Wavelet coherence analysis of Atlantic hurricanes and cosmic rays

Abstract

In order to sustain previous results regarding the Correlational Analysis between Tropical Cyclones and Cosmophysical phenomena, namely Galactic Cosmic Rays (CR) and Solar Activity (SS), we extend here such analysis by means of the Coherence Morlet Wavelet spectral analysis. Then, the aim of this work is to find incident cosmophysical periodicities that may potentially modulate terrestrial phenomena. We confirm the previous evidence, for the first time from a Coherence wavelet study, the existence of fluctuations in the flux of (CR) at the frequency of 30 years through the study of historical data (10Be). Next, we analyze common periodicities between phenomena presumably associated to hurricanes, the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) and the Sea–Surface Temperature (SST) versus Cosmic Rays, and on the other hand Cosmic Rays versus Atlantic Hurricanes. We find a common frequency of 30± 2 yrs, among them, same that had been found in previous works in some properties of Hurricanes, as the total Cyclonal Energy, the total number of Tropical Storms landing in the Atlantic coast of Mexico and others. It seems that CR modulates in some way both the AMO and SST, and these in turn modulate in some way hurricanes. As a measure of the relevance of cosmophysical phenomena with respect to terrestrial sources of affectation for Hurricane development, we also applied the Wavelet Coherence analysis to the Dust cover originated in African dust outbreaks versus Atlantic Hurricanes and found that the coherence with Dust is weaker than with CR at the same frequencies, which allows us to infer that cosmophysical phenomena may be more important of what is now conventionally assumed in the development of Hurricanes.