Impacts of Atlantic Multi-decadal Variability on the mid-latitude atmosphere

The large amplitude of low-frequency sea surface temperature (SST) variability in the North Atlantic, often known as Atlantic Multi-decadal Variability (AMV), raises the question of what impact this phenomenon has on atmospheric circulation. However, the coupled nature of AMV, makes disentangling the influence of the ocean on the atmosphere and that of the atmosphere on the ocean, challenging. This problem is further confounded by the relatively short observational record, when considering decadal to multi-decadal timescales.

To address this, we utilize information from both SSTs and ocean-atmosphere turbulent heat fluxes,  in a single index, to separate the influences that the ocean and atmosphere have on one another. This technique is then applied to both free-running coupled simulations and observations. This methodology will help further our understanding of North Atlantic variability on long timescales.