How ocean color can steer Pacific tropical cyclones
Author(s)
Gnanadesikan, Anand; Emanuel, Kerry Andrew; Vecchi, Gabriel A.; Anderson, Whit G.; Hallberg, Robert
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Because ocean color alters the absorption of sunlight, it can produce changes in sea surface temperatures with further impacts on atmospheric circulation. These changes can project onto fields previously recognized to alter the distribution of tropical cyclones. If the North Pacific subtropical gyre contained no absorbing and scattering materials, the result would be to reduce subtropical cyclone activity in the subtropical Northwest Pacific by 2/3, while concentrating cyclone tracks along the equator. Predicting tropical cyclone activity using coupled models may thus require consideration of the details of how heat moves into the upper thermocline as well as biogeochemical cycling.
Date issued
2010-09Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary SciencesJournal
Geophysical Research Letters
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
Citation
Gnanadesikan, A., K. Emanuel, G. A. Vecchi, W. G. Anderson, and R. Hallberg (2010), "How ocean color can steer Pacific tropical cyclones.", Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L18802. ©2010 American Geophysical Union.
Version: Final published version