Abstracts presented at the 22nd PACLIM Conference, Pacific Grove, California, 26-29 March, 2006

摘要

Air masses that influence the climate of the southern coast of Alaska and the interior southwest Yukon originate in the Bering Sea, the Gulf of Alaska, and the Arctic. Trajectories of these air mass systems are largely controlled by variations in the intensity and position of the semipermanent aleutian low (AL). Decadal scale variability of the AL is evident from analyses of instrumental data and is described by climate indices such as the North Pacific Index (NPI) and the pacific decadal oscillation (PDO). Previous paleoclimatic studies suggest that variations in AL intensity and/or position were an important control of Alaska and Yukon Holocene climate. Varying atmospheric circulation patterns superimposed on regional topography produce notably different climates on the coast and in the interior.