How Do Interactions between the Atmosphere and the Land/Ocean/Sea Ice Affect Climate?
David S. Battisti Professor of Atmospheric Sciences University of Washington Seattle, Washington, USA The physical properties of the media (land/ice/water) at the lower boundary of the atmosphere have a profound impact on the mean climate state and the climatological annual cycle. We will discuss in this talk how the exchange of heat and water between the atmosphere and the ocean, land, and sea ice affects variability of the climate system on seasonal-to-interannual time scales. We will consider two “types” of interactions that lead to significant variability in the atmosphere at low-frequencies (seasonal to interannual): (a) interactions that lead to (patterns of) variability in the atmosphere that are intrinsically due to the feedbacks between the atmosphere and each surface medium, and (b) interactions that lead to modification of the temporal signatures of the patterns of variability that are inherent to the uncoupled atmosphere. ENSO is the classic example of climate variability t
