The Role of Aerosols in the Evolution of Tropical North Atlantic Ocean Temperature Anomalies
Amato T. Evan,1,2,*
Daniel J. Vimont,2
Andrew K. Heidinger,3
James P. Kossin,4
Ralf Bennartz2
Observations and models show that northern tropical Atlantic
surface temperatures are sensitive to regional changes in stratospheric
volcanic and tropospheric mineral aerosols. However, it is unknown
whether the temporal variability of these aerosols is a key
factor in the evolution of ocean temperature anomalies. We used
a simple physical model, incorporating 26 years of satellite
data, to estimate the temperature response of the ocean mixed
layer to changes in aerosol loadings. Our results suggest that
the mixed layer’s response to regional variability in
aerosols accounts for 69% of the recent upward trend, and 67%
of the detrended and 5-year low pass–filtered variance,
in northern tropical Atlantic Ocean temperatures.
2 Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
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, USA.
4 NOAA/NESDIS/National Climatic Data Center, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: atevan{at}wisc.edu
