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Extreme Marine Heat Waves in the Tropical Atlantic during Boreal Early Spring 2024: Major Role of Shortwave Radiation and Mixed Layer Depth
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DOI：10.1175/JCLI-D-25-0383.1.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
Recent studies have reported the marine heat waves (MHWs) across the tropical Atlantic that peaked in boreal early spring 2024. Using multiple observational and reanalysis datasets, we demonstrate that MHW metrics based on detrended data, averaged over the entire tropical Atlantic, reached their satellite-era maxima at that time, consistent with a prior equatorial study. A mixed layer heat budget analysis identified distinct regional drivers: 1) in the northern tropical Atlantic (20 degrees-3 degrees N), a preconditional MHW during fall 2023 that was sustained through the following seasons by positive shortwave radiation anomalies associated with reduced total cloud cover; 2) in the equatorial Atlantic (3 degrees N-3 degrees S), warming was driven by the previously identified ocean waves, amplified by negative mixed layer depth anomalies; and 3) in the southern tropical Atlantic (3 degrees-20 degrees S), the primary driver was wind-driven mixed layer shoaling from November 2023 to February 2024. Further analysis links the northern tropical Atlantic cloud-cover anomalies to the previously emphasized remote forcing from El Ni & ntilde;o, whereas the wind anomalies over the southern tropical and equatorial Atlantic were predominantly controlled by the newly revealed South Atlantic subtropical dipole. Our study reveals the multifaceted formation mechanisms of extreme MHWs in the tropical Atlantic, offering crucial insights for improving their seasonal prediction.
Keywords:
Atlantic Ocean
Atmosphere-ocean interaction
Extreme events
Heat wave
Sea surface temperature
Tropical variability
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1.4W
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5.9W
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