Influence of tropical Atlantic meridional dipole of sea surface temperature anomalies on Antarctic autumn sea ice

Abstract

Antarctic sea ice plays an important role in polar ecosystems and global climate, while its variability is affected by many factors. Teleconnections between the tropical and high latitudes have profound impacts on Antarctic climate changes through the stationary Rossby wave mechanism. Recent studies have connected long-term Antarctic sea ice changes to multidecadal variabilities of the tropical ocean, including the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation. On interannual timescales, whether an impact exists from teleconnection of the tropical Atlantic is not clear. Here we find an impact of sea surface temperature (SST) variability of the tropical Atlantic meridional dipole mode on Antarctic sea ice that is most prominent in austral autumn. The meridional dipole SST anomalies in the tropical Atlantic force deep convection anomalies locally and over the tropical Pacific, generating stationary Rossby wave trains propagating eastward and poleward, which induce atmospheric circulation anomalies affecting sea ice. Specifically, convective anomalies over the equatorial Atlantic and Pacific are opposite-signed, accompanied by anomalous wave sources over the subtropical Southern Hemisphere. The planetary-scale atmospheric response has significant impacts on sea ice concentration anomalies in the Ross Sea, near the Antarctic Peninsula, and east of the Weddell Sea.

Keywords

• atmospheric teleconnection
• Antarctic sea ice
• tropical Atlantic
• interannual variability