Trends and leading patterns of variability of SST and heat fluxes in South Atlantic Ocean

SOLMAN, SILVINA; LEYBA, INÉS MERCEDES; SARACENO, MARTIN

Trieste

Workshop; ICTP Workshop on Teleconnections in the Present and Future Climate; 2016

The climate of South America is influenced by local and remote factors. Sea surface temperature (SST) in the surrounding oceans is one of the most important remote forcing. Although el Niño Southern Oscillation is the dominant mode of interannual variability of regional climate, recent studies have suggest that SST in the South Atlantic Ocean (SAO) play a significant role in the precipitation regime in southeastern South America (SESA), which has a positive tendency in the 20th century and it is expected to continue throughout the 21th century.This work assesses patterns of low frequency variability of SST, sensible and latent heat flux (SHF and LHF, respectively), with the hypothesis that they could partly explain climate anomalies in the SESA.