Influence of the sunspot cycle on the Northern Hemisphere wintertime circulation from long upper-air data sets

Brugnara, Yuri; Brönnimann, Stefan; Luterbacher, Jürg; Rozanov, E. (2013). Influence of the sunspot cycle on the Northern Hemisphere wintertime circulation from long upper-air data sets. Atmospheric chemistry and physics, 13(13), pp. 6275-6288. European Geosciences Union 10.5194/acp-13-6275-2013

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Here we present a study of the 11 yr sunspot cycle's imprint on the Northern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation, using three recently developed gridded upper-air data sets that extend back to the early twentieth century. We find a robust response of the tropospheric late-wintertime circulation to the sunspot cycle, independent from the data set. This response is particularly significant over Europe, although results show that it is not directly related to a North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) modulation; instead, it reveals a significant connection to the more meridional Eurasian pattern (EU). The magnitude of mean seasonal temperature changes over the European land areas locally exceeds 1 K in the lower troposphere over a sunspot cycle.

We also analyse surface data to address the question whether the solar signal over Europe is temporally stable for a longer 250 yr period. The results increase our confidence in the existence of an influence of the 11 yr cycle on the European climate, but the signal is much weaker in the first half of the period compared to the second half. The last solar minimum (2005 to 2010), which was not included in our analysis, shows anomalies that are consistent with our statistical results for earlier solar minima.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Institute of Geography > Physical Geography > Unit Climatology
10 Strategic Research Centers > Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR)
08 Faculty of Science > Institute of Geography

Graduate School:

Graduate School of Climate Sciences

UniBE Contributor:

Brugnara, Yuri, Brönnimann, Stefan, Luterbacher, Jürg

Subjects:

500 Science > 550 Earth sciences & geology
900 History > 910 Geography & travel

ISSN:

1680-7316

Publisher:

European Geosciences Union

Language:

English

Submitter:

Monika Wälti-Stampfli

Date Deposited:

11 Dec 2013 15:00

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:27

Publisher DOI:

10.5194/acp-13-6275-2013

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.39436

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/39436

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