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- Author or Editor: Richard Kleeman x
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Abstract
A simple model of the lower atmospheric layers and land/sea ice surface is described and analyzed. The model is able to depict with reasonable accuracy the global ocean heat fluxes. Due to the model's simplicity, insight into the mechanisms underlying particular heat flux responses is possible. Such an analysis is carried out for the regional Gulf Stream heat flux response (which is gualitatively correct in the model), and it is shown that atmospheric transient eddy heat transport is crucial to the modeled response. The perturbation response of the model to tropical SST anomalies is also analyzed, and it is demonstrated that the atmospheric transport processes incorporated in the model are responsible for a scale-dependent response. The magnitude of this response is shown to be significantly different to that obtained with formulations previously used by ocean modelers.
Abstract
A simple model of the lower atmospheric layers and land/sea ice surface is described and analyzed. The model is able to depict with reasonable accuracy the global ocean heat fluxes. Due to the model's simplicity, insight into the mechanisms underlying particular heat flux responses is possible. Such an analysis is carried out for the regional Gulf Stream heat flux response (which is gualitatively correct in the model), and it is shown that atmospheric transient eddy heat transport is crucial to the modeled response. The perturbation response of the model to tropical SST anomalies is also analyzed, and it is demonstrated that the atmospheric transport processes incorporated in the model are responsible for a scale-dependent response. The magnitude of this response is shown to be significantly different to that obtained with formulations previously used by ocean modelers.
Abstract
With a simple 3DVar assimilation algorithm, a new scheme of assimilating sea surface temperature (SST) observations is proposed in this paper. In this new scheme, the linear relation between any two neighboring depths was derived using singular value decomposition technique and then was applied to estimate the temperatures at deeper levels using the temperature analyses at shallower levels. The estimated temperatures were assimilated into an ocean model, and the procedure was run iteratively at each time step from the surface to a depth of 250 m. The oceanic analyses show that the new scheme can more effectively adjust oceanic thermal and dynamical fields and lead to a more realistic subsurface thermal structure when compared with the control run and another scheme that is usually used for SST assimilation. An ensemble of predictions for the Niño-3 region SST anomalies was performed to test the new scheme. It was found that the new scheme can improve fairly well ENSO prediction skills at all lead times, in particular for anomalous warm events, and for lead times of 4–7 months.
Abstract
With a simple 3DVar assimilation algorithm, a new scheme of assimilating sea surface temperature (SST) observations is proposed in this paper. In this new scheme, the linear relation between any two neighboring depths was derived using singular value decomposition technique and then was applied to estimate the temperatures at deeper levels using the temperature analyses at shallower levels. The estimated temperatures were assimilated into an ocean model, and the procedure was run iteratively at each time step from the surface to a depth of 250 m. The oceanic analyses show that the new scheme can more effectively adjust oceanic thermal and dynamical fields and lead to a more realistic subsurface thermal structure when compared with the control run and another scheme that is usually used for SST assimilation. An ensemble of predictions for the Niño-3 region SST anomalies was performed to test the new scheme. It was found that the new scheme can improve fairly well ENSO prediction skills at all lead times, in particular for anomalous warm events, and for lead times of 4–7 months.
Abstract
An earlier study showed that an atmosphere–ocean model of the Pacific develops a midlatitude oscillation that produces decadal sea surface temperature (SST) variability on the equator. The authors use the ocean component of this model to understand better how subtropical wind stress oscillations can cause such SST variability. The model ocean consists of three active layers that correspond to the mixed layer, the thermocline, and intermediate water, all lying above a motionless abyss.
For a steady wind, the model develops a subtropical cell (STC) in which northward surface Ekman transport subducts, flows equatorward within the thermocline, and returns to the surface at the equator. Analytic results predict the model's equatorial temperature, given some knowledge of the circulation and external forcing. A prescribed subtropical wind stress anomaly perturbs the strength of the STC, which in turn modifies equatorial upwelling and equatorial SST.
The transient response to a switched-on wind perturbation is used to predict the ocean response to an oscillating wind. This method correctly predicts the results of several numerical experiments, and extends these results to a wide range of forcing periods. For an oscillating wind, there is a more complicated relationship between perturbations to equatorial SST and the various branches of the STC. The thermocline-branch anomalies are generally weaker than those in the surface and equatorial-upwelling branches. Equatorial SST anomalies lead, follow, and are roughly coincident with, variations in the thermocline, surface, and upwelling branches, respectively. Thus, while recent studies have suggested using the subsurface branch variations as a predictor of tropical–subtropical interactions, the surface branch may be a better predictor.
Abstract
An earlier study showed that an atmosphere–ocean model of the Pacific develops a midlatitude oscillation that produces decadal sea surface temperature (SST) variability on the equator. The authors use the ocean component of this model to understand better how subtropical wind stress oscillations can cause such SST variability. The model ocean consists of three active layers that correspond to the mixed layer, the thermocline, and intermediate water, all lying above a motionless abyss.
For a steady wind, the model develops a subtropical cell (STC) in which northward surface Ekman transport subducts, flows equatorward within the thermocline, and returns to the surface at the equator. Analytic results predict the model's equatorial temperature, given some knowledge of the circulation and external forcing. A prescribed subtropical wind stress anomaly perturbs the strength of the STC, which in turn modifies equatorial upwelling and equatorial SST.
The transient response to a switched-on wind perturbation is used to predict the ocean response to an oscillating wind. This method correctly predicts the results of several numerical experiments, and extends these results to a wide range of forcing periods. For an oscillating wind, there is a more complicated relationship between perturbations to equatorial SST and the various branches of the STC. The thermocline-branch anomalies are generally weaker than those in the surface and equatorial-upwelling branches. Equatorial SST anomalies lead, follow, and are roughly coincident with, variations in the thermocline, surface, and upwelling branches, respectively. Thus, while recent studies have suggested using the subsurface branch variations as a predictor of tropical–subtropical interactions, the surface branch may be a better predictor.
Abstract
The observed subtropical gyre in the North Pacific shows a shift in meridional location with depth. At shallow levels the density deviation peaks at around 15°N while at deep levels the peak is more like 30°N. It is argued here using analytical solutions to the beta-plane shallow-water equations that such a shift can be explained by the effects of oceanic dissipation processes. These solutions show that the highly damped solution is approximately proportional to Ekman pumping whereas the lightly damped case tends toward the classical Sverdrup solution. In the North Pacific, Ekman pumping peaks near 15°N while the Sverdrup solution peaks at 30°N. It is further demonstrated that 1) density deviations in the upper ocean are more highly influenced by higher order baroclinic modes than those in the deep, which are influenced by the lower modes, and 2) constant dissipation effectively acts much more strongly on the higher order baroclinic modes because of their slower speeds and smaller Rossby radii. These two factors thus explain the observed shift in the gyre with depth.
Abstract
The observed subtropical gyre in the North Pacific shows a shift in meridional location with depth. At shallow levels the density deviation peaks at around 15°N while at deep levels the peak is more like 30°N. It is argued here using analytical solutions to the beta-plane shallow-water equations that such a shift can be explained by the effects of oceanic dissipation processes. These solutions show that the highly damped solution is approximately proportional to Ekman pumping whereas the lightly damped case tends toward the classical Sverdrup solution. In the North Pacific, Ekman pumping peaks near 15°N while the Sverdrup solution peaks at 30°N. It is further demonstrated that 1) density deviations in the upper ocean are more highly influenced by higher order baroclinic modes than those in the deep, which are influenced by the lower modes, and 2) constant dissipation effectively acts much more strongly on the higher order baroclinic modes because of their slower speeds and smaller Rossby radii. These two factors thus explain the observed shift in the gyre with depth.
