Sea surface temperature and sea surface height variability in the North Pacific Ocean from 1993 to 1999

[1] Correlations between advanced very high resolution radiometer Pathfinder sea surface temperature (SST) and TOPEX sea surface height (SSH) anomalies are calculated for the 7 year period 1993-1999 in the equatorial and North Pacific. These correlations provide measures of SSH and SST covariability and are obtained using an empirical orthogonal function analysis separately on the two fields and a singular value decomposition (SVD) method on both fields simultaneously. These correlations reveal distinct SST-SSH states: a warm, elevated period from January 1993 to December 1994; a cooler, lower phase spanning January 1995 through December 1996; and the strongly variable El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) period spanning 1997-1999. The relationships between these SST-SSH states and the dominant interannual and interdecadal modes of Pacific variability are investigated through correlations with indices for the Southern Oscillation, Pacific-North American (PNA) pattern, and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). When including the tropics, significant correlations between the first SVD mode of the SST-SSH covariability and the interannual ENSO pattern and interdecadal PDO pattern are evident. Restricting the focus to the extratropical North Pacific reveals significant correlations with only the interdecadal PDO pattern. While the first mode reveals connections to the ENSO and PDO patterns, the second SVD mode indicates significant correlations to the PNA pattern for both the tropical and extratropical Pacific.