A global and tropical quasi-decadal oscillation of the atmosphere and Ocean

Abstract

An oscillatory, quasi-periodic signal with a period of around 10 years was found in radiosonde- and satellite-measured datasets of lower stratospheric temperature. Power spectrum analysis and Fourier decomposition were used to characterize the temporal and vertical manifestations of the signal, while EOF analyses were used to analyze its spatial characteristics. The oscillation was found to be unrelated to the solar activity cycle, while it displayed coherence with similar oscillatory signals in ENSO, PDO and AMO indices, as well as with a quasi-decadal signal in SST data. Finally, the quasi-decadal signal in lower stratospheric temperature was found to have a small but measurable contribution to the signal of tropical cyclone potential intensity in the Atlantic MDR.