Thermodynamic air-sea interactions and Tropical Atlantic SST dipole pattern

Climate variability of the Tropical Atlantic is examined from the point of view of the air-sea thermodynamic interactions. Data from the reanalyses of the ECMWF and NCEP are used to investigate the physical mechanism of tropical Atlantic Sea Surface Temperature (SST) dipole pattern. Results suggest that the well-known positive feedback between the SST and the wind-induced evaporation may not be a sufficient mechanism to make the SST oscillate or maintain the dipole pattern since the thermal damping effect may also be important.