Prediction of Interannual Climate Variations

This volume offers a series of reviews on the relationship between changes in atmospheric circulation and changes in sea surface temperature, soil moisture, ice and snow. The influence of each of these boundary conditions is reviewed, based on experiments with global climate models.

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This is a series of comprehensive reviews on the relationship between changes in atmospheric circulation and changes in sea surface temperature (SST), soil moisture, sea ice and snow. The influence of each of these boundary conditions is reviewed separately and based on the analysis of observations and sensitivity experiments with global climate models. Tropical SST anomalies have a profound effect on tropical circulation and rainfall; in some cases they also influence the extratropical atmospheric circulation. The most important conclusion of the book is that for monthly and seasonal predictions it is extremely important that the observed initial state of the atmosphere and the boundary conditions of SST - soil wetness, sea ice, snow depth and snow cover - be mutually consistent.