What is a sea surface temperature anomaly?
Sea surface temperature is the temperature of the top millimeter of the ocean’s surface. An anomaly is a departure from average conditions. These maps compare temperatures in a given month to the long-term average temperature of that month from 1985 through 1997.
What is a temperature anomaly map?
The maps show daytime land surface temperature anomalies for a given month compared to the average conditions during that period between 2000-2008. Places that were warmer than average are red, places that were near normal are white, and places that were cooler than average are blue.
What is the ENSO 3.4 index?
The NINO3. 4 index is defined as the average of SST anomalies over the region 5°N – 5°S and 170° – 120°W. NCC classifies the NINO3. 4 temperature anomaly as “warm” if it exceeds 0.8°C, which is about one standard deviation above average.
What does it mean if the temperature anomaly in a given year is negative?
A positive anomaly means that the temperature was warmer than normal; a negative anomaly indicates that the temperature was cooler than normal.
What does SST anomaly mean?
Sea Surface Temperature anomalies
What is an “SST Anomaly”? Sea Surface Temperature anomalies in degrees Celsius, or “SST anomalies” for short, are how much temperatures depart from what is normal for that time of year. This makes sense; we might say that we had a “warm winter” even though it was still much colder than summer.
What determines sea surface temperature?
It varies mainly with latitude, with the warmest waters generally near the equator and the coldest waters in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. As the oceans absorb more heat, sea surface temperature increases, and the ocean circulation patterns that transport warm and cold water around the globe change.
How do you read a temperature anomaly graph?
A positive anomaly indicates that the observed temperature was warmer than the reference value. A negative anomaly indicates that the observed temperature was cooler than the reference value.
What type of graph should you use to analyze temperature anomaly data?
When we visualize precipitation and temperature anomalies, we simply use time series as bar graph indicating negative and positive values in red and blue.
Where is Nino 3.4 located?
Niño 3.4 (5N-5S, 170W-120W): The Niño 3.4 anomalies may be thought of as representing the average equatorial SSTs across the Pacific from about the dateline to the South American coast.
How do you read the Oceanic Nino Index?
The ONI is the rolling 3-month average temperature anomaly—difference from average—in the surface waters of the east-central tropical Pacific, near the International Dateline. Index values of +0.5 or higher indicate El Niño. Values of -0.5 or lower indicate La Niña.
What do temperature anomalies tell us?
The term temperature anomaly means a departure from a reference value or long-term average. A positive anomaly indicates that the observed temperature was warmer than the reference value, while a negative anomaly indicates that the observed temperature was cooler than the reference value.
How are SST anomalies calculated?
Weekly and Monthly SST Anomaly Products are calculated by subtracting a SST climatology (8-day or monthly from 1985 to 2014) from a SST composite (8-day or monthly).