Interannual variations in the atmospheric heat budget

Interannual variability of the atmospheric heat budget is explored via a new data set of the computed vertically integrated energy transports to examine relationships with other fields. A case study reveals very large monthly divergences of these transports regionally with El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the associated changes with the Pacific‐North American teleconnection pattern, and with the North Atlantic Oscillation. In the tropical Pacific during large El Niño events the anomalous divergence of the atmospheric energy transports exceeds 50 W m −2 over broad regions for several months. Examination of the corresponding top‐of‐the‐atmosphere net radiative fluxes shows that it is primarily the surface fluxes from the ocean to the atmosphere that feed the divergent atmospheric transports. A systematic investigation of the covariability of sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and the divergence of atmospheric energy transport, using singular value decomposition analysis of the temporal covariance, reveals ENSO as dominant in the first two modes, explaining 62% and 12% of the covariance in the Pacific domain and explaining 39.5% and 15.4% globally for the first and second modes, respectively. The first mode is well represented by the time series for the SST index for Niño 3.4 region (170°W–120°W, 5°N–5°S). Regression analysis allows a more complete view of how the SSTs, outgoing longwave radiation, precipitation, diabatic heating, and atmospheric circulation respond with ENSO. The second mode indicates aspects of the systematic evolution of ENSO with time, with strong lead and lag correlations. It primarily reflects differences in the evolution of ENSO across the tropical Pacific from about the dateline to coastal South America. High SSTs associated with warm ENSO events are damped through surface heat fluxes into the atmosphere, which transports the energy into higher latitudes and throughout the tropics, contributing to loss of heat by the ocean, while the cold ENSO events correspond to a recharge phase as heat enters the ocean. Diabatic processes are clearly important within ENSO evolution.