Gildor, Hezi, Adam H. Sobel, Mark A. Cane and Raymond N. Sambrotto

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, New York 10964-8000, USA, Tel: 845-365-8901, Fax: 845-365-8736, E-mail: hezi@ldeo.columbia.edu

A role for ocean biota in tropical intraseasonal atmospheric variability

We propose that temporal variations within the marine ecological system can induce intraseasonal variations in sea surface temperature (SST) through the effect on solar penetration of chlorophyll and other optically active organic components. Sensitivity studies with a simple model suggest that these small oscillations in SST may stimulate radiative-convective oscillations in the atmosphere which amplify them and thus induce or modulate significant variability in the coupled system. Long term bio-optical measurements in the Western Pacific, where satellite time series are degraded by clouds, would provide a test of our theory and would improve our understanding of the heat balance in this climatically important region.