Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly and  Precipitation Distribution in the Alagoas State of the Brazilian Northeast

I. Kulikova; N. Fedorova; V. Levit; E. S. Cordeiro

doi:10.4236/ns.2014.614104

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Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly and Precipitation Distribution in the Alagoas State of the Brazilian Northeast

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DOI: 10.4236/ns.2014.614104 2,235 Downloads 2,789 Views

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I. Kulikova¹, N. Fedorova², V. Levit², E. S. Cordeiro²

Affiliation(s)

¹Hydrometeorological Research Centre of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia.
²Institute of Atmospheric Science, Federal University of Alagoas, Maceió, Brazil.

ABSTRACT

Precipitation data of 17 pluviometrical stations in the Alagoas State of the Brazilian Northeast and global spatial distribution of the Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly (SSTA) were analyzed for the period of 1981-2007. Techniques of constructing composite charts for SSTA fields are used to study the interrelation between the ocean thermal state with precipitation more than 50 mm/24 h, 20 mm/24 h or without precipitation for six ambient regions of the state. The student test is used for estimating statistical characteristics of the composites. Synoptic-scale pattern analyses of the composites reveal strikingly different spatial distribution of SSTA within each composite. The El Niño Southern Oscillation cycle refers to the coherent, large-scale fluctuation of ocean temperatures. At the highest ambient regions during heavy precipitation days, more intensive SSTA was observed. The lowest anomalies were observed for all types of precipitation in the semi-arid region. Quantile analyses of NCEP/NCAR indexes of SSTA distribution, such as NATL, SATL, TROP and RNASA were used too. Positive SSTA values in tropical regions are associated with the highest possibility of precipitation formation. The SST interhemispheric north-south gradient in equatorial regions of the North and South Atlantic has direct influence on the precipitation formation in the Alagoas State.

KEYWORDS

Precipitation, Brazilian Northeast, Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly, SST Interhemispheric Gradient

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Cite this paper

Kulikova, I. , Fedorova, N. , Levit, V. and Cordeiro, E. (2014) Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly and Precipitation Distribution in the Alagoas State of the Brazilian Northeast. Natural Science, 6, 1159-1178. doi: 10.4236/ns.2014.614104.

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