Interannual Relationship between the Boreal Spring Arctic Oscillation and the Northern Hemisphere Hadley Circulation Extent

• Published in: Journal of climate 2019-07, Vol.32 (14), p.4395-4408
• Main Authors: Hu, Dingzhu, Guo, Yi-Peng, Tan, Zhe-Min, Guan, Zhaoyong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arctic Oscillation; Atmospheric forcing; Atmospheric pressure; Datasets; Eddy momentum flux; Fluctuations; Flux; Hadley circulation; Latitude; Momentum; Momentum flux; Momentum transfer; North Atlantic Oscillation; Northern Hemisphere; Ocean-atmosphere system; Planetary wave propagation; Planetary waves; Precipitation; Propagation; Refractive index; Refractivity; Spring; Spring (season); Studies; Summer; Vortices; Wave propagation; Winds; Zonal winds
• ISSN: 0894-8755; 1520-0442
• DOI: 10.1175/JCLI-D-18-0657.1

This study investigates the interannual relationship and the dynamical linkage between the boreal spring Arctic Oscillation (AO) and the Northern Hemisphere Hadley circulation extent (HCE). The spring AO is positively correlated with the HCE, with one standard positive deviation of the AO index corresponding to approximately 0.42° latitude poleward shift of the HCE. The interaction between the planetary wave and the zonal winds over the subtropics results in an anomalous eddy momentum flux divergence, which shifts the HCE poleward. The AO related transient eddy momentum flux divergence makes nearly 2 times larger contributions than those of the stationary component to the HCE change. The increased equatorward transient wave flux over the subtropics is possibly related to the larger meridional gradient of the transient wave refractive index there. The AO positive phase corresponds to an enhanced planetary wave propagation from the midlatitude Atlantic Ocean to the subtropics, which resembles the North Atlantic Oscillation pattern. The autumn and winter AO–HCE relationship is similar to that during spring, while summer has the weakest relationship, which could be mainly attributed to the far poleward extension of the climatological HCE during summer.