Atmospheric Forcing of Sea Surface Temperature Decadal Variability in
the Subtropical Northeastern Pacific
Abstract
The subtropical northeastern Pacific (SNEP) acts as a bridge conveying
information between the North and tropical Pacific. While most studies
have investigated the SNEP sea surface temperature (SST) interannual
variability, less attention has been paid to the pronounced decadal
variability in this region. Here, by analyzing observational data and an
ensemble pacemaker simulation, we investigate SNEP SST decadal
variability in terms of atmospheric forcing processes. We find that both
tropical Pacific-forced and internal (independent of tropical Pacific
forcing) atmospheric variability play important forcing roles. In
particular, tropical Pacific-excited Aleutian low variability, whose
center of action shifts southeastward compared to the climatology,
contributes to forcing SNEP SST decadal variability. This contribtution
could offer an important source for the predictability of SNEP SST
decadal variability.