Tropical Atlantic sea surface temperature variability and its relation to El Niño‐Southern Oscillation

Past analyses of tropical Atlantic sea surface temperature variability have suggested a dipole behavior between the northern and southern tropics, across the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). By analyzing an improved 43‐year (1950–1992) record of SST [ Smith et al , 1996] and other data derived from the Comprehensive Ocean‐Atmosphere Data Set (COADS), it is shown that the regions north and south of the ITCZ are statistically independent of...