AI Article Synopsis
- Sea-surface temperature (SST) anomalies are often used as indicators for near-surface marine air temperature (MAT) anomalies in global climate studies.
- The study reveals that SST and MAT anomalies exhibit significant differences in their statistical properties, including long-term trends and average distributions.
- Evidence from tropical Pacific Ocean buoys shows that using SST to infer MAT variability can be misleading, particularly over shorter time scales (less than a decade).
Article Abstract
On global and hemispheric scales, sea-surface temperature (SST) anomalies are assumed to be good surrogates for near-surface marine air temperature (MAT) anomalies. In fact, global gridded temperature datasets commonly blend SST and near-surface air temperature anomalies to overcome the lack of geographically homogeneous and reliable MAT observations. Here, we show that SST and MAT anomalies differ regarding crucial statistical properties such as multiannual trends and probabilistic distributions of daily and monthly averages. We provide evidence of the lack of interchangeability from an array of moored buoys in the tropical Pacific Ocean. We identify statistically significant discrepancies between SST and MAT anomalies for single as well as groups of such buoys. Thus, caution is required when characterizing and interpreting MAT variability through SST observations, especially at shorter than decadal timescale.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7198542 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-64167-1 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!