Correlation Analysis of Interaction between Oceanic Heat Fluxes and Geopotential Gradient Fields in the Middle Troposphere when Meridional and Zonal Processes Dominate

Abstract Investigation of the interaction between oceanic heat fluxes and fields of the spatial gradient of the geopotential in the middle troposphere has been carried out by means of linear correlation analysis when meridional and zonal processes are active. Analysis of the spatial distribution of the correlation coefficients demonstrated that the structure of the interaction between heat fluxes in the North Atlantic and the geopotential gradient field in the middle troposphere over the Atlantic–European sector differs in periods with predominant meridional and zonal forms of circulation, which provides evidence on the significant contribution of ocean heat flux to the formation and development of atmospheric circulation regimes.