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Abstract
Intraseasonal oscillations in a 3-yr, perpetual-January simulation are examined using a version of the UCLA GCM that produces no self-sustained Madden–Julian oscillation in the Tropics. A robust, 40-day oscillation is found to arise in the model's Northern Hemisphere (NH) extratropics when standard topography is present. Part I of this study addressed the zonally averaged component of the GCM oscillation, manifested in wind- and pressure-induced variations in atmospheric angular momentum (AAM). The focus here is on the spatial features of the oscillation as manifested in the variability of the 500-mb height field.
A standing, wavenumber-two pattern is found in the NH extratropics, which undergoes tilted-trough vacillation in conjunction with the model's AAM oscillation. High (low) values of AAM are associated with low (high) 500-mb heights over the northeast Pacific and Atlantic Oceans; the two centers' of action slightly different frequencies give rise to a long-period modulation (of about 300 days) in the amplitude of the intraseasonal oscillation. Global correlations with the leading empirical orthogonal functions of the NH extratropical 500-mb height field show northeast–southwest teleconnection patterns extending into the Tropics, similar to those found in observational studies. The zonally averaged latent heating in the Tropics exhibits no intraseasonal periodicity, but a 39-day oscillation is found in cumulus precipitation over the western Indian Ocean. The latter shows significant coherence with EOF 1 but is absent in three shorter no-mountain experiments (see Part I), indicating that it may be remotely forced by the intraseasonal oscillation that arises in the model's NH extratropics only in the standard-topography experiment.
Abstract
Intraseasonal oscillations in a 3-yr, perpetual-January simulation are examined using a version of the UCLA GCM that produces no self-sustained Madden–Julian oscillation in the Tropics. A robust, 40-day oscillation is found to arise in the model's Northern Hemisphere (NH) extratropics when standard topography is present. Part I of this study addressed the zonally averaged component of the GCM oscillation, manifested in wind- and pressure-induced variations in atmospheric angular momentum (AAM). The focus here is on the spatial features of the oscillation as manifested in the variability of the 500-mb height field.
A standing, wavenumber-two pattern is found in the NH extratropics, which undergoes tilted-trough vacillation in conjunction with the model's AAM oscillation. High (low) values of AAM are associated with low (high) 500-mb heights over the northeast Pacific and Atlantic Oceans; the two centers' of action slightly different frequencies give rise to a long-period modulation (of about 300 days) in the amplitude of the intraseasonal oscillation. Global correlations with the leading empirical orthogonal functions of the NH extratropical 500-mb height field show northeast–southwest teleconnection patterns extending into the Tropics, similar to those found in observational studies. The zonally averaged latent heating in the Tropics exhibits no intraseasonal periodicity, but a 39-day oscillation is found in cumulus precipitation over the western Indian Ocean. The latter shows significant coherence with EOF 1 but is absent in three shorter no-mountain experiments (see Part I), indicating that it may be remotely forced by the intraseasonal oscillation that arises in the model's NH extratropics only in the standard-topography experiment.
Abstract
A short-wave instability theory is applied to secondary waves on a narrow cold-front rainband observed during the Experiment on Rapidly Intensifying Cyclones over the Atlantic (ERICA). The basic mean state is approximated by the parabolic, geostrophically balanced interface between two layers of homogeneous density. The observed wavelength of perturbations along the ERICA cold front is about 20–30 km and their doubling time is about 2 hours. The observed wavelength is well within the short-wave regime of the theory, which yields a growth rate in good agreement with the ERICA observations. The spatial patterns of both the horizontal and vertical velocity components observed during ERICA are consistent with the model-derived patterns.
Abstract
A short-wave instability theory is applied to secondary waves on a narrow cold-front rainband observed during the Experiment on Rapidly Intensifying Cyclones over the Atlantic (ERICA). The basic mean state is approximated by the parabolic, geostrophically balanced interface between two layers of homogeneous density. The observed wavelength of perturbations along the ERICA cold front is about 20–30 km and their doubling time is about 2 hours. The observed wavelength is well within the short-wave regime of the theory, which yields a growth rate in good agreement with the ERICA observations. The spatial patterns of both the horizontal and vertical velocity components observed during ERICA are consistent with the model-derived patterns.
Abstract
Variations in atmospheric angular momentum (AAM) are examined in a three-year simulation of the large-scale atmosphere with perpetual January forcing. The simulation is performed with a version of the UCLA general circulation model that contains no tropical Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO). In addition, the results of three shorter experiments with no topography are analyzed. The three-year standard topography run contains no significant intraseasonal AAM periodicity in the tropics, consistent with the lack of the MJO, but produces a robust, 42-day AAM oscillation in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) extratropics. The model tropics undergoes a barotropic, zonally symmetric oscillation, driven by an exchange of mass with the NH extratropics. No intraseasonal periodicity is found in the average tropical latent heating field, indicating that the model oscillation is dynamically rather than thermodynamically driven. The no-mountain runs fail to produce an intraseasonal AAM oscillation, consistent with a topographic origin for the NH extratropical oscillation in the standard model. The spatial patterns of the oscillation in the 500-mb height field, and the relationship of the extratropical oscillation to intraseasonal variations in the tropics, will be discussed in Part II of this study.
Abstract
Variations in atmospheric angular momentum (AAM) are examined in a three-year simulation of the large-scale atmosphere with perpetual January forcing. The simulation is performed with a version of the UCLA general circulation model that contains no tropical Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO). In addition, the results of three shorter experiments with no topography are analyzed. The three-year standard topography run contains no significant intraseasonal AAM periodicity in the tropics, consistent with the lack of the MJO, but produces a robust, 42-day AAM oscillation in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) extratropics. The model tropics undergoes a barotropic, zonally symmetric oscillation, driven by an exchange of mass with the NH extratropics. No intraseasonal periodicity is found in the average tropical latent heating field, indicating that the model oscillation is dynamically rather than thermodynamically driven. The no-mountain runs fail to produce an intraseasonal AAM oscillation, consistent with a topographic origin for the NH extratropical oscillation in the standard model. The spatial patterns of the oscillation in the 500-mb height field, and the relationship of the extratropical oscillation to intraseasonal variations in the tropics, will be discussed in Part II of this study.
Abstract
It has recently been suggested that oscillatory topographic instability could contribute to low-frequency variability over the Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes. A barotropic potential vorticity model, with a hierarchy of forcing and topography configurations on the sphere, is used to investigate the nature of low-frequency oscillations induced by such instabilities. Steady-state solutions of the model include multiple unstable equilibria that sustain oscillatory instabilities with periods of 10–15 days, 35–50 days, and 150–180 days, for a realistic forcing pattern.
Time-dependent solutions exhibit chaotic behavior with episodic oscillations, featuring both the intraseasonal (35–50 day) and biweekly (10–15 day) modes. The former is dominated by standing spatial patterns, the latter by traveling wave patterns. The phases of the intraseasonal oscillation are robust for all cases, exhibiting a clear oscillatory exchange of atmospheric angular momentum with the solid earth via mountain torque. It is demonstrated, through linear stability analysis on the sphere, that the intraseasonal oscillations are induced by topographic instabilities.
The role of the seasonal cycle is studied by prescribing an annual cycle in the forcing. In this case, the winter forcing is more favorable than the summer for the occurrence of episodic intraseasonal oscillations. Recent observations are consistent with this model result.
Abstract
It has recently been suggested that oscillatory topographic instability could contribute to low-frequency variability over the Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes. A barotropic potential vorticity model, with a hierarchy of forcing and topography configurations on the sphere, is used to investigate the nature of low-frequency oscillations induced by such instabilities. Steady-state solutions of the model include multiple unstable equilibria that sustain oscillatory instabilities with periods of 10–15 days, 35–50 days, and 150–180 days, for a realistic forcing pattern.
Time-dependent solutions exhibit chaotic behavior with episodic oscillations, featuring both the intraseasonal (35–50 day) and biweekly (10–15 day) modes. The former is dominated by standing spatial patterns, the latter by traveling wave patterns. The phases of the intraseasonal oscillation are robust for all cases, exhibiting a clear oscillatory exchange of atmospheric angular momentum with the solid earth via mountain torque. It is demonstrated, through linear stability analysis on the sphere, that the intraseasonal oscillations are induced by topographic instabilities.
The role of the seasonal cycle is studied by prescribing an annual cycle in the forcing. In this case, the winter forcing is more favorable than the summer for the occurrence of episodic intraseasonal oscillations. Recent observations are consistent with this model result.
Abstract
Global sea surface temperature (SST) evolution is analyzed by constructing predictive models that best describe the dataset’s statistics. These inverse models assume that the system’s variability is driven by spatially coherent, additive noise that is white in time and are constructed in the phase space of the dataset’s leading empirical orthogonal functions. Multiple linear regression has been widely used to obtain inverse stochastic models; it is generalized here in two ways. First, the dynamics is allowed to be nonlinear by using polynomial regression. Second, a multilevel extension of classic regression allows the additive noise to be correlated in time; to do so, the residual stochastic forcing at a given level is modeled as a function of variables at this level and the preceding ones. The number of variables, as well as the order of nonlinearity, is determined by optimizing model performance.
The two-level linear and quadratic models have a better El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) hindcast skill than their one-level counterparts. Estimates of skewness and kurtosis of the models’ simulated Niño-3 index reveal that the quadratic model reproduces better the observed asymmetry between the positive El Niño and negative La Niña events. The benefits of the quadratic model are less clear in terms of its overall, cross-validated hindcast skill; this model outperforms, however, the linear one in predicting the magnitude of extreme SST anomalies.
Seasonal ENSO dependence is captured by incorporating additive, as well as multiplicative forcing with a 12-month period into the first level of each model. The quasi-quadrennial ENSO oscillatory mode is robustly simulated by all models. The “spring barrier” of ENSO forecast skill is explained by Floquet and singular vector analysis, which show that the leading ENSO mode becomes strongly damped in summer, while nonnormal optimum growth has a strong peak in December.
Abstract
Global sea surface temperature (SST) evolution is analyzed by constructing predictive models that best describe the dataset’s statistics. These inverse models assume that the system’s variability is driven by spatially coherent, additive noise that is white in time and are constructed in the phase space of the dataset’s leading empirical orthogonal functions. Multiple linear regression has been widely used to obtain inverse stochastic models; it is generalized here in two ways. First, the dynamics is allowed to be nonlinear by using polynomial regression. Second, a multilevel extension of classic regression allows the additive noise to be correlated in time; to do so, the residual stochastic forcing at a given level is modeled as a function of variables at this level and the preceding ones. The number of variables, as well as the order of nonlinearity, is determined by optimizing model performance.
The two-level linear and quadratic models have a better El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) hindcast skill than their one-level counterparts. Estimates of skewness and kurtosis of the models’ simulated Niño-3 index reveal that the quadratic model reproduces better the observed asymmetry between the positive El Niño and negative La Niña events. The benefits of the quadratic model are less clear in terms of its overall, cross-validated hindcast skill; this model outperforms, however, the linear one in predicting the magnitude of extreme SST anomalies.
Seasonal ENSO dependence is captured by incorporating additive, as well as multiplicative forcing with a 12-month period into the first level of each model. The quasi-quadrennial ENSO oscillatory mode is robustly simulated by all models. The “spring barrier” of ENSO forecast skill is explained by Floquet and singular vector analysis, which show that the leading ENSO mode becomes strongly damped in summer, while nonnormal optimum growth has a strong peak in December.
Abstract
The emergence of clear semantics for causal claims and of a sound logic for causal reasoning is relatively recent, with the consolidation over the past decades of a coherent theoretical corpus of definitions, concepts, and methods of general applicability that is anchored into counterfactuals. The latter corpus has proved to be of high practical interest in numerous applied fields (e.g., epidemiology, economics, and social science). In spite of their rather consensual nature and proven efficacy, these definitions and methods are to a large extent not used in detection and attribution (D&A). This article gives a brief overview of the main concepts underpinning the causal theory and proposes some methodological extensions for the causal attribution of weather and climate-related events that are rooted into the latter. Implications for the formulation of causal claims and their uncertainty are finally discussed.
Abstract
The emergence of clear semantics for causal claims and of a sound logic for causal reasoning is relatively recent, with the consolidation over the past decades of a coherent theoretical corpus of definitions, concepts, and methods of general applicability that is anchored into counterfactuals. The latter corpus has proved to be of high practical interest in numerous applied fields (e.g., epidemiology, economics, and social science). In spite of their rather consensual nature and proven efficacy, these definitions and methods are to a large extent not used in detection and attribution (D&A). This article gives a brief overview of the main concepts underpinning the causal theory and proposes some methodological extensions for the causal attribution of weather and climate-related events that are rooted into the latter. Implications for the formulation of causal claims and their uncertainty are finally discussed.
Abstract
A novel mechanism of decadal midlatitude coupled variability, which crucially depends on the nonlinear dynamics of both the atmosphere and the ocean, is presented. The coupled model studied involves quasigeostrophic atmospheric and oceanic components, which communicate with each other via a constant-depth oceanic mixed layer. A series of coupled and uncoupled experiments show that the decadal coupled mode is active across parameter ranges that allow the bimodality of the atmospheric zonal flow to coexist with oceanic turbulence. The latter is most intense in the regions of inertial recirculation (IR). Bimodality is associated with the existence of two distinct anomalously persistent zonal-flow modes, which are characterized by different latitudes of the atmospheric jet stream. The IR reorganizations caused by transitions of the atmosphere from its high- to low-latitude state and vice versa create sea surface temperature anomalies that tend to induce transition to the opposite atmospheric state. The decadal–interdecadal time scale of the resulting oscillation is set by the IR adjustment; the latter depends most sensitively on the oceanic bottom drag. The period T of the nonlinear oscillation is 7–25 yr for the range of parameters explored, with the most realistic parameter values yielding T ≈ 20 yr.
Aside from this nonlinear oscillation, an interannual Rossby wave mode is present in all coupled experiments. This coupled mode depends neither on atmospheric bimodality, nor on ocean eddy dynamics; it is analogous to the mode found previously in a channel configuration. Its time scale in the model with a closed ocean basin is set by cross-basin wave propagation and equals 3–5 yr for a basin width comparable with the North Atlantic.
Abstract
A novel mechanism of decadal midlatitude coupled variability, which crucially depends on the nonlinear dynamics of both the atmosphere and the ocean, is presented. The coupled model studied involves quasigeostrophic atmospheric and oceanic components, which communicate with each other via a constant-depth oceanic mixed layer. A series of coupled and uncoupled experiments show that the decadal coupled mode is active across parameter ranges that allow the bimodality of the atmospheric zonal flow to coexist with oceanic turbulence. The latter is most intense in the regions of inertial recirculation (IR). Bimodality is associated with the existence of two distinct anomalously persistent zonal-flow modes, which are characterized by different latitudes of the atmospheric jet stream. The IR reorganizations caused by transitions of the atmosphere from its high- to low-latitude state and vice versa create sea surface temperature anomalies that tend to induce transition to the opposite atmospheric state. The decadal–interdecadal time scale of the resulting oscillation is set by the IR adjustment; the latter depends most sensitively on the oceanic bottom drag. The period T of the nonlinear oscillation is 7–25 yr for the range of parameters explored, with the most realistic parameter values yielding T ≈ 20 yr.
Aside from this nonlinear oscillation, an interannual Rossby wave mode is present in all coupled experiments. This coupled mode depends neither on atmospheric bimodality, nor on ocean eddy dynamics; it is analogous to the mode found previously in a channel configuration. Its time scale in the model with a closed ocean basin is set by cross-basin wave propagation and equals 3–5 yr for a basin width comparable with the North Atlantic.
Abstract
A multiyear simulation with a coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model (GCM) is presented. The model consists of the UCLA global atmospheric GCM coupled to the GFDL oceanic GCM; the latter is dynamically active over the tropical Pacific, while climatological time-varying sea surface temperatures (SST) are prescribed elsewhere. The model successfully simulates the main climatological features associated with the seasonal cycle, including the east-west gradient in SST across the equatorial Pacific. The most apparent deficiencies include a systematic cold bias (∼2 K) across most of the tropical Pacific and underestimated wind stress magnitudes in the equatorial band. Multichannel singular spectrum analysis is used to describe the multivariate structure of the seasonal cycle at the equator in both the model and observed data. The annual harmonic in equatorial SST is primarily wind driven, while air-sea interaction strongly affects the semiannual harmonic.
Abstract
A multiyear simulation with a coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model (GCM) is presented. The model consists of the UCLA global atmospheric GCM coupled to the GFDL oceanic GCM; the latter is dynamically active over the tropical Pacific, while climatological time-varying sea surface temperatures (SST) are prescribed elsewhere. The model successfully simulates the main climatological features associated with the seasonal cycle, including the east-west gradient in SST across the equatorial Pacific. The most apparent deficiencies include a systematic cold bias (∼2 K) across most of the tropical Pacific and underestimated wind stress magnitudes in the equatorial band. Multichannel singular spectrum analysis is used to describe the multivariate structure of the seasonal cycle at the equator in both the model and observed data. The annual harmonic in equatorial SST is primarily wind driven, while air-sea interaction strongly affects the semiannual harmonic.
Abstract
Two multiyear simulations with a coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model (GCM)-totaling 45 years-are used to investigate interannual variability at the equator. The model consists of the UCLA global atmospheric GCM coupled to the GFDL oceanic GCM, dynamically active over the tropical Pacific. Multichannel singular spectrum analysis along the equator identifies ENSO-like quasi-biennial (QB) and quasi-quadrennial (QQ) modes. Both consist of predominantly standing oscillations in sea surface temperature and zonal wind stress that peak in the central or east Pacific, accompanied by an oscillation in equatorial thermocline depth that is characterized by a phase shift of about 90° across the basin, with west leading east. Simulated interannual variability is weaker than observed in both simulations. One of these is dominated by the QB, the other by the QQ mode, although the two differ only in details of the surface-layer parameterizations.
Abstract
Two multiyear simulations with a coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model (GCM)-totaling 45 years-are used to investigate interannual variability at the equator. The model consists of the UCLA global atmospheric GCM coupled to the GFDL oceanic GCM, dynamically active over the tropical Pacific. Multichannel singular spectrum analysis along the equator identifies ENSO-like quasi-biennial (QB) and quasi-quadrennial (QQ) modes. Both consist of predominantly standing oscillations in sea surface temperature and zonal wind stress that peak in the central or east Pacific, accompanied by an oscillation in equatorial thermocline depth that is characterized by a phase shift of about 90° across the basin, with west leading east. Simulated interannual variability is weaker than observed in both simulations. One of these is dominated by the QB, the other by the QQ mode, although the two differ only in details of the surface-layer parameterizations.
