Ocean Science www.ocean-sci.net 1812-0784 1812-0792 6 2 2010 10.5194/os-6-587-2010 http://www.ocean-sci.net/6/587/2010/ http://www.ocean-sci.net/6/587/2010/os-6-587-2010.html http://www.ocean-sci.net/6/587/2010/os-6-587-2010.pdf 587 593 2010-06-15 Temporal energy partitions of Florida extreme sea level events as a function of Atlantic multidecadal oscillation J. Park jpark@sfwmd.gov J. Obeysekera J. Barnes South Florida Water Management District, Hydrologic & Environmental Systems Modeling, West Palm Beach, FL, USA An energy-conservative metric based on the discrete wavelet transform is applied to assess the relative energy distribution of extreme sea level events across different temporal scales. The metric is applied to coastal events at Key West and Pensacola Florida as a function of two Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) regimes. Under AMO warm conditions there is a small but significant redistribution of event energy from nearly static into more dynamic (shorter duration) timescales at Key West, while at Pensacola the AMO-dependent changes in temporal event behaviour are less pronounced. Extreme events with increased temporal dynamics might be consistent with an increase in total energy of event forcings which may be a reflection of more energetic storm events during AMO warm phases. As dynamical models mature to the point of providing regional climate index predictability, coastal planners may be able to consider such temporal change metrics in planning scenarios. Bindoff, N. L., Willebrand, J., Artale, V., Cazenave, A., Gregory, J., Gulev, S., Hanawa, K., Le Quéré, C., Levitus, S., Nojiri, Y., Shum, C. K., Talley, L. 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