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Amato T. Evan et al., The role of aerosols in the evolution of tropical North Atlantic Ocean temperature anomalies

Published online March 26, 2009, Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1167404

Reports

(Submitted on October 20, 2008; Accepted on March 11, 2009.)

The role of aerosols in the evolution of tropical North Atlantic Ocean temperature anomalies

Amato T. Evan 1*, Daniel J. Vimont 2, Andrew K. Heidinger 3, James P. Kossin 4, Ralf Bennartz 2

1 Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA.; Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, U.S.A.
2 Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, U.S.A.
3 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS)/Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR), 1225 West Dayton Street, Madison, WI 53706, U.S.A.
4 NOAA/NESDIS/National Climatic Data Center, Madison, WI 53706, U.S.A.

Abstract

Observations and models demonstrate that northern tropical Atlantic surface temperatures are sensitive to regional changes in stratospheric volcanic and tropospheric mineral aerosols. However, it is unknown if the temporal variability of these aerosols is a key factor in the evolution of ocean temperature anomalies. Here, we elucidate this question by using 26 years of satellite data to drive a simple physical model for estimating the temperature response of the ocean mixed layer to changes in aerosol loadings. Our results suggest that 69% of the recent upward trend, and 67% of the detrended and 5-year low pass filtered variance, in northern tropical Atlantic Ocean temperatures is the mixed layer’s response to regional variability in aerosols.

*To whom correspondence should be addressed: Amato T. Evan, e-mail: atevan@wisc.edu