Reconstructing tropical monthly sea surface temperature variability by assimilating coral proxy datasets

Abstract Coral reconstruction often serves as a major proxy of high-resolution sea surface temperature (SST) variability beyond the instrumental era. However, coral reconstructions are sparse and are usually studied for interannual variability, with few studies on the monthly features. In this study...

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Main Authors: Wenqing Hu, Liang Ning, Zhengyu Liu, Jian Liu, Fen Wu, Mi Yan, Leilei Jiang, Lili Lei, Fangmiao Xing, Haohao Sun, Kefan Chen, Yanmin Qin, Weiyi Sun, Qin Wen, Benyue Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2024-10-01
Series:npj Climate and Atmospheric Science
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-024-00816-w
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Summary:Abstract Coral reconstruction often serves as a major proxy of high-resolution sea surface temperature (SST) variability beyond the instrumental era. However, coral reconstructions are sparse and are usually studied for interannual variability, with few studies on the monthly features. In this study, we reconstruct the monthly SST spatial field by applying the paleoclimate data assimilation method to the coral records of the latest CoralHydro2k data set for the instrument period of 1880–2000. A comparison with observed SST variability shows that our assimilated tropical SST variability performs reasonably well for the seasonal cycle and monthly ENSO characteristics, notably the phase-locking and onset timing, and more realistic spatial fields relative to the model simulations. This study suggests the feasibility of applying paleoclimate data assimilation to reconstruct the monthly SST in the historical period.
ISSN:2397-3722