Local and remote sources of tropical atlantic variability as inferred from the results of a hybrid ocean-atmosphere coupled model

[1] A hybrid ocean-atmosphere coupled model is used to study the interannual variability of sea surface temperature and wind stress over the tropical Atlantic. The coupled model is composed of a statistical atmospheric component model that uses sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) over the tropical oceans to forecast wind stress anomalies over the tropical Atlantic, coupled to a general circulation model of the ocean configured over the Atlantic. It is shown that, while the Atlantic-only hybrid coupled model has damped oscillations of SSTA and wind stress, the inclusion of Pacific SSTA variability in the coupled model resulted in sustained oscillations of wind stress and SSTA over the equatorial Atlantic.