
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  2. J. Merle
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Interactions Department of Meteorology, University of Maryland at College Park, 20742-2425, College Park, MD, USA

    J. Shukla

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© 1993 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Servain, J., Merle, J. (1993). Interannual Climate Variations Over the Tropical Atlantic Ocean. In: Shukla, J. (eds) Prediction of Interannual Climate Variations. NATO ASI Series, vol 6. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-76960-3_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-76960-3_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-76962-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-76960-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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