The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is the most recognized and leading mode of atmospheric variability observed over the Atlantic sector of the Northern Hemisphere, and its impacts on weather and climate over the North Atlantic and Eurasia via large-scale teleconnections have been extensively studied. Here we use a multidata synthesis approach to analyze surface and tropospheric variables from multiple long-term observational and reanalysis datasets to identify the NAO’s footprint on interannual temperature variability over the vast but least-studied Sahara Desert during December–January–February–March for the satellite era (1979–2022) and century-long periods. Our results present evidence for a solid teleconnection pattern in surface and tropospheric temperatures associated with the NAO over the Sahara and document some major spatial–temporal and vertical characteristics of this pattern. It is found that the Saharan temperature anomalies are negatively correlated with the NAO index and this correlation is very strong, consistent, and statistically significant between different periods and across different datasets. The teleconnection is closely linked to large-scale circulation anomalies throughout the troposphere over the North Atlantic–Sahara sector, where the anomalous horizontal wind components and geopotential height exhibit opposite changes in sign with altitude from the lower to upper troposphere. During the negative NAO− (positive NAO+) phase, above-normal (below-normal) temperatures over the Sahara could be mainly explained by three major processes: (1) advection of climatological warm and moist (cold and dry) air over the North Atlantic (northern higher latitudes) by the anomalous southwesterly (northeasterly) flow in the lower troposphere; (2) advection of anomalous North Atlantic warm (cold) air by the climatological strong westerlies in the middle and upper troposphere; and (3) strengthened (weakened) vertical mixing in the atmospheric boundary layer. These results suggest that the NAO plays an important role in modulating the interannual temperature variability over the Sahara, and that this NAO footprint is mostly realized through horizontal temperature advection and vertical heat transfer by turbulent mixing.

北大西洋涛动（NAO）是在北半球大西洋部分观测到的最受认可和主要的大气变率模式，其通过大规模遥相关对北大西洋和欧亚大陆天气和气候的影响已得到广泛研究。在这里，我们使用多数据综合方法来分析来自多个长期观测和再分析数据集的地表和对流层变量，以确定 NAO 在 12 月、1 月、2 月和 3 月期间对广阔但研究最少的撒哈拉沙漠的年际温度变化的影响。卫星时代（1979-2022）和长达一个世纪的时期。我们的结果提供了与撒哈拉上空 NAO 相关的地表和对流层温度的可靠遥相关模式的证据，并记录了该模式的一些主要时空和垂直特征。研究发现，撒哈拉气温异常与NAO指数呈负相关，并且这种相关性在不同时期和不同数据集之间非常强、一致且具有统计显着性。这种遥相关与北大西洋-撒哈拉地区整个对流层的大规模环流异常密切相关，其中异常水平风分量和位势高度随高度从对流层下层到上层呈现相反的符号变化。在负 NAO−（正 NAO+）阶段，撒哈拉沙漠气温高于正常（低于正常）的原因主要有以下三个主要过程：（1）反常西南风（东北风）在对流层低层流动；(2)对流层中上层气候性强西风带对北大西洋异常暖(冷)空气的平流作用；(3)大气边界层垂直混合增强(减弱)。这些结果表明，NAO 在调节撒哈拉沙漠年际温度变化方面发挥着重要作用，并且 NAO 足迹主要是通过水平温度平流和湍流混合的垂直传热来实现的。(1) 对流层低层异常西南（东北）气流导致北大西洋（北部高纬度地区）气候暖湿（冷干）空气平流；(2)对流层中上层气候性强西风带对北大西洋异常暖(冷)空气的平流作用；(3)大气边界层垂直混合增强(减弱)。这些结果表明，NAO 在调节撒哈拉沙漠年际温度变化方面发挥着重要作用，并且 NAO 足迹主要是通过水平温度平流和湍流混合的垂直传热来实现的。(1) 对流层低层异常西南（东北）气流导致北大西洋（北部高纬度地区）气候暖湿（冷干）空气平流；(2)对流层中上层气候性强西风带对北大西洋异常暖(冷)空气的平流作用；(3)大气边界层垂直混合增强(减弱)。这些结果表明，NAO 在调节撒哈拉沙漠年际温度变化方面发挥着重要作用，并且 NAO 足迹主要是通过水平温度平流和湍流混合的垂直传热来实现的。