predicting coupled ocean-atmosphere: Topics by WorldWideScience.org

Sample records for predicting coupled ocean-atmosphere

The Coupled Ocean/Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS)

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Hodur, Richard M; Hong, Xiaodong; Doyle, James D; Pullen, Julie; Cummings, James; Martin, Paul; Rennick, Mary Alice

2002-01-01

... of the Couple Ocean/Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS). The goal of this modeling project is to gain predictive skill in simulating the ocean and atmosphere at high resolution on time-scales of hours to several days...
Ocean-Atmosphere Coupling Processes Affecting Predictability in the Climate System

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, A. J.; Subramanian, A. C.; Seo, H.; Eliashiv, J. D.

2017-12-01

Predictions of the ocean and atmosphere are often sensitive to coupling at the air-sea interface in ways that depend on the temporal and spatial scales of the target fields. We will discuss several aspects of these types of coupled interactions including oceanic and atmospheric forecast applications. For oceanic mesoscale eddies, the coupling can influence the energetics of the oceanic flow itself. For Madden-Julian Oscillation onset, the coupling timestep should resolve the diurnal cycle to properly raise time-mean SST and latent heat flux prior to deep convection. For Atmospheric River events, the evolving SST field can alter the trajectory and intensity of precipitation anomalies along the California coast. Improvements in predictions will also rely on identifying and alleviating sources of biases in the climate states of the coupled system. Surprisingly, forecast skill can also be improved by enhancing stochastic variability in the atmospheric component of coupled models as found in a multiscale ensemble modeling approach.
South African seasonal rainfall prediction performance by a coupled ocean-atmosphere model

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Landman, WA

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Evidence is presented that coupled ocean-atmosphere models can already outscore computationally less expensive atmospheric models. However, if the atmospheric models are forced with highly skillful SST predictions, they may still be a very strong...
Initial conditions and ENSO prediction using a coupled ocean-atmosphere model

Science.gov (United States)

Larow, T. E.; Krishnamurti, T. N.

1998-01-01

A coupled ocean-atmosphere initialization scheme using Newtonian relaxation has been developed for the Florida State University coupled ocean-atmosphere global general circulation model. The initialization scheme is used to initialize the coupled model for seasonal forecasting the boreal summers of 1987 and 1988. The atmosphere model is a modified version of the Florida State University global spectral model, resolution T-42. The ocean general circulation model consists of a slightly modified version of the Hamburg's climate group model described in Latif (1987) and Latif et al. (1993). The coupling is synchronous with information exchanged every two model hours. Using ECMWF atmospheric daily analysis and observed monthly mean SSTs, two, 1-year, time-dependent, Newtonian relaxation were performed using the coupled model prior to conducting the seasonal forecasts. The coupled initializations were conducted from 1 June 1986 to 1 June 1987 and from 1 June 1987 to 1 June 1988. Newtonian relaxation was applied to the prognostic atmospheric vorticity, divergence, temperature and dew point depression equations. In the ocean model the relaxation was applied to the surface temperature. Two, 10-member ensemble integrations were conducted to examine the impact of the coupled initialization on the seasonal forecasts. The initial conditions used for the ensembles are the ocean's final state after the initialization and the atmospheric initial conditions are ECMWF analysis. Examination of the SST root mean square error and anomaly correlations between observed and forecasted SSTs in the Niño-3 and Niño-4 regions for the 2 seasonal forecasts, show closer agreement between the initialized forecast than two, 10-member non-initialized ensemble forecasts. The main conclusion here is that a single forecast with the coupled initialization outperforms, in SST anomaly prediction, against each of the control forecasts (members of the ensemble) which do not include such an initialization
Thermodynamic ocean-atmosphere Coupling and the Predictability of Nordeste rainfall

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, P.; Saravanan, R.; Giannini, A.

2003-04-01

The interannual variability of rainfall in the northeastern region of Brazil, or Nordeste, is known to be very strongly correlated with sea surface temperature (SST) variability, of Atlantic and Pacific origin. For this reason the potential predictability of Nordeste rainfall is high. The current generation of state-of-the-art atmospheric models can replicate the observed rainfall variability with high skill when forced with the observed record of SST variability. The correlation between observed and modeled indices of Nordeste rainfall, in the AMIP-style integrations with two such models (NSIPP and CCM3) analyzed here, is of the order of 0.8, i.e. the models explain about 2/3 of the observed variability. Assuming that thermodynamic, ocean-atmosphere heat exchange plays the dominant role in tropical Atlantic SST variability on the seasonal to interannual time scale, we analyze its role in Nordeste rainfall predictability using an atmospheric general circulation model coupled to a slab ocean model. Predictability experiments initialized with observed December SST show that thermodynamic coupling plays a significant role in enhancing the persistence of SST anomalies, both in the tropical Pacific and in the tropical Atlantic. We show that thermodynamic coupling is sufficient to provide fairly accurate forecasts of tropical Atlantic SST in the boreal spring that are significantly better than the persistence forecasts. The consequences for the prediction of Nordeste rainfall are analyzed.
A Unified Air-Sea Interface in Fully Coupled Atmosphere-Wave-Ocean Models for Data Assimilation and Ensemble Prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Shuyi; Curcic, Milan; Donelan, Mark; Campbell, Tim; Smith, Travis; Chen, Sue; Allard, Rick; Michalakes, John

2014-05-01

The goals of this study are to 1) better understand the physical processes controlling air-sea interaction and their impact on coastal marine and storm predictions, 2) explore the use of coupled atmosphere-ocean observations in model verification and data assimilation, and 3) develop a physically based and computationally efficient coupling at the air-sea interface that is flexible for use in a multi-model system and portable for transition to the next generation research and operational coupled atmosphere-wave-ocean-land models. We have developed a unified air-sea interface module that couples multiple atmosphere, wave, and ocean models using the Earth System Modeling Framework (ESMF). This standardized coupling framework allows researchers to develop and test air-sea coupling parameterizations and coupled data assimilation, and to better facilitate research-to-operation activities. It also allows for future ensemble forecasts using coupled models that can be used for coupled data assimilation and assessment of uncertainties in coupled model predictions. The current component models include two atmospheric models (WRF and COAMPS), two ocean models (HYCOM and NCOM), and two wave models (UMWM and SWAN). The coupled modeling systems have been tested and evaluated using the coupled air-sea observations (e.g., GPS dropsondes and AXBTs, drifters and floats) collected in recent field campaigns in the Gulf of Mexico and tropical cyclones in the Atlantic and Pacific basins. This talk will provide an overview of the unified air-sea interface model and fully coupled atmosphere-wave-ocean model predictions over various coastal regions and tropical cyclones in the Pacific and Atlantic basins including an example from coupled ensemble prediction of Superstorm Sandy (2012).
The Role of the Indian Ocean Sector for Prediction of the Coupled Indo-Pacific System: Impact of Atmospheric Coupling

Science.gov (United States)

Hackert, E. C.; Busalacchi, A. J.; Carton, J.; Murtugudde, R.; Arkin, P.; Evans, M. N.

2017-01-01

Indian Ocean (IO) dynamics impact ENSO predictability by influencing wind and precipitation anomalies in the Pacific. To test if the upstream influence of the IO improves ENSO validation statistics, a combination of forced ocean, atmosphere, and coupled models are utilized. In one experiment, the full tropical Indo-Pacific region atmosphere is forced by observed interannual SST anomalies. In the other, the IO is forced by climatological SST. Differences between these two forced atmospheric model experiments spotlight a much richer wind response pattern in the Pacific than previous studies that used idealized forcing and simple linear atmospheric models. Weak westerlies are found near the equator similar to earlier literature. However, at initialization strong easterlies between 30 deg. S to 10 deg. S and 0 deg. N to 25 deg. N and equatorial convergence of the meridional winds across the entire Pacific are unique findings from this paper. The large-scale equatorial divergence west of the dateline and northeasterly-to-northwesterly cross-equatorial flow converging on the equator east of the dateline in the Pacific are generated from interannual IO SST coupling. In addition, off-equatorial downwelling curl impacts large-scale oceanic waves (i.e., Rossby waves reflect as western boundary Kelvin waves). After 3 months, these downwelling equatorial Kelvin waves propagate across the Pacific and strengthen the NINO3 SST. Eventually Bjerknes feedbacks take hold in the eastern Pacific which allows this warm anomaly to grow. Coupled forecasts for NINO3 SST anomalies for 1993-2014 demonstrate that including interannual IO forcing significantly improves predictions for 3-9 month lead times.
The role of the Indian Ocean sector for prediction of the coupled Indo-Pacific system: Impact of atmospheric coupling

Science.gov (United States)

Hackert, E. C.; Busalacchi, A. J.; Carton, J.; Murtugudde, R.; Arkin, P.; Evans, M. N.

2017-04-01

Indian Ocean (IO) dynamics impact ENSO predictability by influencing wind and precipitation anomalies in the Pacific. To test if the upstream influence of the IO improves ENSO validation statistics, a combination of forced ocean, atmosphere, and coupled models are utilized. In one experiment, the full tropical Indo-Pacific region atmosphere is forced by observed interannual SST anomalies. In the other, the IO is forced by climatological SST. Differences between these two forced atmospheric model experiments spotlight a much richer wind response pattern in the Pacific than previous studies that used idealized forcing and simple linear atmospheric models. Weak westerlies are found near the equator similar to earlier literature. However, at initialization strong easterlies between 30°S-10°S and 0°N-25°N and equatorial convergence of the meridional winds across the entire Pacific are unique findings from this paper. The large-scale equatorial divergence west of the dateline and northeasterly-to-northwesterly cross-equatorial flow converging on the equator east of the dateline in the Pacific are generated from interannual IO SST coupling. In addition, off-equatorial downwelling curl impacts large-scale oceanic waves (i.e., Rossby waves reflect as western boundary Kelvin waves). After 3 months, these downwelling equatorial Kelvin waves propagate across the Pacific and strengthen the NINO3 SST. Eventually Bjerknes feedbacks take hold in the eastern Pacific which allows this warm anomaly to grow. Coupled forecasts for NINO3 SST anomalies for 1993-2014 demonstrate that including interannual IO forcing significantly improves predictions for 3-9 month lead times.
Japan Meteorological Agency/Meteorological Research Institute-Coupled Prediction System version 2 (JMA/MRI-CPS2): atmosphere-land-ocean-sea ice coupled prediction system for operational seasonal forecasting

Science.gov (United States)

Takaya, Yuhei; Hirahara, Shoji; Yasuda, Tamaki; Matsueda, Satoko; Toyoda, Takahiro; Fujii, Yosuke; Sugimoto, Hiroyuki; Matsukawa, Chihiro; Ishikawa, Ichiro; Mori, Hirotoshi; Nagasawa, Ryoji; Kubo, Yutaro; Adachi, Noriyuki; Yamanaka, Goro; Kuragano, Tsurane; Shimpo, Akihiko; Maeda, Shuhei; Ose, Tomoaki

2018-02-01

This paper describes the Japan Meteorological Agency/Meteorological Research Institute-Coupled Prediction System version 2 (JMA/MRI-CPS2), which was put into operation in June 2015 for the purpose of performing seasonal predictions. JMA/MRI-CPS2 has various upgrades from its predecessor, JMA/MRI-CPS1, including improved resolution and physics in its atmospheric and oceanic components, introduction of an interactive sea-ice model and realistic initialization of its land component. Verification of extensive re-forecasts covering a 30-year period (1981-2010) demonstrates that JMA/MRI-CPS2 possesses improved seasonal predictive skills for both atmospheric and oceanic interannual variability as well as key coupled variability such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). For ENSO prediction, the new system better represents the forecast uncertainty and transition/duration of ENSO phases. Our analysis suggests that the enhanced predictive skills are attributable to incremental improvements resulting from all of the changes, as is apparent in the beneficial effects of sea-ice coupling and land initialization on 2-m temperature predictions. JMA/MRI-CPS2 is capable of reasonably representing the seasonal cycle and secular trends of sea ice. The sea-ice coupling remarkably enhances the predictive capability for the Arctic 2-m temperature, indicating the importance of this factor, particularly for seasonal predictions in the Arctic region.
Land-Ocean-Atmospheric Coupling Associated with Earthquakes

Science.gov (United States)

Prasad, A. K.; Singh, R. P.; Kumar, S.; Cervone, G.; Kafatos, M.; Zlotnicki, J.

2007-12-01

Earthquakes are well known to occur along the plate boundaries and also on the stable shield. The recent studies have shown existence of strong coupling between land-ocean-atmospheric parameters associated with the earthquakes. We have carried out detailed analysis of multi sensor data (optical and microwave remote) to show existence of strong coupling between land-ocean-atmospheric parameters associated with the earthquakes with focal depth up to 30 km and magnitude greater than 5.5. Complimentary nature of various land, ocean and atmospheric parameters will be demonstrated in getting an early warning information about an impending earthquake.
On Verifying Currents and Other Features in the Hawaiian Islands Region Using Fully Coupled Ocean/Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System Compared to Global Ocean Model and Ocean Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Jessen, P. G.; Chen, S.

2014-12-01

This poster introduces and evaluates features concerning the Hawaii, USA region using the U.S. Navy's fully Coupled Ocean/Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS-OS™) coupled to the Navy Coastal Ocean Model (NCOM). It also outlines some challenges in verifying ocean currents in the open ocean. The system is evaluated using in situ ocean data and initial forcing fields from the operational global Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM). Verification shows difficulties in modelling downstream currents off the Hawaiian islands (Hawaii's wake). Comparing HYCOM to NCOM current fields show some displacement of small features such as eddies. Generally, there is fair agreement from HYCOM to NCOM in salinity and temperature fields. There is good agreement in SSH fields.
Air-Sea Momentum and Enthalpy Exchange in Coupled Atmosphere-Wave-Ocean Modeling of Tropical Cyclones

Science.gov (United States)

Curcic, M.; Chen, S. S.

2016-02-01

The atmosphere and ocean are coupled through momentum, enthalpy, and mass fluxes. Accurate representation of these fluxes in a wide range of weather and climate conditions is one of major challenges in prediction models. Their current parameterizations are based on sparse observations in low-to-moderate winds and are not suited for high wind conditions such as tropical cyclones (TCs) and winter storms. In this study, we use the Unified Wave INterface - Coupled Model (UWIN-CM), a high resolution, fully-coupled atmosphere-wave-ocean model, to better understand the role of ocean surface waves in mediating air-sea momentum and enthalpy exchange in TCs. In particular, we focus on the explicit treatment of wave growth and dissipation for calculating atmospheric and oceanic stress, and its role in upper ocean mixing and surface cooling in the wake of the storm. Wind-wave misalignment and local wave disequilibrium result in difference between atmospheric and oceanic stress being largest on the left side of the storm. We find that explicit wave calculation in the coupled model reduces momentum transfer into the ocean by more than 10% on average, resulting in reduced cooling in TC's wake and subsequent weakening of the storm. We also investigate the impacts of sea surface temperature and upper ocean parameterization on air-sea enthalpy fluxes in the fully coupled model. High-resolution UWIN-CM simulations of TCs with various intensities and structure are conducted in this study to better understand the complex TC-ocean interaction and improve the representation of air-sea coupling processes in coupled prediction models.
Nudging atmosphere and ocean reanalyses for seasonal climate predictions

Science.gov (United States)

Piontek, Robert; Baehr, Johanna; Kornblueh, Luis; Müller, Wolfgang Alexander; Haak, Helmuth; Botzet, Michael; Matei, Daniela

2010-05-01

Seasonal climate forecasts based on state-of-the-art climate models have been developed recently. Here, we critically discuss the obstacles encountered in the setup of the ECHAM6/MPIOM global coupled climate model to perform climate predictions on seasonal to decadal time scales. We particularly focus on the initialization procedure, especially on the implementation of the nudging scheme, in which different reanalysis products are used in the atmosphere (e.g.ERA40), and the ocean (e.g., GECCO). Nudging in the atmosphere appears to be sensitive to the following choices: limiting the spectral range of nudging, whether or not temperature is nudged, the strength of the nudging coefficient for surface pressure, and the height at which the planetary boundary layer is excluded from nudging. We find that including nudging in both the atmosphere and the ocean gives improved results over nudging only the ocean or the atmosphere. For the implementation of the nudging in the atmosphere, we find the most significant improvements in the solution when either the planetary boundary layer is excluded, or if nudging of temperature is omitted. There are significant improvements in the solution when resolution is increased in both the atmosphere and in the ocean. Our tests form the basis for the prediction system introduced in the abstract of Müller et al., where hindcasts are analysed as well.
Investigation of hurricane Ivan using the coupled ocean-atmosphere-wave-sediment transport (COAWST) model

Science.gov (United States)

Zambon, Joseph B.; He, Ruoying; Warner, John C.

2014-01-01

The coupled ocean–atmosphere–wave–sediment transport (COAWST) model is used to hindcast Hurricane Ivan (2004), an extremely intense tropical cyclone (TC) translating through the Gulf of Mexico. Sensitivity experiments with increasing complexity in ocean–atmosphere–wave coupled exchange processes are performed to assess the impacts of coupling on the predictions of the atmosphere, ocean, and wave environments during the occurrence of a TC. Modest improvement in track but significant improvement in intensity are found when using the fully atmosphere–ocean-wave coupled configuration versus uncoupled (e.g., standalone atmosphere, ocean, or wave) model simulations. Surface wave fields generated in the fully coupled configuration also demonstrates good agreement with in situ buoy measurements. Coupled and uncoupled model-simulated sea surface temperature (SST) fields are compared with both in situ and remote observations. Detailed heat budget analysis reveals that the mixed layer temperature cooling in the deep ocean (on the shelf) is caused primarily by advection (equally by advection and diffusion).
Coupled atmosphere-ocean models of Titan's past

Science.gov (United States)

Mckay, Christopher P.; Pollack, James B.; Lunine, Jonathan I.; Courtin, Regis

1993-01-01

The behavior and possible past evolution of fully coupled atmosphere and ocean model of Titan are investigated. It is found that Titan's surface temperature was about 20 K cooler at 4 Gyr ago and will be about 5 K warmer 0.5 Gyr in the future. The change in solar luminosity and the conversion of oceanic CH4 to C2H6 drive the evolution of the ocean and atmosphere over time. Titan appears to have experienced a frozen epoch about 3 Gyr ago independent of whether an ocean is present or not. This finding may have important implications for understanding the inventory of Titan's volatile compounds.
Impacts of Atmosphere-Ocean Coupling on Southern Hemisphere Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Feng; Newman, Paul; Pawson, Steven

2013-01-01

Climate in the Southern Hemisphere (SH) has undergone significant changes in recent decades. These changes are closely linked to the shift of the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) towards its positive polarity, which is driven primarily by Antarctic ozone depletion. There is growing evidence that Antarctic ozone depletion has significant impacts on Southern Ocean circulation change. However, it is poorly understood whether and how ocean feedback might impact the SAM and climate change in the SH atmosphere. This outstanding science question is investigated using the Goddard Earth Observing System Coupled Atmosphere-Ocean-Chemistry Climate Model(GEOS-AOCCM).We perform ensemble simulations of the recent past (1960-2010) with and without the interactive ocean. For simulations without the interactive ocean, we use sea surface temperatures and sea ice concentrations produced by the interactive ocean simulations. The differences between these two ensemble simulations quantify the effects of atmosphere-ocean coupling. We will investigate the impacts of atmosphere-ocean coupling on stratospheric processes such as Antarctic ozone depletion and Antarctic polar vortex breakup. We will address whether ocean feedback affects Rossby wave generation in the troposphere and wave propagation into the stratosphere. Another focuson this study is to assess how ocean feedback might affect the tropospheric SAM response to Antarctic ozone depletion
Ocean-atmosphere coupled climate model development at SAWS: description and diagnosis

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Beraki, A

2011-09-01

Full Text Available This paper introduces the South African Weather Service's coupled ocean-atmosphere model. The paper also demonstrates the advances made in configuring an operational coupled ocean-atmosphere model in South Africa for seasonal forecast production...
The Met Office Coupled Atmosphere/Land/Ocean/Sea-Ice Data Assimilation System

Science.gov (United States)

Lea, Daniel; Mirouze, Isabelle; King, Robert; Martin, Matthew; Hines, Adrian

2015-04-01

The Met Office has developed a weakly-coupled data assimilation (DA) system using the global coupled model HadGEM3 (Hadley Centre Global Environment Model, version 3). At present the analysis from separate ocean and atmosphere DA systems are combined to produced coupled forecasts. The aim of coupled DA is to produce a more consistent analysis for coupled forecasts which may lead to less initialisation shock and improved forecast performance. The HadGEM3 coupled model combines the atmospheric model UM (Unified Model) at 60 km horizontal resolution on 85 vertical levels, the ocean model NEMO (Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean) at 25 km (at the equator) horizontal resolution on 75 vertical levels, and the sea-ice model CICE at the same resolution as NEMO. The atmosphere and the ocean/sea-ice fields are coupled every 1-hour using the OASIS coupler. The coupled model is corrected using two separate 6-hour window data assimilation systems: a 4D-Var for the atmosphere with associated soil moisture content nudging and snow analysis schemes on the one hand, and a 3D-Var FGAT for the ocean and sea-ice on the other hand. The background information in the DA systems comes from a previous 6-hour forecast of the coupled model. To isolate the impact of the coupled DA, 13-month experiments have been carried out, including 1) a full atmosphere/land/ocean/sea-ice coupled DA run, 2) an atmosphere-only run forced by OSTIA SSTs and sea-ice with atmosphere and land DA, and 3) an ocean-only run forced by atmospheric fields from run 2 with ocean and sea-ice DA. In addition, 5-day and 10-day forecast runs, have been produced from initial conditions generated by either run 1 or a combination of runs 2 and 3. The different results have been compared to each other and, whenever possible, to other references such as the Met Office atmosphere and ocean operational analyses or the OSTIA SST data. The performance of the coupled DA is similar to the existing separate ocean and atmosphere
Will high-resolution global ocean models benefit coupled predictions on short-range to climate timescales?

Science.gov (United States)

Hewitt, Helene T.; Bell, Michael J.; Chassignet, Eric P.; Czaja, Arnaud; Ferreira, David; Griffies, Stephen M.; Hyder, Pat; McClean, Julie L.; New, Adrian L.; Roberts, Malcolm J.

2017-12-01

As the importance of the ocean in the weather and climate system is increasingly recognised, operational systems are now moving towards coupled prediction not only for seasonal to climate timescales but also for short-range forecasts. A three-way tension exists between the allocation of computing resources to refine model resolution, the expansion of model complexity/capability, and the increase of ensemble size. Here we review evidence for the benefits of increased ocean resolution in global coupled models, where the ocean component explicitly represents transient mesoscale eddies and narrow boundary currents. We consider lessons learned from forced ocean/sea-ice simulations; from studies concerning the SST resolution required to impact atmospheric simulations; and from coupled predictions. Impacts of the mesoscale ocean in western boundary current regions on the large-scale atmospheric state have been identified. Understanding of air-sea feedback in western boundary currents is modifying our view of the dynamics in these key regions. It remains unclear whether variability associated with open ocean mesoscale eddies is equally important to the large-scale atmospheric state. We include a discussion of what processes can presently be parameterised in coupled models with coarse resolution non-eddying ocean models, and where parameterizations may fall short. We discuss the benefits of resolution and identify gaps in the current literature that leave important questions unanswered.
Application of a Reduced Order Kalman Filter to Initialize a Coupled Atmosphere-Ocean Model: Impact on the Prediction of El Nino

Science.gov (United States)

Ballabrera-Poy, Joaquim; Busalacchi, Antonio J.; Murtugudde, Ragu

2000-01-01

A reduced order Kalman Filter, based on a simplification of the Singular Evolutive Extended Kalman (SEEK) filter equations, is used to assimilate observed fields of the surface wind stress, sea surface temperature and sea level into the nonlinear coupled ocean-atmosphere model. The SEEK filter projects the Kalman Filter equations onto a subspace defined by the eigenvalue decomposition of the error forecast matrix, allowing its application to high dimensional systems. The Zebiak and Cane model couples a linear reduced gravity ocean model with a single vertical mode atmospheric model of Zebiak. The compatibility between the simplified physics of the model and each observed variable is studied separately and together. The results show the ability of the model to represent the simultaneous value of the wind stress, SST and sea level, when the fields are limited to the latitude band 10 deg S - 10 deg N. In this first application of the Kalman Filter to a coupled ocean-atmosphere prediction model, the sea level fields are assimilated in terms of the Kelvin and Rossby modes of the thermocline depth anomaly. An estimation of the error of these modes is derived from the projection of an estimation of the sea level error over such modes. This method gives a value of 12 for the error of the Kelvin amplitude, and 6 m of error for the Rossby component of the thermocline depth. The ability of the method to reconstruct the state of the equatorial Pacific and predict its time evolution is demonstrated. The method is shown to be quite robust for predictions I up to six months, and able to predict the onset of the 1997 warm event fifteen months before its occurrence.

Characteristics of coupled atmosphere-ocean CO2 sensitivity experiments with different ocean formulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Washington, W.M.; Meehl, G.A.

1990-01-01

The Community Climate Model at the National Center for Atmospheric Research has been coupled to a simple mixed-layer ocean model and to a coarse-grid ocean general circulation model (OGCM). This paper compares the responses of simulated climate to increases of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) in these two coupled models. Three types of simulations were run: (1) control runs with both ocean models, with CO 2 held constant at present-day concentrations, (2) instantaneous doubling of atmospheric CO 2 (from 330 to 660 ppm) with both ocean models, and (3) a gradually increasing (transient) CO 2 concentration starting at 330 ppm and increasing linearly at 1% per year, with the OGCM. The mixed-layer and OGCM cases exhibit increases of 3.5 C and 1.6 C, respectively, in globally averaged surface air temperature for the instantaneous doubling cases. The transient-forcing case warms 0.7 C by the end of 30 years. The mixed-layer ocean yields warmer-than-observed tropical temperatures and colder-than-observed temperatures in the higher latitudes. The coarse-grid OGCM simulates lower-than-observed sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the tropics and higher-than-observed SSTs and reduced sea-ice extent at higher latitudes. Sensitivity in the OGCM after 30 years is much lower than in simulations with the same atmosphere coupled to a 50-m slab-ocean mixed layer. The OGCM simulates a weaker thermohaline circulation with doubled CO 2 as the high-latitude ocean-surface layer warms and freshens and the westerly wind stress decreases. Convective overturning in the OGCM decreases substantially with CO 2 warming
Characteristics of coupled atmosphere-ocean CO2 sensitivity experiments with different ocean formulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Washington, W.M.; Meehl, G.A.

1991-01-01

The Community Climate Model at the National Center for Atmospheric Research has been coupled to a simple mixed-layer ocean model and to a coarse-grid ocean general circulation model (OGCM). This paper compares the responses of simulated climate to increases of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) in these two coupled models. Three types of simulations were run: (1) control runs with both ocean models, with CO 2 held constant at present-day concentrations, (2) instantaneous doubling of atmospheric CO 2 (from 330 to 660 ppm) with both ocean models, and (3) a gradually increasing (transient) CO 2 concentration starting at 330 ppm and increasing linearly at 1% per year, with the OGCM. The mixed-layer and OGCM cases exhibit increases of 3.5 C and 1.6 C, respectively, in globally averaged surface air temperature for the instantaneous doubling cases. The transient-forcing case warms 0.7 C by the end of 30 years. The mixed-layer ocean yields warmer-than-observed tropical temperatures and colder-than-observed temperatures in the higher latitudes. The coarse-grid OGCM simulates lower-than-observed sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the tropics and higher-than-observed SSTs and reduced sea-ice extent at higher latitudes. Sensitivity in the OGCM after 30 years is much lower than in simulations with the same atmosphere coupled to a 50-m slab-ocean mixed layer. The OGCM simulates a weaker thermohaline circulation with doubled CO 2 as the high-latitude ocean-surface layer warms and freshens and the westerly wind stress decreases. Convective overturning in the OGCM decreases substantially with CO 2 warming. 46 refs.; 20 figs.; 1 tab
Preliminary assessment of the performance of a global coupled atmosphere-ocean model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cubasch, U.

1990-01-01

A low-resolution version of the ECMWF global atmosphere model has been coupled to a global ocean model developed at the Max Planck Institute in Hamburg. The atmosphere model is driven by the sea surface temperature and the ice thickness calculated by the ocean model, which, in return, is driven by the wind stress, the heat flux and the freshwater flux diagnosed by the atmosphere model. Even though each model reaches stationarity when integrated on its own, the coupling of both creates problems, since the fields calculated by each model are not consistent with the ones the other model has to have in order to stay stationary, because some of the fluxes are not balanced. In the coupled experiment the combined ocean-atmosphere system drifts toward a colder state. To counteract this problem, a flux correction has been applied which balances the mean biases of each model. This method almost eliminates the climate drift of the coupled model. Problems still arise over ice covered regions
Medicanes in an ocean-atmosphere coupled regional climate model

Science.gov (United States)

Akhtar, N.; Brauch, J.; Dobler, A.; Béranger, K.; Ahrens, B.

2014-08-01

So-called medicanes (Mediterranean hurricanes) are meso-scale, marine, and warm-core Mediterranean cyclones that exhibit some similarities to tropical cyclones. The strong cyclonic winds associated with medicanes threaten the highly populated coastal areas around the Mediterranean basin. To reduce the risk of casualties and overall negative impacts, it is important to improve the understanding of medicanes with the use of numerical models. In this study, we employ an atmospheric limited-area model (COSMO-CLM) coupled with a one-dimensional ocean model (1-D NEMO-MED12) to simulate medicanes. The aim of this study is to assess the robustness of the coupled model in simulating these extreme events. For this purpose, 11 historical medicane events are simulated using the atmosphere-only model, COSMO-CLM, and coupled model, with different setups (horizontal atmospheric grid spacings of 0.44, 0.22, and 0.08°; with/without spectral nudging, and an ocean grid spacing of 1/12°). The results show that at high resolution, the coupled model is able to not only simulate most of medicane events but also improve the track length, core temperature, and wind speed of simulated medicanes compared to the atmosphere-only simulations. The results suggest that the coupled model is more proficient for systemic and detailed studies of historical medicane events, and that this model can be an effective tool for future projections.
Sensitivity of decadal predictions to the initial atmospheric and oceanic perturbations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Du, H.; Garcia-Serrano, J.; Guemas, V.; Soufflet, Y. [Institut Catala de Ciencies del Clima (IC3), Barcelona (Spain); Doblas-Reyes, F.J. [Institut Catala de Ciencies del Clima (IC3), Barcelona (Spain); Institucio Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avancats (ICREA), Barcelona (Spain); Wouters, B. [Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), De Bilt (Netherlands)

2012-10-15

A coupled global atmosphere-ocean model is employed to investigate the impact of initial perturbation methods on the behaviour of five-member ensemble decadal re-forecasts. Three initial-condition perturbation strategies, atmosphere only, ocean only and atmosphere-ocean, have been used and the impact on selected variables have been investigated. The impact has been assessed in terms of climate drift, forecast quality and spread. The simulated global means of near-surface air temperature (T2M), sea surface temperature (SST) and sea ice area (SIA) for both Arctic and Antarctic show reasonably good quality, in spite of the non-negligible drift of the model. The skill in terms of correlation is not significantly affected by the particular perturbation method employed. The ensemble spread generated for T2M, SST and land surface precipitation (PCP) saturates quickly with any of the perturbation methods. However, for SIA, Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) and ocean heat content (OHC), the spread increases substantially during the forecast time when ocean perturbations are applied. Ocean perturbations are particularly important for Antarctic SIA and OHC for the middle and deep layers of the ocean. The results will be helpful in the design of ensemble prediction experiments. (orig.)
Monte Carlo and discrete-ordinate simulations of irradiances in the coupled atmosphere-ocean system.

Science.gov (United States)

Gjerstad, Karl Idar; Stamnes, Jakob J; Hamre, Børge; Lotsberg, Jon K; Yan, Banghua; Stamnes, Knut

2003-05-20

We compare Monte Carlo (MC) and discrete-ordinate radiative-transfer (DISORT) simulations of irradiances in a one-dimensional coupled atmosphere-ocean (CAO) system consisting of horizontal plane-parallel layers. The two models have precisely the same physical basis, including coupling between the atmosphere and the ocean, and we use precisely the same atmospheric and oceanic input parameters for both codes. For a plane atmosphere-ocean interface we find agreement between irradiances obtained with the two codes to within 1%, both in the atmosphere and the ocean. Our tests cover case 1 water, scattering by density fluctuations both in the atmosphere and in the ocean, and scattering by particulate matter represented by a one-parameter Henyey-Greenstein (HG) scattering phase function. The CAO-MC code has an advantage over the CAO-DISORT code in that it can handle surface waves on the atmosphere-ocean interface, but the CAO-DISORT code is computationally much faster. Therefore we use CAO-MC simulations to study the influence of ocean surface waves and propose a way to correct the results of the CAO-DISORT code so as to obtain fast and accurate underwater irradiances in the presence of surface waves.
Intercomparison of oceanic and atmospheric forced and coupled mesoscale simulations Part I: Surface fluxes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Josse

1999-04-01

Full Text Available A mesoscale non-hydrostatic atmospheric model has been coupled with a mesoscale oceanic model. The case study is a four-day simulation of a strong storm event observed during the SEMAPHORE experiment over a 500 × 500 km2 domain. This domain encompasses a thermohaline front associated with the Azores current. In order to analyze the effect of mesoscale coupling, three simulations are compared: the first one with the atmospheric model forced by realistic sea surface temperature analyses; the second one with the ocean model forced by atmospheric fields, derived from weather forecast re-analyses; the third one with the models being coupled. For these three simulations the surface fluxes were computed with the same bulk parametrization. All three simulations succeed well in representing the main oceanic or atmospheric features observed during the storm. Comparison of surface fields with in situ observations reveals that the winds of the fine mesh atmospheric model are more realistic than those of the weather forecast re-analyses. The low-level winds simulated with the atmospheric model in the forced and coupled simulations are appreciably stronger than the re-analyzed winds. They also generate stronger fluxes. The coupled simulation has the strongest surface heat fluxes: the difference in the net heat budget with the oceanic forced simulation reaches on average 50 Wm-2 over the simulation period. Sea surface-temperature cooling is too weak in both simulations, but is improved in the coupled run and matches better the cooling observed with drifters. The spatial distributions of sea surface-temperature cooling and surface fluxes are strongly inhomogeneous over the simulation domain. The amplitude of the flux variation is maximum in the coupled run. Moreover the weak correlation between the cooling and heat flux patterns indicates that the surface fluxes are not responsible for the whole cooling and suggests that the response of the ocean mixed layer
Intercomparison of oceanic and atmospheric forced and coupled mesoscale simulations Part I: Surface fluxes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Giordani

Full Text Available A mesoscale non-hydrostatic atmospheric model has been coupled with a mesoscale oceanic model. The case study is a four-day simulation of a strong storm event observed during the SEMAPHORE experiment over a 500 × 500 km2 domain. This domain encompasses a thermohaline front associated with the Azores current. In order to analyze the effect of mesoscale coupling, three simulations are compared: the first one with the atmospheric model forced by realistic sea surface temperature analyses; the second one with the ocean model forced by atmospheric fields, derived from weather forecast re-analyses; the third one with the models being coupled. For these three simulations the surface fluxes were computed with the same bulk parametrization. All three simulations succeed well in representing the main oceanic or atmospheric features observed during the storm. Comparison of surface fields with in situ observations reveals that the winds of the fine mesh atmospheric model are more realistic than those of the weather forecast re-analyses. The low-level winds simulated with the atmospheric model in the forced and coupled simulations are appreciably stronger than the re-analyzed winds. They also generate stronger fluxes. The coupled simulation has the strongest surface heat fluxes: the difference in the net heat budget with the oceanic forced simulation reaches on average 50 Wm-2 over the simulation period. Sea surface-temperature cooling is too weak in both simulations, but is improved in the coupled run and matches better the cooling observed with drifters. The spatial distributions of sea surface-temperature cooling and surface fluxes are strongly inhomogeneous over the simulation domain. The amplitude of the flux variation is maximum in the coupled run. Moreover the weak correlation between the cooling and heat flux patterns indicates that the surface fluxes are not responsible for the whole cooling and suggests that the response of the ocean mixed layer
Model coupler for coupling of atmospheric, oceanic, and terrestrial models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagai, Haruyasu; Kobayashi, Takuya; Tsuduki, Katsunori; Kim, Keyong-Ok

2007-02-01

A numerical simulation system SPEEDI-MP, which is applicable for various environmental studies, consists of dynamical models and material transport models for the atmospheric, terrestrial, and oceanic environments, meteorological and geographical databases for model inputs, and system utilities for file management, visualization, analysis, etc., using graphical user interfaces (GUIs). As a numerical simulation tool, a model coupling program (model coupler) has been developed. It controls parallel calculations of several models and data exchanges among them to realize the dynamical coupling of the models. It is applicable for any models with three-dimensional structured grid system, which is used by most environmental and hydrodynamic models. A coupled model system for water circulation has been constructed with atmosphere, ocean, wave, hydrology, and land-surface models using the model coupler. Performance tests of the coupled model system for water circulation were also carried out for the flood event at Saudi Arabia in January 2005 and the storm surge case by the hurricane KATRINA in August 2005. (author)
South African mid-summer seasonal rainfall prediction performance by a coupled ocean-atmosphere model

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Landman, WA

2011-01-01

Full Text Available . 2000; Goddard and Mason, 2002). Such a so-called two-tiered procedure to predict the outcome of the rainfall season has been employed in South Africa for a number of years already (e.g., Landman et al., 2001). The advent of fully coupled ocean...
Intercomparison of oceanic and atmospheric forced and coupled mesoscale simulations. Part I: Surface fluxes

Science.gov (United States)

Josse, P.; Caniaux, G.; Giordani, H.; Planton, S.

1999-04-01

A mesoscale non-hydrostatic atmospheric model has been coupled with a mesoscale oceanic model. The case study is a four-day simulation of a strong storm event observed during the SEMAPHORE experiment over a 500 × 500 km2 domain. This domain encompasses a thermohaline front associated with the Azores current. In order to analyze the effect of mesoscale coupling, three simulations are compared: the first one with the atmospheric model forced by realistic sea surface temperature analyses; the second one with the ocean model forced by atmospheric fields, derived from weather forecast re-analyses; the third one with the models being coupled. For these three simulations the surface fluxes were computed with the same bulk parametrization. All three simulations succeed well in representing the main oceanic or atmospheric features observed during the storm. Comparison of surface fields with in situ observations reveals that the winds of the fine mesh atmospheric model are more realistic than those of the weather forecast re-analyses. The low-level winds simulated with the atmospheric model in the forced and coupled simulations are appreciably stronger than the re-analyzed winds. They also generate stronger fluxes. The coupled simulation has the strongest surface heat fluxes: the difference in the net heat budget with the oceanic forced simulation reaches on average 50 Wm-2 over the simulation period. Sea surface-temperature cooling is too weak in both simulations, but is improved in the coupled run and matches better the cooling observed with drifters. The spatial distributions of sea surface-temperature cooling and surface fluxes are strongly inhomogeneous over the simulation domain. The amplitude of the flux variation is maximum in the coupled run. Moreover the weak correlation between the cooling and heat flux patterns indicates that the surface fluxes are not responsible for the whole cooling and suggests that the response of the ocean mixed layer to the atmosphere is
GFDL CM2.1 Global Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Model Water ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

First page Back Continue Last page Overview Graphics. GFDL CM2.1 Global Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Model Water Hosing Experiment with 1 Sv equivalent of Freshening Control Expt: 100 yrs After Hosing: 300 yrs.
Ocean eddies and climate predictability.

Science.gov (United States)

Kirtman, Ben P; Perlin, Natalie; Siqueira, Leo

2017-12-01

A suite of coupled climate model simulations and experiments are used to examine how resolved mesoscale ocean features affect aspects of climate variability, air-sea interactions, and predictability. In combination with control simulations, experiments with the interactive ensemble coupling strategy are used to further amplify the role of the oceanic mesoscale field and the associated air-sea feedbacks and predictability. The basic intent of the interactive ensemble coupling strategy is to reduce the atmospheric noise at the air-sea interface, allowing an assessment of how noise affects the variability, and in this case, it is also used to diagnose predictability from the perspective of signal-to-noise ratios. The climate variability is assessed from the perspective of sea surface temperature (SST) variance ratios, and it is shown that, unsurprisingly, mesoscale variability significantly increases SST variance. Perhaps surprising is the fact that the presence of mesoscale ocean features even further enhances the SST variance in the interactive ensemble simulation beyond what would be expected from simple linear arguments. Changes in the air-sea coupling between simulations are assessed using pointwise convective rainfall-SST and convective rainfall-SST tendency correlations and again emphasize how the oceanic mesoscale alters the local association between convective rainfall and SST. Understanding the possible relationships between the SST-forced signal and the weather noise is critically important in climate predictability. We use the interactive ensemble simulations to diagnose this relationship, and we find that the presence of mesoscale ocean features significantly enhances this link particularly in ocean eddy rich regions. Finally, we use signal-to-noise ratios to show that the ocean mesoscale activity increases model estimated predictability in terms of convective precipitation and atmospheric upper tropospheric circulation.
Coupled Regional Ocean-Atmosphere Modeling of the Mount Pinatubo Impact on the Red Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Stenchikov, G. L.; Osipov, S.

2017-12-01

The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo had dramatic effects on the regional climate in the Middle East. Though acknowledged, these effects have not been thoroughly studied. To fill this gap and to advance understanding of the mechanisms that control variability in the Middle East's regional climate, we simulated the impact of the 1991 Pinatubo eruption using a regional coupled ocean-atmosphere modeling system set for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) domain. We used the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport (COAWST) framework, which couples the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) model with the Regional Oceanic Modeling System (ROMS). We modified the WRF model to account for the radiative effect of volcanic aerosols. Our coupled ocean-atmosphere simulations verified by available observations revealed strong perturbations in the energy balance of the Red Sea, which drove thermal and circulation responses. Our modeling approach allowed us to separate changes in the atmospheric circulation caused by the impact of the volcano from direct regional radiative cooling from volcanic aerosols. The atmospheric circulation effect was significantly stronger than the direct volcanic aerosols effect. We found that the Red Sea response to the Pinatubo eruption was stronger and qualitatively different from that of the global ocean system. Our results suggest that major volcanic eruptions significantly affect the climate in the Middle East and the Red Sea and should be carefully taken into account in assessments of long-term climate variability and warming trends in MENA and the Red Sea.
Atmospheric and oceanic dust fluxes in the northeastern tropical Atlantic Ocean: how close a coupling?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Bory

2002-12-01

Full Text Available Atmospheric inputs to the ocean of dust originating from Africa are compared with downward dust flux in the oceanic water column. Atmospheric fluxes were estimated using remote-sensing-derived dust optical thickness and parameters from a transport/deposition model (TM2z. Oceanic fluxes were measured directly over/in two regions of contrasting primary productivity of the northeastern tropical Atlantic (one mesotrophic and one oligotrophic, located at about 500 and 1500 km off Mauritania underlying the offshore dust plume. In both regions, estimates of annual atmospheric dust inputs to the ocean surface are lower than, but of the same order of magnitude as, oceanic fluxes (49.5 and 8.8 mg.m-2 .d-1 in the mesotrophic and oligotrophic regions. Part of this mismatch may reflect both a general flaw in the dust grain size distribution used in transport models, which likely underestimates large particles, and/or lateral advection to each region of dustier surface waters from upstream, where dust deposition is higher. Higher-frequency temporal coupling between atmospheric and oceanic fluxes seems to be primary-productivity dependent, as hypothesized in previously reported studies.Key words. Atmospheric composition and structure (aerosols and particles; geochemical cycles Oceanography: biological and chemical (geochemistry
Coupling atmospheric and ocean wave models for storm simulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Du, Jianting

the atmosphere must, by conservation, result in the generation of the surface waves and currents. The physics-based methods are sensitive to the choice of wind-input source function (Sin), parameterization of high-frequency wave spectra tail, and numerical cut-off frequencies. Unfortunately, literature survey......This thesis studies the wind-wave interactions through the coupling between the atmospheric model and ocean surface wave models. Special attention is put on storm simulations in the North Sea for wind energy applications in the coastal zones. The two aspects, namely storm conditions and coastal...... shows that in most wind-wave coupling systems, either the Sin in the wave model is different from the one used for the momentum flux estimation in the atmospheric model, or the methods are too sensitive to the parameterization of high-frequency spectra tail and numerical cut-off frequencies. To confront...
Coupled Atmosphere-Wave-Ocean Modeling of Tropical Cyclones: Progress, Challenges, and Ways Forward

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Shuyi

2015-04-01

/s. It is found that the air-sea fluxes are quite asymmetric around a storm with complex features representing various air-sea interaction processes in TCs. A unique observation in Typhoon Fanapi is the development of a stable boundary layer in the near-storm cold wake region, which has a direct impact on TC inner core structure and intensity. Despite of the progress, challenges remain. Air-sea momentum exchange in wind speed greater than 30-40 m/s is largely unresolved. Directional wind-wave stress and wave-current stress are difficult to determine from observations. Effects of sea spray on the air-sea fluxes are still not well understood. This talk will provide an overview on progress made in recent years, challenges we are facing, and ways forward. An integrated coupled observational and atmosphere-wave-ocean modeling system is urgently needed, in which coupled model development and targeted observations from field campaign and lab measurements together form the core of the research and prediction system. Another important aspect is that fully coupled models provide explicit, integrated impact forecasts of wind, rain, waves, ocean currents and surges in TCs and winter storms, which are missing in most current NWP models. It requires a new strategy for model development, evaluation, and verification. Ensemble forecasts using high-resolution coupled atmosphere-wave-ocean models can provide probabilistic forecasts and quantitative uncertainty estimates, which also allow us to explore new methodologies to verify probabilistic impact forecasts and evaluate model physics using a stochastic approach. Examples of such approach in TCs including Superstorm Sandy will be presented.
Modeling of radiation transport in coupled atmosphere-snow-ice-ocean systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stamnes, K.; Hamre, B.; Stamnes, J. J.; Ryzhikov, G.; Biryulina, M.

2009-01-01

A radiative transfer model for coupled atmosphere-snow-ice-ocean systems is used to develop accurate and efficient tools for computing the BRDF of sea ice for a wide range of situations occurring in nature. (authors)
Air-Sea Coupling Over The Equatorial Indian Ocean

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Gopika, N.

S, where thermocline domes, the ocean is tightly coupled to the atmosphere [Reverdin, 1987; Murtugudde and Busalacchi, 1999; Xie et al, 2002] and therefore expected to influence the regional climate variability. In recent years Saji et al. [1999] showed... the forcing- response pattern of the ocean-atmosphere as a coupled system. For example, the anomalous ocean-atmosphere coupled phenomena like Indian Ocean Dipole mode produces anomalous atmospheric and oceanic condition that influence regional climate...
Longitudinal biases in the Seychelles Dome simulated by 35 ocean-atmosphere coupled general circulation models

Science.gov (United States)

Nagura, Motoki; Sasaki, Wataru; Tozuka, Tomoki; Luo, Jing-Jia; Behera, Swadhin K.; Yamagata, Toshio

2013-02-01

Seychelles Dome refers to the shallow climatological thermocline in the southwestern Indian Ocean, where ocean wave dynamics efficiently affect sea surface temperature, allowing sea surface temperature anomalies to be predicted up to 1-2 years in advance. Accurate reproduction of the dome by ocean-atmosphere coupled general circulation models (CGCMs) is essential for successful seasonal predictions in the Indian Ocean. This study examines the Seychelles Dome as simulated by 35 CGCMs, including models used in phase five of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). Among the 35 CGCMs, 14 models erroneously produce an upwelling dome in the eastern half of the basin whereas the observed Seychelles Dome is located in the southwestern tropical Indian Ocean. The annual mean Ekman pumping velocity in these models is found to be almost zero in the southern off-equatorial region. This result is inconsistent with observations, in which Ekman upwelling acts as the main cause of the Seychelles Dome. In the models reproducing an eastward-displaced dome, easterly biases are prominent along the equator in boreal summer and fall, which result in shallow thermocline biases along the Java and Sumatra coasts via Kelvin wave dynamics and a spurious upwelling dome in the region. Compared to the CMIP3 models, the CMIP5 models are even worse in simulating the dome longitudes.

Estimation of oceanic subsurface mixing under a severe cyclonic storm using a coupled atmosphere-ocean-wave model

Science.gov (United States)

Prakash, Kumar Ravi; Nigam, Tanuja; Pant, Vimlesh

2018-04-01

A coupled atmosphere-ocean-wave model was used to examine mixing in the upper-oceanic layers under the influence of a very severe cyclonic storm Phailin over the Bay of Bengal (BoB) during 10-14 October 2013. The coupled model was found to improve the sea surface temperature over the uncoupled model. Model simulations highlight the prominent role of cyclone-induced near-inertial oscillations in subsurface mixing up to the thermocline depth. The inertial mixing introduced by the cyclone played a central role in the deepening of the thermocline and mixed layer depth by 40 and 15 m, respectively. For the first time over the BoB, a detailed analysis of inertial oscillation kinetic energy generation, propagation, and dissipation was carried out using an atmosphere-ocean-wave coupled model during a cyclone. A quantitative estimate of kinetic energy in the oceanic water column, its propagation, and its dissipation mechanisms were explained using the coupled atmosphere-ocean-wave model. The large shear generated by the inertial oscillations was found to overcome the stratification and initiate mixing at the base of the mixed layer. Greater mixing was found at the depths where the eddy kinetic diffusivity was large. The baroclinic current, holding a larger fraction of kinetic energy than the barotropic current, weakened rapidly after the passage of the cyclone. The shear induced by inertial oscillations was found to decrease rapidly with increasing depth below the thermocline. The dampening of the mixing process below the thermocline was explained through the enhanced dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy upon approaching the thermocline layer. The wave-current interaction and nonlinear wave-wave interaction were found to affect the process of downward mixing and cause the dissipation of inertial oscillations.
Initialization and Predictability of a Coupled ENSO Forecast Model

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Dake; Zebiak, Stephen E.; Cane, Mark A.; Busalacchi, Antonio J.

1997-01-01

The skill of a coupled ocean-atmosphere model in predicting ENSO has recently been improved using a new initialization procedure in which initial conditions are obtained from the coupled model, nudged toward observations of wind stress. The previous procedure involved direct insertion of wind stress observations, ignoring model feedback from ocean to atmosphere. The success of the new scheme is attributed to its explicit consideration of ocean-atmosphere coupling and the associated reduction of "initialization shock" and random noise. The so-called spring predictability barrier is eliminated, suggesting that such a barrier is not intrinsic to the real climate system. Initial attempts to generalize the nudging procedure to include SST were not successful; possible explanations are offered. In all experiments forecast skill is found to be much higher for the 1980s than for the 1970s and 1990s, suggesting decadal variations in predictability.
A vector radiative transfer model for coupled atmosphere and ocean systems with a rough interface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhai Pengwang; Hu Yongxiang; Chowdhary, Jacek; Trepte, Charles R.; Lucker, Patricia L.; Josset, Damien B.

2010-01-01

We report on an exact vector (polarized) radiative transfer (VRT) model for coupled atmosphere and ocean systems. This VRT model is based on the successive order of scattering (SOS) method, which virtually takes all the multiple scattering processes into account, including atmospheric scattering, oceanic scattering, reflection and transmission through the rough ocean surface. The isotropic Cox-Munk wave model is used to derive the ref and transmission matrices for the rough ocean surface. Shadowing effects are included by the shadowing function. We validated the SOS results by comparing them with those calculated by two independent codes based on the doubling/adding and Monte Carlo methods. Two error analyses related to the ocean color remote sensing are performed in the coupled atmosphere and ocean systems. One is the scalar error caused by ignoring the polarization in the whole system. The other is the error introduced by ignoring the polarization of the light transmitted through the ocean interface. Both errors are significant for the cases studied. This code fits for the next generation of ocean color study because it converges fast for absorbing medium as, for instance, ocean.
Coupled atmosphere-ocean-wave simulations of a storm event over the Gulf of Lion and Balearic Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Renault, Lionel; Chiggiato, Jacopo; Warner, John C.; Gomez, Marta; Vizoso, Guillermo; Tintore, Joaquin

2012-01-01

The coastal areas of the North-Western Mediterranean Sea are one of the most challenging places for ocean forecasting. This region is exposed to severe storms events that are of short duration. During these events, significant air-sea interactions, strong winds and large sea-state can have catastrophic consequences in the coastal areas. To investigate these air-sea interactions and the oceanic response to such events, we implemented the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport Modeling System simulating a severe storm in the Mediterranean Sea that occurred in May 2010. During this event, wind speed reached up to 25 m.s-1 inducing significant sea surface cooling (up to 2°C) over the Gulf of Lion (GoL) and along the storm track, and generating surface waves with a significant height of 6 m. It is shown that the event, associated with a cyclogenesis between the Balearic Islands and the GoL, is relatively well reproduced by the coupled system. A surface heat budget analysis showed that ocean vertical mixing was a major contributor to the cooling tendency along the storm track and in the GoL where turbulent heat fluxes also played an important role. Sensitivity experiments on the ocean-atmosphere coupling suggested that the coupled system is sensitive to the momentum flux parameterization as well as air-sea and air-wave coupling. Comparisons with available atmospheric and oceanic observations showed that the use of the fully coupled system provides the most skillful simulation, illustrating the benefit of using a fully coupled ocean-atmosphere-wave model for the assessment of these storm events.
A New Coupled Ocean-Waves-Atmosphere Model Designed for Tropical Storm Studies: Example of Tropical Cyclone Bejisa (2013-2014) in the South-West Indian Ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Pianezze, J.; Barthe, C.; Bielli, S.; Tulet, P.; Jullien, S.; Cambon, G.; Bousquet, O.; Claeys, M.; Cordier, E.

2018-03-01

Ocean-Waves-Atmosphere (OWA) exchanges are not well represented in current Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) systems, which can lead to large uncertainties in tropical cyclone track and intensity forecasts. In order to explore and better understand the impact of OWA interactions on tropical cyclone modeling, a fully coupled OWA system based on the atmospheric model Meso-NH, the oceanic model CROCO, and the wave model WW3 and called MSWC was designed and applied to the case of tropical cyclone Bejisa (2013-2014). The fully coupled OWA simulation shows good agreement with the literature and available observations. In particular, simulated significant wave height is within 30 cm of measurements made with buoys and altimeters. Short-term (right place (in the eyewall of the tropical cyclone) and with the right size distribution, which is critical for cloud microphysics.
Coupled assimilation for an intermediated coupled ENSO prediction model

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Fei; Zhu, Jiang

2010-10-01

The value of coupled assimilation is discussed using an intermediate coupled model in which the wind stress is the only atmospheric state which is slavery to model sea surface temperature (SST). In the coupled assimilation analysis, based on the coupled wind-ocean state covariance calculated from the coupled state ensemble, the ocean state is adjusted by assimilating wind data using the ensemble Kalman filter. As revealed by a series of assimilation experiments using simulated observations, the coupled assimilation of wind observations yields better results than the assimilation of SST observations. Specifically, the coupled assimilation of wind observations can help to improve the accuracy of the surface and subsurface currents because the correlation between the wind and ocean currents is stronger than that between SST and ocean currents in the equatorial Pacific. Thus, the coupled assimilation of wind data can decrease the initial condition errors in the surface/subsurface currents that can significantly contribute to SST forecast errors. The value of the coupled assimilation of wind observations is further demonstrated by comparing the prediction skills of three 12-year (1997-2008) hindcast experiments initialized by the ocean-only assimilation scheme that assimilates SST observations, the coupled assimilation scheme that assimilates wind observations, and a nudging scheme that nudges the observed wind stress data, respectively. The prediction skills of two assimilation schemes are significantly better than those of the nudging scheme. The prediction skills of assimilating wind observations are better than assimilating SST observations. Assimilating wind observations for the 2007/2008 La Niña event triggers better predictions, while assimilating SST observations fails to provide an early warning for that event.
Predicted net efflux of radiocarbon from the ocean and increase in atmospheric radiocarbon content

Science.gov (United States)

Caldeira, Ken; Rau, Greg H.; Duffy, Philip B.

Prior to changes introduced by man, production of radiocarbon (14C) in the stratosphere nearly balanced the flux of 14C from the atmosphere to the ocean and land biosphere, which in turn nearly balanced radioactive decay in these 14C reservoirs. This balance has been altered by land-use changes, fossil-fuel burning, and atmospheric nuclear detonations. Here, we use a model of the global carbon cycle to quantify these radiocarbon fluxes and make predictions about their magnitude in the future. Atmospheric nuclear detonations increased atmospheric 14C content by about 80% by the mid-1960's. Since that time, the 14C content of the atmosphere has been diminishing as this bomb radiocarbon has been entering the oceans and terrestrial biosphere. However, we predict that atmospheric 14C content will reach a minimum and start to increase within the next few years if fossil-fuel burning continues according to a “business-as-usual” scenario, even though fossil fuels are devoid of 14C. This will happen because fossil-fuel carbon diminishes the net flux of 14C from the atmosphere to the oceans and land biosphere, forcing 14C to accumulate in the atmosphere. Furthermore, the net flux of both bomb and natural 14C into the ocean are predicted to continue to slow and then, in the middle of the next century, to reverse, so that there will be a net flux of 14C from the ocean to the atmosphere. The predicted reversal of net 14C fluxes into the ocean is a further example of human impacts on the global carbon cycle.
Modes of North Atlantic Decadal Variability in the ECHAM1/LSG Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere General Circulation Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Zorita, Eduardo; Frankignoul, Claude

1997-02-01

The climate variability in the North Atlantic sector is investigated in a 325-yr integration of the ECHAM1/ LSG coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model. At the interannual timescale, the coupled model behaves realistically and sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies arise as a response of the oceanic surface layer to the stochastic forcing by the atmosphere, with the heat exchanges both generating and damping the SST anomalies. In the ocean interior, the temperature spectra are red up to a period of about 20 years, and substantial decadal fluctuations are found in the upper kilometer or so of the water column. Using extended empirical orthogonal function analysis, two distinct quasi-oscillatory modes of ocean-atmosphere variability are identified, with dominant periods of about 20 and 10 years, respectively. The oceanic changes in both modes reflect the direct forcing by the atmosphere through anomalous air-sea fluxes and Ekman pumping, which after some delay affects the intensity of the subtropical and subpolar gyres. The SST is also strongly modulated by the gyre currents. In the thermocline, the temperature and salinity fluctuations are in phase, as if caused by thermocline displacements, and they have no apparent connection with the thermohaline circulation. The 20-yr mode is the most energetic one; it is easily seen in the thermocline and can be found in SST data, but it is not detected in the atmosphere alone. As there is no evidence of positive ocean-atmosphere feedback, the 20-yr mode primarily reflects the passive response of the ocean to atmospheric fluctuations, which may be in part associated with climate anomalies appearing a few years earlier in the North Pacific. The 10-yr mode is more surface trapped in the ocean. Although the mode is most easily seen in the temperature variations of the upper few hundred meters of the ocean, it is also detected in the atmosphere alone and thus appears to be a coupled ocean-atmosphere mode. In both modes
Use of Ocean Remote Sensing Data to Enhance Predictions with a Coupled General Circulation Model

Science.gov (United States)

Rienecker, Michele M.

1999-01-01

Surface height, sea surface temperature and surface wind observations from satellites have given a detailed time sequence of the initiation and evolution of the 1997/98 El Nino. The data have beet complementary to the subsurface TAO moored data in their spatial resolution and extent. The impact of satellite observations on seasonal prediction in the tropical Pacific using a coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model will be presented.
Some sensitivities of a coupled ocean-atmosphere GCM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stockdale, T.; Latif, M.; Burgers, G.; Wolff, J.O.

1994-01-01

A coupled ocean-atmosphere GCM is being developed for use in seasonal forecasting. As part of the development work, a number of experiments have been made to explore some of the sensitivities of the coupled model system. The overall heat balance of the tropics is found to be very sensitive to convective cloud cover. Adjusting the cloud parameterization to produce stable behaviour of the coupled model also leads to better agreement between model radiative fluxes and satellite data. A further sensitivity is seen to changes in low-level marine stratus, which is under-represented in the initial model experiments. An increase in this cloud in the coupled model produces a small improvement in both the global mean state and the phase of the east Pacific annual cycle. The computational expense of investigating such small changes is emphasized. An indication of model sensitivity to surface albedo is also presented. The sensitivity of the coupled GCM to initial conditions is investigated. The model is very sensitive, with tiny perturbations able to determine El Nino or non-El Nino conditions just six months later. This large sensitivity may be related to the relatively weak amplitude of the model ENSO cycle. (orig.)
Effects of Precipitation on Ocean Mixed-Layer Temperature and Salinity as Simulated in a 2-D Coupled Ocean-Cloud Resolving Atmosphere Model

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xiaofan; Sui, C.-H.; Lau, K-M.; Adamec, D.

1999-01-01

A two-dimensional coupled ocean-cloud resolving atmosphere model is used to investigate possible roles of convective scale ocean disturbances induced by atmospheric precipitation on ocean mixed-layer heat and salt budgets. The model couples a cloud resolving model with an embedded mixed layer-ocean circulation model. Five experiment are performed under imposed large-scale atmospheric forcing in terms of vertical velocity derived from the TOGA COARE observations during a selected seven-day period. The dominant variability of mixed-layer temperature and salinity are simulated by the coupled model with imposed large-scale forcing. The mixed-layer temperatures in the coupled experiments with 1-D and 2-D ocean models show similar variations when salinity effects are not included. When salinity effects are included, however, differences in the domain-mean mixed-layer salinity and temperature between coupled experiments with 1-D and 2-D ocean models could be as large as 0.3 PSU and 0.4 C respectively. Without fresh water effects, the nocturnal heat loss over ocean surface causes deep mixed layers and weak cooling rates so that the nocturnal mixed-layer temperatures tend to be horizontally-uniform. The fresh water flux, however, causes shallow mixed layers over convective areas while the nocturnal heat loss causes deep mixed layer over convection-free areas so that the mixed-layer temperatures have large horizontal fluctuations. Furthermore, fresh water flux exhibits larger spatial fluctuations than surface heat flux because heavy rainfall occurs over convective areas embedded in broad non-convective or clear areas, whereas diurnal signals over whole model areas yield high spatial correlation of surface heat flux. As a result, mixed-layer salinities contribute more to the density differences than do mixed-layer temperatures.
Ocean-atmosphere dynamics during Hurricane Ida and Nor'Ida: An application of the coupled ocean-atmosphere-wave-sediment transport (COAWST) modeling system

Science.gov (United States)

Olabarrieta, Maitane; Warner, John C.; Armstrong, Brandy N.; Zambon, Joseph B.; He, Ruoying

2012-01-01

The coupled ocean–atmosphere–wave–sediment transport (COAWST) modeling system was used to investigate atmosphere–ocean–wave interactions in November 2009 during Hurricane Ida and its subsequent evolution to Nor’Ida, which was one of the most costly storm systems of the past two decades. One interesting aspect of this event is that it included two unique atmospheric extreme conditions, a hurricane and a nor’easter storm, which developed in regions with different oceanographic characteristics. Our modeled results were compared with several data sources, including GOES satellite infrared data, JASON-1 and JASON-2 altimeter data, CODAR measurements, and wave and tidal information from the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) and the National Tidal Database. By performing a series of numerical runs, we were able to isolate the effect of the interaction terms between the atmosphere (modeled with Weather Research and Forecasting, the WRF model), the ocean (modeled with Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS)), and the wave propagation and generation model (modeled with Simulating Waves Nearshore (SWAN)). Special attention was given to the role of the ocean surface roughness. Three different ocean roughness closure models were analyzed: DGHQ (which is based on wave age), TY2001 (which is based on wave steepness), and OOST (which considers both the effects of wave age and steepness). Including the ocean roughness in the atmospheric module improved the wind intensity estimation and therefore also the wind waves, surface currents, and storm surge amplitude. For example, during the passage of Hurricane Ida through the Gulf of Mexico, the wind speeds were reduced due to wave-induced ocean roughness, resulting in better agreement with the measured winds. During Nor’Ida, including the wave-induced surface roughness changed the form and dimension of the main low pressure cell, affecting the intensity and direction of the winds. The combined wave age- and wave steepness
Ocean surface waves in Hurricane Ike (2008) and Superstorm Sandy (2012): Coupled model predictions and observations

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Shuyi S.; Curcic, Milan

2016-07-01

Forecasting hurricane impacts of extreme winds and flooding requires accurate prediction of hurricane structure and storm-induced ocean surface waves days in advance. The waves are complex, especially near landfall when the hurricane winds and water depth varies significantly and the surface waves refract, shoal and dissipate. In this study, we examine the spatial structure, magnitude, and directional spectrum of hurricane-induced ocean waves using a high resolution, fully coupled atmosphere-wave-ocean model and observations. The coupled model predictions of ocean surface waves in Hurricane Ike (2008) over the Gulf of Mexico and Superstorm Sandy (2012) in the northeastern Atlantic and coastal region are evaluated with the NDBC buoy and satellite altimeter observations. Although there are characteristics that are general to ocean waves in both hurricanes as documented in previous studies, wave fields in Ike and Sandy possess unique properties due mostly to the distinct wind fields and coastal bathymetry in the two storms. Several processes are found to significantly modulate hurricane surface waves near landfall. First, the phase speed and group velocities decrease as the waves become shorter and steeper in shallow water, effectively increasing surface roughness and wind stress. Second, the bottom-induced refraction acts to turn the waves toward the coast, increasing the misalignment between the wind and waves. Third, as the hurricane translates over land, the left side of the storm center is characterized by offshore winds over very short fetch, which opposes incoming swell. Landfalling hurricanes produce broader wave spectra overall than that of the open ocean. The front-left quadrant is most complex, where the combination of windsea, swell propagating against the wind, increasing wind-wave stress, and interaction with the coastal topography requires a fully coupled model to meet these challenges in hurricane wave and surge prediction.
Radiative transfer in atmosphere-sea ice-ocean system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jin, Z.; Stamnes, K.; Weeks, W.F. [Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK (United States); Tsay, S.C. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (United States)

1996-04-01

Radiative energy is critical in controlling the heat and mass balance of sea ice, which significantly affects the polar climate. In the polar oceans, light transmission through the atmosphere and sea ice is essential to the growth of plankton and algae and, consequently, to the microbial community both in the ice and in the ocean. Therefore, the study of radiative transfer in the polar atmosphere, sea ice, and ocean system is of particular importance. Lacking a properly coupled radiative transfer model for the atmosphere-sea ice-ocean system, a consistent study of the radiative transfer in the polar atmosphere, snow, sea ice, and ocean system has not been undertaken before. The radiative transfer processes in the atmosphere and in the ice and ocean have been treated separately. Because the radiation processes in the atmosphere, sea ice, and ocean depend on each other, this separate treatment is inconsistent. To study the radiative interaction between the atmosphere, clouds, snow, sea ice, and ocean, a radiative transfer model with consistent treatment of radiation in the coupled system is needed and is under development.
Indian Ocean and Indian summer monsoon: relationships without ENSO in ocean-atmosphere coupled simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Crétat, Julien; Terray, Pascal; Masson, Sébastien; Sooraj, K. P.; Roxy, Mathew Koll

2017-08-01

The relationship between the Indian Ocean and the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) and their respective influence over the Indo-Western North Pacific (WNP) region are examined in the absence of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in two partially decoupled global experiments. ENSO is removed by nudging the tropical Pacific simulated sea surface temperature (SST) toward SST climatology from either observations or a fully coupled control run. The control reasonably captures the observed relationships between ENSO, ISM and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). Despite weaker amplitude, IODs do exist in the absence of ENSO and are triggered by a boreal spring ocean-atmosphere coupled mode over the South-East Indian Ocean similar to that found in the presence of ENSO. These pure IODs significantly affect the tropical Indian Ocean throughout boreal summer, inducing a significant modulation of both the local Walker and Hadley cells. This meridional circulation is masked in the presence of ENSO. However, these pure IODs do not significantly influence the Indian subcontinent rainfall despite overestimated SST variability in the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean compared to observations. On the other hand, they promote a late summer cross-equatorial quadrupole rainfall pattern linking the tropical Indian Ocean with the WNP, inducing important zonal shifts of the Walker circulation despite the absence of ENSO. Surprisingly, the interannual ISM rainfall variability is barely modified and the Indian Ocean does not force the monsoon circulation when ENSO is removed. On the contrary, the monsoon circulation significantly forces the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal SSTs, while its connection with the western tropical Indian Ocean is clearly driven by ENSO in our numerical framework. Convection and diabatic heating associated with above-normal ISM induce a strong response over the WNP, even in the absence of ENSO, favoring moisture convergence over India.
Secular trends and climate drift in coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation models

Science.gov (United States)

Covey, Curt; Gleckler, Peter J.; Phillips, Thomas J.; Bader, David C.

2006-02-01

Coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation models (coupled GCMs) with interactive sea ice are the primary tool for investigating possible future global warming and numerous other issues in climate science. A long-standing problem with such models is that when different components of the physical climate system are linked together, the simulated climate can drift away from observation unless constrained by ad hoc adjustments to interface fluxes. However, 11 modern coupled GCMs, including three that do not employ flux adjustments, behave much better in this respect than the older generation of models. Surface temperature trends in control run simulations (with external climate forcing such as solar brightness and atmospheric carbon dioxide held constant) are small compared with observed trends, which include 20th century climate change due to both anthropogenic and natural factors. Sea ice changes in the models are dominated by interannual variations. Deep ocean temperature and salinity trends are small enough for model control runs to extend over 1000 simulated years or more, but trends in some regions, most notably the Arctic, differ substantially among the models and may be problematic. Methods used to initialize coupled GCMs can mitigate climate drift but cannot eliminate it. Lengthy "spin-ups" of models, made possible by increasing computer power, are one reason for the improvements this paper documents.
The Double ITCZ Syndrome in GCMs: A Coupled Problem among Convection, Atmospheric and Ocean Circulations

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, G. J.; Song, X.

2017-12-01

The double ITCZ bias has been a long-standing problem in coupled atmosphere-ocean models. A previous study indicates that uncertainty in the projection of global warming due to doubling of CO2 is closely related to the double ITCZ biases in global climate models. Thus, reducing the double ITCZ biases is not only important to getting the current climate features right, but also important to narrowing the uncertainty in future climate projection. In this work, we will first review the possible factors contributing to the ITCZ problem. Then, we will focus on atmospheric convection, presenting recent progress in alleviating the double ITCZ problem and its sensitivity to details of convective parameterization, including trigger conditions for convection onset, convective memory, entrainment rate, updraft model and closure in the NCAR CESM1. These changes together can result in dramatic improvements in the simulation of ITCZ. Results based on both atmospheric only and coupled simulations with incremental changes of convection scheme will be shown to demonstrate the roles of convection parameterization and coupled interaction between convection, atmospheric circulation and ocean circulation in the simulation of ITCZ.
The crucial role of ocean-atmosphere coupling on the Indian monsoon anomalous response during dipole events

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Krishnan, R.; Swapna, P.; Ayantika, D.C.; Mujumdar, M. [Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Climate and Global Modelling Division, Pune (India); Sundaram, Suchithra [Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Climate and Global Modelling Division, Pune (India); Universite Catholique de Louvain, Institut d' Astronomie de Geophysique G. Lemaitre, Louvain-La-Neuve (Belgium); Kumar, Vinay [Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Climate and Global Modelling Division, Pune (India); Florida State University, Department of Meteorology, Tallahassee, FL (United States)

2011-07-15

This paper examines an issue concerning the simulation of anomalously wet Indian summer monsoons like 1994 which co-occurred with strong positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) conditions in the tropical Indian Ocean. Contrary to observations it has been noticed that standalone atmospheric general circulation models (AGCM) forced with observed SST boundary condition, consistently depicted a decrease of the summer monsoon rainfall during 1994 over the Indian region. Given the ocean-atmosphere coupling during IOD events, we have examined whether the failure of standalone AGCM simulations in capturing wet Indian monsoons like 1994 can be remedied by including a simple form of coupling that allows the monsoon circulation to dynamically interact with the IOD anomalies. With this view, we have performed a suite of simulations by coupling an AGCM to a slab-ocean model with spatially varying mixed-layer-depth (MLD) specified from observations for the 1994 IOD; as well as four other cases (1983, 1997, 2006, 2007). The specification of spatially varying MLD from observations allows us to constrain the model to observed IOD conditions. It is seen that the inclusion of coupling significantly improves the large-scale circulation response by strengthening the monsoon cross-equatorial flow; leading to precipitation enhancement over the subcontinent and rainfall decrease over south-eastern tropical Indian Ocean - in a manner broadly consistent with observations. A plausible physical mechanism is suggested to explain the monsoonal response in the coupled frame-work. These results warrant the need for improved monsoon simulations with fully coupled models to be able to better capture the observed monsoon interannual variability. (orig.)
Atmosphere-ocean feedbacks in a coastal upwelling system

Science.gov (United States)

Alves, J. M. R.; Peliz, A.; Caldeira, R. M. A.; Miranda, P. M. A.

2018-03-01

The COAWST (Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport) modelling system is used in different configurations to simulate the Iberian upwelling during the 2012 summer, aiming to assess the atmosphere-ocean feedbacks in the upwelling dynamics. When model results are compared with satellite measurements and in-situ data, two-way coupling is found to have a moderate impact in data-model statistics. A significant reinforcement of atmosphere-ocean coupling coefficients is, however, observed in the two-way coupled run, and in the WRF and ROMS runs forced by previously simulated SST and wind fields, respectively. The increasing in the coupling coefficient is associated with slight, but potentially important changes in the low-level coastal jet in the atmospheric marine boundary layer. While these results do not imply the need for fully coupled simulations in many applications, they show that in seasonal numerical studies such simulations do not degrade the overall model performance, and contribute to produce better dynamical fields.
Impact of resolving the diurnal cycle in an ocean-atmosphere GCM. Pt. 2. A diurnally coupled CGCM

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bernie, D.J. [Met Office Hadley Centre, Exeter (United Kingdom); University of Reading, National Centre for Atmospheric Science-Climate, Department of Meteorology, Reading (United Kingdom); Numeriques, IPSL, Laboratoire d' Oceanographie et du Climat, Experimentation et Approches, Paris (France); Guilyardi, E. [University of Reading, National Centre for Atmospheric Science-Climate, Department of Meteorology, Reading (United Kingdom); Numeriques, IPSL, Laboratoire d' Oceanographie et du Climat, Experimentation et Approches, Paris (France); Madec, G. [Numeriques, IPSL, Laboratoire d' Oceanographie et du Climat, Experimentation et Approches, Paris (France); Slingo, J.M.; Woolnough, S.J.; Cole, J. [University of Reading, National Centre for Atmospheric Science-Climate, Department of Meteorology, Reading (United Kingdom)

2008-12-15

Coupled ocean atmosphere general circulation models (GCM) are typically coupled once every 24 h, excluding the diurnal cycle from the upper ocean. Previous studies attempting to examine the role of the diurnal cycle of the upper ocean and particularly of diurnal SST variability have used models unable to resolve the processes of interest. In part 1 of this study a high vertical resolution ocean GCM configuration with modified physics was developed that could resolve the diurnal cycle in the upper ocean. In this study it is coupled every 3 h to atmospheric GCM to examine the sensitivity of the mean climate simulation and aspects of its variability to the inclusion of diurnal ocean-atmosphere coupling. The inclusion of the diurnal cycle leads to a tropics wide increase in mean sea surface temperature (SST), with the strongest signal being across the equatorial Pacific where the warming increases from 0.2 C in the central and western Pacific to over 0.3 C in the eastern equatorial Pacific. Much of this warming is shown to be a direct consequence of the rectification of daily mean SST by the diurnal variability of SST. The warming of the equatorial Pacific leads to a redistribution of precipitation from the Inter tropical convergence zone (ITCZ) toward the equator. In the western Pacific there is an increase in precipitation between Papa new guinea and 170 E of up to 1.2 mm/day, improving the simulation compared to climatology. Pacific sub tropical cells are increased in strength by about 10%, in line with results of part 1 of this study, due to the modification of the exchange of momentum between the equatorially divergent Ekman currents and the geostropic convergence at depth, effectively increasing the dynamical response of the tropical Pacific to zonal wind stresses. During the spring relaxation of the Pacific trade winds, a large diurnal cycle of SST increases the seasonal warming of the equatorial Pacific. When the trade winds then re-intensify, the increase in

Atmosphere-Ocean Coupling through Trace Gases

Science.gov (United States)

Tegtmeier, S.; Atlas, E. L.; Krüger, K.; Lennartz, S. T.; Marandino, C. A.; Patra, P. K.; Quack, B.; Schlundt, C.

2017-12-01

Halogen- and sulfur-containing trace gases, as well as other volatile organic compounds (VOCs, such as isoprene) from biogeochemical marine sources are important constituents of the ocean and the atmosphere. These compounds exert wide-ranging influence on atmospheric chemical processes and climate interactions, as well as on human health in coastal regions. In their reactive form, they can affect the oxidizing capacity of the air and lead to the formation of new particles or the growth of existing ones. In this contribution, marine derived halogen-, sulfur-, and oxygen-containing compounds will be discussed. Their net flux into the atmosphere and their impact on atmospheric processes is analyzed based on observations and model simulations.
Autumn atmospheric response to the 2007 low Arctic sea ice extent in coupled ocean-atmosphere hindcasts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Orsolini, Yvan J. [Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU), PO BOX 100, Kjeller (Norway); Senan, Retish; Benestad, Rasmus E.; Melsom, Arne [Norwegian Meteorological Institute (met. no), Oslo (Norway)

2012-06-15

The autumn and early winter atmospheric response to the record-low Arctic sea ice extent at the end of summer 2007 is examined in ensemble hindcasts with prescribed sea ice extent, made with the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts state-of-the-art coupled ocean-atmosphere seasonal forecast model. Robust, warm anomalies over the Pacific and Siberian sectors of the Arctic, as high as 10 C at the surface, are found in October and November. A regime change occurs by December, characterized by weaker temperatures anomalies extending through the troposphere. Geopotential anomalies extend from the surface up to the stratosphere, associated to deeper Aleutian and Icelandic Lows. While the upper-level jet is weakened and shifted southward over the continents, it is intensified over both oceanic sectors, especially over the Pacific Ocean. On the American and Eurasian continents, intensified surface Highs are associated with anomalous advection of cold (warm) polar air on their eastern (western) sides, bringing cooler temperatures along the Pacific coast of Asia and Northeastern North America. Transient eddy activity is reduced over Eurasia, intensified over the entrance and exit regions of the Pacific and Atlantic storm tracks, in broad qualitative agreement with the upper-level wind anomalies. Potential predictability calculations indicate a strong influence of sea ice upon surface temperatures over the Arctic in autumn, but also along the Pacific coast of Asia in December. When the observed sea ice extent from 2007 is prescribed throughout the autumn, a higher correlation of surface temperatures with meteorological re-analyses is found at high latitudes from October until mid-November. This further emphasises the relevance of sea ice for seasonal forecasting in the Arctic region, in the autumn. (orig.)
Ocean Prediction Center

Science.gov (United States)

Social Media Facebook Twitter YouTube Search Search For Go NWS All NOAA Weather Analysis & Forecasts of Commerce Ocean Prediction Center National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Analysis & Unified Surface Analysis Ocean Ocean Products Ice & Icebergs NIC Ice Products NAIS Iceberg Analysis
Orographic effects on tropical climate in a coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model

Science.gov (United States)

Okajima, Hideki

Large-scale mountain modifies the atmospheric circulation directly through dynamic and thermodynamic process, and also indirectly through the interaction with the ocean. To investigate orographic impacts on tropical climate, a fully coupled general circulation model (CGCM) is developed by coupling a state-of-the-art atmospheric general circulation model and an ocean general circulation model. With realistic boundary conditions, the CGCM produces a reasonable climatology of sea surface temperature (SST), surface winds, and precipitation. When global mountains are removed, the model climatology displays substantial changes in both the mean-state and the seasonal cycle. The equatorial eastern Pacific SST acquires a semi-annual component as inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ) flips and flops across the equator following the seasonal migration of the sun. Without the Andes, wet air flows into the southeastern tropical Pacific from the humid Amazon, which weakens the meridional asymmetry during the Peruvian warm season (February-April). In addition, the northeasterly trade winds are enhanced north of the equator without the orographic blocking of Central American mountains and cools SST. Triggered by the SST cooling north and moistening south of the equator, the wind-evaporation-SST (WES) feedback further weakens the meridional asymmetry and prolongs the southern ITCZ. In the Atlantic Ocean, the equatorial cold tongue is substantially strengthened and develops a pronounced annual cycle in the absence of mountains. The easterly winds are overall enhanced over the equatorial Atlantic without orographic heating over the African highlands, developing a zonal asymmetry strengthened by the Bjerknes feedback. In the Indian Ocean, the thermocline shoals eastward and an equatorial cold tongue appears twice a year. During boreal summer, the Findlater jet is greatly weakened off Somalia and SST warms in the western Indian Ocean, forcing the equatorial easterly winds amplified
Decadal climate predictions improved by ocean ensemble dispersion filtering

Science.gov (United States)

Kadow, C.; Illing, S.; Kröner, I.; Ulbrich, U.; Cubasch, U.

2017-06-01

Decadal predictions by Earth system models aim to capture the state and phase of the climate several years in advance. Atmosphere-ocean interaction plays an important role for such climate forecasts. While short-term weather forecasts represent an initial value problem and long-term climate projections represent a boundary condition problem, the decadal climate prediction falls in-between these two time scales. In recent years, more precise initialization techniques of coupled Earth system models and increased ensemble sizes have improved decadal predictions. However, climate models in general start losing the initialized signal and its predictive skill from one forecast year to the next. Here we show that the climate prediction skill of an Earth system model can be improved by a shift of the ocean state toward the ensemble mean of its individual members at seasonal intervals. We found that this procedure, called ensemble dispersion filter, results in more accurate results than the standard decadal prediction. Global mean and regional temperature, precipitation, and winter cyclone predictions show an increased skill up to 5 years ahead. Furthermore, the novel technique outperforms predictions with larger ensembles and higher resolution. Our results demonstrate how decadal climate predictions benefit from ocean ensemble dispersion filtering toward the ensemble mean.Plain Language SummaryDecadal predictions aim to predict the climate several years in advance. Atmosphere-ocean interaction plays an important role for such climate forecasts. The ocean memory due to its heat capacity holds big potential skill. In recent years, more precise initialization techniques of coupled Earth system models (incl. atmosphere and ocean) have improved decadal predictions. Ensembles are another important aspect. Applying slightly perturbed predictions to trigger the famous butterfly effect results in an ensemble. Instead of evaluating one prediction, but the whole ensemble with its
Simulating the Holocene climate evolution at northern high latitudes using a coupled atmosphere-sea ice-ocean-vegetation model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Renssen, H.; Goosse, H.; Fichefet, T.; Brovkin, V.; Driesschaert, E.; Wolk, F.

2005-01-01

The response of the climate at high northern latitudes to slowly changing external forcings was studied in a 9,000-year long simulation with the coupled atmosphere-sea ice-ocean-vegetation model ECBilt-CLIO-VECODE. Only long-term changes in insolation and atmospheric CO
Extended-range prediction trials using the global cloud/cloud-system resolving model NICAM and its new ocean-coupled version NICOCO

Science.gov (United States)

Miyakawa, Tomoki

2017-04-01

The global cloud/cloud-system resolving model NICAM and its new fully-coupled version NICOCO is run on one of the worlds top-tier supercomputers, the K computer. NICOCO couples the full-3D ocean component COCO of the general circulation model MIROC using a general-purpose coupler Jcup. We carried out multiple MJO simulations using NICAM and the new ocean-coupled version NICOCO to examine their extended-range MJO prediction skills and the impact of ocean coupling. NICAM performs excellently in terms of MJO prediction, maintaining a valid skill up to 27 days after the model is initialized (Miyakawa et al 2014). As is the case in most global models, ocean coupling frees the model from being anchored by the observed SST and allows the model climate to drift away further from reality compared to the atmospheric version of the model. Thus, it is important to evaluate the model bias, and in an initial value problem such as the seasonal extended-range prediction, it is essential to be able to distinguish the actual signal from the early transition of the model from the observed state to its own climatology. Since NICAM is a highly resource-demanding model, evaluation and tuning of the model climatology (order of years) is challenging. Here we focus on the initial 100 days to estimate the early drift of the model, and subsequently evaluate MJO prediction skills of NICOCO. Results show that in the initial 100 days, NICOCO forms a La-Nina like SST bias compared to observation, with a warmer Maritime Continent warm pool and a cooler equatorial central Pacific. The enhanced convection over the Maritime Continent associated with this bias project on to the real-time multi-variate MJO indices (RMM, Wheeler and Hendon 2004), and contaminates the MJO skill score. However, the bias does not appear to demolish the MJO signal severely. The model maintains a valid MJO prediction skill up to nearly 4 weeks when evaluated after linearly removing the early drift component estimated from
Southern hemisphere ocean CO2 uptake: reconciling atmospheric and oceanic estimates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roy, T.; Matear, R.; Rayner, P.; Francey, R.

2003-01-01

Using an atmospheric inversion model we investigate the southern hemisphere ocean CO 2 uptake. From sensitivity studies that varied both the initial ocean flux distribution and the atmospheric data used in the inversion, our inversion predicted a total (ocean and land) uptake of 1.65-1.90 Gt C/yr. We assess the consistency between the mean southern hemisphere ocean uptake predicted by an atmospheric inversion model for the 1991-1997 period and the T99 ocean flux estimate based on observed pCO 2 in Takahashi et al. (2002; Deep-Sea Res II, 49, 1601-1622). The inversion can not match the large 1.8 Gt C/yr southern extratropical (20-90 deg S) uptake of the T99 ocean flux estimate without producing either unreasonable land fluxes in the southern mid-latitudes or by increasing the mismatches between observed and simulated atmospheric CO 2 data. The southern extratropical uptake is redistributed between the mid and high latitudes. Our results suggest that the T99 estimate of the Southern Ocean uptake south of 50 deg S is too large, and that the discrepancy reflects the inadequate representation of wintertime conditions in the T99 estimate
The UKC2 regional coupled environmental prediction system

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Huw W.; Castillo Sanchez, Juan Manuel; Graham, Jennifer; Saulter, Andrew; Bornemann, Jorge; Arnold, Alex; Fallmann, Joachim; Harris, Chris; Pearson, David; Ramsdale, Steven; Martínez-de la Torre, Alberto; Bricheno, Lucy; Blyth, Eleanor; Bell, Victoria A.; Davies, Helen; Marthews, Toby R.; O'Neill, Clare; Rumbold, Heather; O'Dea, Enda; Brereton, Ashley; Guihou, Karen; Hines, Adrian; Butenschon, Momme; Dadson, Simon J.; Palmer, Tamzin; Holt, Jason; Reynard, Nick; Best, Martin; Edwards, John; Siddorn, John

2018-01-01

It is hypothesized that more accurate prediction and warning of natural hazards, such as of the impacts of severe weather mediated through various components of the environment, require a more integrated Earth System approach to forecasting. This hypothesis can be explored using regional coupled prediction systems, in which the known interactions and feedbacks between different physical and biogeochemical components of the environment across sky, sea and land can be simulated. Such systems are becoming increasingly common research tools. This paper describes the development of the UKC2 regional coupled research system, which has been delivered under the UK Environmental Prediction Prototype project. This provides the first implementation of an atmosphere-land-ocean-wave modelling system focussed on the United Kingdom and surrounding seas at km-scale resolution. The UKC2 coupled system incorporates models of the atmosphere (Met Office Unified Model), land surface with river routing (JULES), shelf-sea ocean (NEMO) and ocean waves (WAVEWATCH III). These components are coupled, via OASIS3-MCT libraries, at unprecedentedly high resolution across the UK within a north-western European regional domain. A research framework has been established to explore the representation of feedback processes in coupled and uncoupled modes, providing a new research tool for UK environmental science. This paper documents the technical design and implementation of UKC2, along with the associated evaluation framework. An analysis of new results comparing the output of the coupled UKC2 system with relevant forced control simulations for six contrasting case studies of 5-day duration is presented. Results demonstrate that performance can be achieved with the UKC2 system that is at least comparable to its component control simulations. For some cases, improvements in air temperature, sea surface temperature, wind speed, significant wave height and mean wave period highlight the potential
A global hybrid coupled model based on atmosphere-SST feedbacks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cimatoribus, Andrea A.; Drijfhout, Sybren S. [Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, De Bilt (Netherlands); Dijkstra, Henk A. [Utrecht University, Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht, Utrecht (Netherlands)

2012-02-15

A global hybrid coupled model is developed, with the aim of studying the effects of ocean-atmosphere feedbacks on the stability of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. The model includes a global ocean general circulation model and a statistical atmosphere model. The statistical atmosphere model is based on linear regressions of data from a fully coupled climate model on sea surface temperature both locally and hemispherically averaged, being the footprint of Atlantic meridional overturning variability. It provides dynamic boundary conditions to the ocean model for heat, freshwater and wind-stress. A basic but consistent representation of ocean-atmosphere feedbacks is captured in the hybrid coupled model and it is more than 10 times faster than the fully coupled climate model. The hybrid coupled model reaches a steady state with a climate close to the one of the fully coupled climate model, and the two models also have a similar response (collapse) of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation to a freshwater hosing applied in the northern North Atlantic. (orig.)
Matrix formulations of radiative transfer including the polarization effect in a coupled atmosphere-ocean system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ota, Yoshifumi; Higurashi, Akiko; Nakajima, Teruyuki; Yokota, Tatsuya

2010-01-01

A vector radiative transfer model has been developed for a coupled atmosphere-ocean system. The radiative transfer scheme is based on the discrete ordinate and matrix operator methods. The reflection/transmission matrices and source vectors are obtained for each atmospheric or oceanic layer through the discrete ordinate solution. The vertically inhomogeneous system is constructed using the matrix operator method, which combines the radiative interaction between the layers. This radiative transfer scheme is flexible for a vertically inhomogeneous system including the oceanic layers as well as the ocean surface. Compared with the benchmark results, the computational error attributable to the radiative transfer scheme has been less than 0.1% in the case of eight discrete ordinate directions. Furthermore, increasing the number of discrete ordinate directions has produced computations with higher accuracy. Based on our radiative transfer scheme, simulations of sun glint radiation have been presented for wavelengths of 670 nm and 1.6 μm. Results of simulations have shown reasonable characteristics of the sun glint radiation such as the strongly peaked, but slightly smoothed radiation by the rough ocean surface and depolarization through multiple scattering by the aerosol-loaded atmosphere. The radiative transfer scheme of this paper has been implemented to the numerical model named Pstar as one of the OpenCLASTR/STAR radiative transfer code systems, which are widely applied to many radiative transfer problems, including the polarization effect.
Effects of ocean initial perturbation on developing phase of ENSO in a coupled seasonal prediction model

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Hyun-Chul; Kumar, Arun; Wang, Wanqiu

2018-03-01

Coupled prediction systems for seasonal and inter-annual variability in the tropical Pacific are initialized from ocean analyses. In ocean initial states, small scale perturbations are inevitably smoothed or distorted by the observational limits and data assimilation procedures, which tends to induce potential ocean initial errors for the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) prediction. Here, the evolution and effects of ocean initial errors from the small scale perturbation on the developing phase of ENSO are investigated by an ensemble of coupled model predictions. Results show that the ocean initial errors at the thermocline in the western tropical Pacific grow rapidly to project on the first mode of equatorial Kelvin wave and propagate to the east along the thermocline. In boreal spring when the surface buoyancy flux weakens in the eastern tropical Pacific, the subsurface errors influence sea surface temperature variability and would account for the seasonal dependence of prediction skill in the NINO3 region. It is concluded that the ENSO prediction in the eastern tropical Pacific after boreal spring can be improved by increasing the observational accuracy of subsurface ocean initial states in the western tropical Pacific.
The atmosphere and ocean: A physical introduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wells, N.

1986-01-01

The book's contents are: The Earth within the solar system. Composition and physical properties of the ocean and atmosphere. Radiation, temperature and stability. Water in the atmosphere. Global budgets of heat, water and salt. Observations of winds and currents. The influence of the Earth's rotation on fluid motion. Waves and tides. Energy transfer in the ocean-atmosphere system. Climate variability and predictability. The atmosphere and ocean are two different environmental systems, yet both are interdependent, interacting and exchanging energy, heat and matter. This book attempts to bring the study of the atmosphere and ocean together. It is a descriptive account of physical properties, exploring their common bases, similarities, interactions and fundamental differences
Uncertainty in the ocean-atmosphere feedbacks associated with ENSO in the reanalysis products

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kumar, Arun; Hu, Zeng-Zhen [NCEP/NWS/NOAA, Climate Prediction Center, Camp Springs, MD (United States)

2012-08-15

The evolution of El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability can be characterized by various ocean-atmosphere feedbacks, for example, the influence of ENSO related sea surface temperature (SST) variability on the low-level wind and surface heat fluxes in the equatorial tropical Pacific, which in turn affects the evolution of the SST. An analysis of these feedbacks requires physically consistent observational data sets. Availability of various reanalysis data sets produced during the last 15 years provides such an opportunity. A consolidated estimate of ocean surface fluxes based on multiple reanalyses also helps understand biases in ENSO predictions and simulations from climate models. In this paper, the intensity and the spatial structure of ocean-atmosphere feedback terms (precipitation, surface wind stress, and ocean surface heat flux) associated with ENSO are evaluated for six different reanalysis products. The analysis provides an estimate for the feedback terms that could be used for model validation studies. The analysis includes the robustness of the estimate across different reanalyses. Results show that one of the ''coupled'' reanalysis among the six investigated is closer to the ensemble mean of the results, suggesting that the coupled data assimilation may have the potential to better capture the overall atmosphere-ocean feedback processes associated with ENSO than the uncoupled ones. (orig.)
Impact of the configuration of stretching and ocean-atmosphere coupling on tropical cyclone activity in the variable-resolution GCM ARPEGE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Daloz, Anne Sophie; Chauvin, Fabrice [CNRM-GAME, Groupe de Modelisation Grande Echelle et Climat, Toulouse Cedex 1 (France); Roux, Frank [Universite de Toulouse, Laboratoire d' Aerologie, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Toulouse (France)

2012-11-15

This study starts by investigating the impact of the configuration of the variable-resolution atmospheric grid on tropical cyclone (TC) activity. The French atmospheric general circulation model ARPEGE, the grid of which is rotated and stretched over the North Atlantic basin, was used with prescribed sea surface temperatures. The study clearly shows that changing the position of the stretching pole strongly modifies the representation of TC activity over the North Atlantic basin. A pole in the centre of the North Atlantic basin provides the best representation of the TC activity for this region. In a second part, the variable-resolution climate model ARPEGE is coupled with the European oceanic global climate model NEMO in order to study the impact of ocean-atmosphere coupling on TC activity over the North Atlantic basin. Two pre-industrial runs, a coupled simulation and a simulation forced by the sea surface temperatures from the coupled one, are compared. The results show that the coupled simulation is more active in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico while the forced simulation is more active over eastern Florida and the eastern Atlantic. The difference in the distribution of TC activity is certainly linked with the location of TC genesis. In the forced simulation, tropical cyclogenesis is closer to the west African coast than in the coupled simulation. Moreover, the difference in TC activity over the eastern Atlantic seems to be related to two different mechanisms: the difference in African easterly wave activity over the west of Africa and the cooling produced, in the coupled simulation, by African easterly waves over the eastern Atlantic. Finally, the last part studies the impact of changing the frequency of ocean-atmosphere coupling on Atlantic TC activity. Increasing the frequency of coupling decreases the density of TC activity over the North Atlantic basin. However, it does not modify the spatial distribution of the TC activity. TC rainfalls are
The influence of an atmospheric Two-Way coupled model system on the predictability of extratropical cyclones

Science.gov (United States)

Schuster, Mareike; Thürkow, Markus; Weiher, Stefan; Kirchner, Ingo; Ulbrich, Uwe; Will, Andreas

2016-04-01

A general bias of global atmosphere ocean models, and also of the MPI-ESM, is an under-representation of the high latitude cyclone activity and an overestimation of the mid latitude cyclone activity in the North Atlantic, thus representing the extra-tropical storm track too zonal. We will show, that this effect can be antagonized by applying an atmospheric Two-Way Coupling (TWC). In this study we present a newly developed Two-Way Coupled model system, which is based on the MPI-ESM, and show that it is able to capture the mean storm track location more accurate. It also influences the sub-decadal deterministic predictability of extra-tropical cyclones and shows significantly enhanced skill compared to the "uncoupled" MPI-ESM standalone system. This study evaluates a set of hindcast experiments performed with said Two-Way Coupled model system. The regional model COSMO CLM is Two-Way Coupled to the atmosphere of the global Max-Plack-Institute Earth System Model (MPI-ESM) and therefore integrates and exchanges the state of the atmosphere every 10 minutes (MPI-TWC-ESM). In the coupled source region (North Atlantic), mesoscale processes which are relevant for the formation and early-stage development of cyclones are expected to be better represented, and therefore influence the large scale dynamics of the target region (Europe). The database covers 102 "uncoupled" years and 102 Two-Way Coupled years of the recent climate (1960-2010). Results are validated against the ERA-Interim reanalysis. Besides the climatological point of view, the design of this single model ensemble allows for an analysis of the predictability of the first and second leadyears of the hindcasts. As a first step to understand the improved predictability of cyclones, we will show a detailed analysis of climatologies for specific cyclone categories, sorted by season and region. Especially for cyclones affecting Europe, the TWC is capable to counteract the AOGCM's biases in the North Atlantic. Also
Ocean-atmosphere dynamics during Hurricane Ida and Nor'Ida: An application of the coupled ocean-;atmosphere–wave–sediment transport (COAWST) modeling system

Science.gov (United States)

Olabarrieta, Maitane; Warner, John C.; Armstrong, Brandy N.; Zambon, Joseph B.; He, Ruoying

2012-01-01

The coupled ocean–atmosphere–wave–sediment transport (COAWST) modeling system was used to investigate atmosphere–ocean–wave interactions in November 2009 during Hurricane Ida and its subsequent evolution to Nor'Ida, which was one of the most costly storm systems of the past two decades. One interesting aspect of this event is that it included two unique atmospheric extreme conditions, a hurricane and a nor'easter storm, which developed in regions with different oceanographic characteristics. Our modeled results were compared with several data sources, including GOES satellite infrared data, JASON-1 and JASON-2 altimeter data, CODAR measurements, and wave and tidal information from the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) and the National Tidal Database. By performing a series of numerical runs, we were able to isolate the effect of the interaction terms between the atmosphere (modeled with Weather Research and Forecasting, the WRF model), the ocean (modeled with Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS)), and the wave propagation and generation model (modeled with Simulating Waves Nearshore (SWAN)). Special attention was given to the role of the ocean surface roughness. Three different ocean roughness closure models were analyzed: DGHQ (which is based on wave age), TY2001 (which is based on wave steepness), and OOST (which considers both the effects of wave age and steepness). Including the ocean roughness in the atmospheric module improved the wind intensity estimation and therefore also the wind waves, surface currents, and storm surge amplitude. For example, during the passage of Hurricane Ida through the Gulf of Mexico, the wind speeds were reduced due to wave-induced ocean roughness, resulting in better agreement with the measured winds. During Nor'Ida, including the wave-induced surface roughness changed the form and dimension of the main low pressure cell, affecting the intensity and direction of the winds. The combined wave age- and wave steepness
Climate variability and predictability associated with the Indo-Pacific Oceanic Channel Dynamics in the CCSM4 Coupled System Model

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Dongliang; Xu, Peng; Xu, Tengfei

2017-01-01

An experiment using the Community Climate System Model (CCSM4), a participant of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase-5 (CMIP5), is analyzed to assess the skills of this model in simulating and predicting the climate variabilities associated with the oceanic channel dynamics across the Indo-Pacific Oceans. The results of these analyses suggest that the model is able to reproduce the observed lag correlation between the oceanic anomalies in the southeastern tropical Indian Ocean and those in the cold tongue in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean at a time lag of 1 year. This success may be largely attributed to the successful simulation of the interannual variations of the Indonesian Throughflow, which carries the anomalies of the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) into the western equatorial Pacific Ocean to produce subsurface temperature anomalies, which in turn propagate to the eastern equatorial Pacific to generate ENSO. This connection is termed the "oceanic channel dynamics" and is shown to be consistent with the observational analyses. However, the model simulates a weaker connection between the IOD and the interannual variability of the Indonesian Throughflow transport than found in the observations. In addition, the model overestimates the westerly wind anomalies in the western-central equatorial Pacific in the year following the IOD, which forces unrealistic upwelling Rossby waves in the western equatorial Pacific and downwelling Kelvin waves in the east. This assessment suggests that the CCSM4 coupled climate system has underestimated the oceanic channel dynamics and overestimated the atmospheric bridge processes.
Instabilities in the coupled equatorial ocean atmosphere system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dijkstra, H.A.; Vaart, P.C.F. van der

1999-01-01

The large-scale interaction between the ocean and atmosphere is one of the impor- tant factors of natural climate variability.The El-Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon in the Tropical Pacific is one of the most prominent examples of climate variability on interannual time scales.ENSO has
Numerical studies on the interaction between atmosphere and ocean using different kinds of parallel computers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Soon-Hwan; Chino, Masamichi

2000-01-01

The coupling between atmosphere and ocean model has physical and computational difficulties for short-term forecasting of weather and ocean current. In this research, a combination system between high-resolution meso-scale atmospheric model and ocean model has been constructed using a new message-passing library, called Stampi (Seamless Thinking Aid Message Passing Interface), for prediction of particle dispersion at emergency nuclear accident. Stampi, which is based on the MPI (Message Passing Interface) 2 specification, makes us carry out parallel calculations of combination system without parallelization skill to model code. And it realizes dynamic process creation on different machines and communication between spawned one within the scope of MPI semantics. The models included in this combination system are PHYSIC as an atmosphere model, and POM (Princeton Ocean Model) as an ocean model. We applied this combination system to predict sea surface current at Sea of Japan in winter season. Simulation results indicate that the wind stress near the sea surface tends to be a predominant factor to determine surface ocean currents and dispersion of radioactive contamination in the ocean. The surface ocean current is well correspondent with wind direction, induced by high mountains at North Korea. The satellite data of NSCAT (NASA-SCATterometer), which is an image of sea surface current, also agrees well with the results of this system. (author)

Impacts of the Mesoscale Ocean-Atmosphere Coupling on the Peru-Chile Ocean Dynamics: The Current-Induced Wind Stress Modulation

Science.gov (United States)

Oerder, V.; Colas, F.; Echevin, V.; Masson, S.; Lemarié, F.

2018-02-01

The ocean dynamical responses to the surface current-wind stress interaction at the oceanic mesoscale are investigated in the South-East Pacific using a high-resolution regional ocean-atmosphere coupled model. Two simulations are compared: one includes the surface current in the wind stress computation while the other does not. In the coastal region, absolute wind velocities are different between the two simulations but the wind stress remains very similar. As a consequence, the mean regional oceanic circulation is almost unchanged. On the contrary, the mesoscale activity is strongly reduced when taking into account the effect of the surface current on the wind stress. This is caused by a weakening of the eddy kinetic energy generation near the coast by the wind work and to intensified offshore eddy damping. We show that, above coherent eddies, the current-stress interaction generates eddy damping through Ekman pumping and eddy kinetic energy dissipation through wind work. This alters significantly the coherent eddy vertical structures compared with the control simulation, weakening the temperature and vorticity anomalies and increasing strongly the vertical velocity anomalies associated to eddies.
Implementation of the vortex force formalism in the coupled ocean-atmosphere-wave-sediment transport (COAWST) modeling system for inner shelf and surf zone applications

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Nirnimesh; Voulgaris, George; Warner, John C.; Olabarrieta, Maitane

2012-01-01

The coupled ocean-atmosphere-wave-sediment transport modeling system (COAWST) enables simulations that integrate oceanic, atmospheric, wave and morphological processes in the coastal ocean. Within the modeling system, the three-dimensional ocean circulation module (ROMS) is coupled with the wave generation and propagation model (SWAN) to allow full integration of the effect of waves on circulation and vice versa. The existing wave-current coupling component utilizes a depth dependent radiation stress approach. In here we present a new approach that uses the vortex force formalism. The formulation adopted and the various parameterizations used in the model as well as their numerical implementation are presented in detail. The performance of the new system is examined through the presentation of four test cases. These include obliquely incident waves on a synthetic planar beach and a natural barred beach (DUCK' 94); normal incident waves on a nearshore barred morphology with rip channels; and wave-induced mean flows outside the surf zone at the Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory (MVCO).
AccuRT: A versatile tool for radiative transfer simulations in the coupled atmosphere-ocean system

Science.gov (United States)

Hamre, Børge; Stamnes, Snorre; Stamnes, Knut; Stamnes, Jakob

2017-02-01

Reliable, accurate, and efficient modeling of the transport of electromagnetic radiation in turbid media has important applications in the study of the Earth's climate by remote sensing. For example, such modeling is needed to develop forward-inverse methods used to quantify types and concentrations of aerosol and cloud particles in the atmosphere, the dissolved organic and particulate biogeochemical matter in lakes, rivers, coastal, and open-ocean waters. It is also needed to simulate the performance of remote sensing detectors deployed on aircraft, balloons, and satellites as well as radiometric detectors deployed on buoys, gliders and other aquatic observing systems. Accurate radiative transfer modeling is also required to compute irradiances and scalar irradiances that are used to compute warming/cooling and photolysis rates in the atmosphere and primary production and warming/cooling rates in the water column. AccuRT is a radiative transfer model for the coupled atmosphere-water system that is designed to be a versatile tool for researchers in the ocean optics and remote sensing communities. It addresses the needs of researchers interested in analyzing irradiance and radiance measurements in the field and laboratory as well as those interested in making simulations of the top-of-the-atmosphere radiance in support of remote sensing algorithm development.
Key features of the IPSL ocean atmosphere model and its sensitivity to atmospheric resolution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marti, Olivier; Braconnot, P.; Bellier, J.; Brockmann, P.; Caubel, A.; Noblet, N. de; Friedlingstein, P.; Idelkadi, A.; Kageyama, M. [Unite Mixte CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, IPSL/LSCE, Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex (France); Dufresne, J.L.; Bony, S.; Codron, F.; Fairhead, L.; Grandpeix, J.Y.; Hourdin, F.; Musat, I. [Unite Mixte CNRS-Ecole Polytechnique-ENS-UPCM, IPSL/LMD, Paris Cedex 05 (France); Benshila, R.; Guilyardi, E.; Levy, C.; Madec, G.; Mignot, J.; Talandier, C. [unite mixte CNRS-IRD-UPMC, IPLS/LOCEAN, Paris Cedex 05 (France); Cadule, P.; Denvil, S.; Foujols, M.A. [Institut Pierre Simon Laplace des Sciences de l' Environnement (IPSL), Paris Cedex 05 (France); Fichefet, T.; Goosse, H. [Universite Catholique de Louvain, Institut d' Astronomie et de Geophysique Georges Lemaitre, Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium); Krinner, G. [Unite mixte CNRS-UJF Grenoble, LGGE, BP96, Saint-Martin-d' Heres (France); Swingedouw, D. [CNRS/CERFACS, Toulouse (France)

2010-01-15

This paper presents the major characteristics of the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (IPSL) coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model. The model components and the coupling methodology are described, as well as the main characteristics of the climatology and interannual variability. The model results of the standard version used for IPCC climate projections, and for intercomparison projects like the Paleoclimate Modeling Intercomparison Project (PMIP 2) are compared to those with a higher resolution in the atmosphere. A focus on the North Atlantic and on the tropics is used to address the impact of the atmosphere resolution on processes and feedbacks. In the North Atlantic, the resolution change leads to an improved representation of the storm-tracks and the North Atlantic oscillation. The better representation of the wind structure increases the northward salt transports, the deep-water formation and the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. In the tropics, the ocean-atmosphere dynamical coupling, or Bjerknes feedback, improves with the resolution. The amplitude of ENSO (El Nino-Southern oscillation) consequently increases, as the damping processes are left unchanged. (orig.)
The Coastal Ocean Prediction Systems program: Understanding and managing our coastal ocean

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eden, H.F.; Mooers, C.N.K.

1990-06-01

The goal of COPS is to couple a program of regular observations to numerical models, through techniques of data assimilation, in order to provide a predictive capability for the US coastal ocean including the Great Lakes, estuaries, and the entire Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The objectives of the program include: determining the predictability of the coastal ocean and the processes that govern the predictability; developing efficient prediction systems for the coastal ocean based on the assimilation of real-time observations into numerical models; and coupling the predictive systems for the physical behavior of the coastal ocean to predictive systems for biological, chemical, and geological processes to achieve an interdisciplinary capability. COPS will provide the basis for effective monitoring and prediction of coastal ocean conditions by optimizing the use of increased scientific understanding, improved observations, advanced computer models, and computer graphics to make the best possible estimates of sea level, currents, temperatures, salinities, and other properties of entire coastal regions
Treating Sample Covariances for Use in Strongly Coupled Atmosphere-Ocean Data Assimilation

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Polly J.; Lawless, Amos S.; Nichols, Nancy K.

2018-01-01

Strongly coupled data assimilation requires cross-domain forecast error covariances; information from ensembles can be used, but limited sampling means that ensemble derived error covariances are routinely rank deficient and/or ill-conditioned and marred by noise. Thus, they require modification before they can be incorporated into a standard assimilation framework. Here we compare methods for improving the rank and conditioning of multivariate sample error covariance matrices for coupled atmosphere-ocean data assimilation. The first method, reconditioning, alters the matrix eigenvalues directly; this preserves the correlation structures but does not remove sampling noise. We show that it is better to recondition the correlation matrix rather than the covariance matrix as this prevents small but dynamically important modes from being lost. The second method, model state-space localization via the Schur product, effectively removes sample noise but can dampen small cross-correlation signals. A combination that exploits the merits of each is found to offer an effective alternative.
Ice–ocean coupled computations for sea-ice prediction to support ice navigation in Arctic sea routes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liyanarachchi Waruna Arampath De Silva

2015-11-01

Full Text Available With the recent rapid decrease in summer sea ice in the Arctic Ocean extending the navigation period in the Arctic sea routes (ASR, the precise prediction of ice distribution is crucial for safe and efficient navigation in the Arctic Ocean. In general, however, most of the available numerical models have exhibited significant uncertainties in short-term and narrow-area predictions, especially in marginal ice zones such as the ASR. In this study, we predict short-term sea-ice conditions in the ASR by using a mesoscale eddy-resolving ice–ocean coupled model that explicitly treats ice floe collisions in marginal ice zones. First, numerical issues associated with collision rheology in the ice–ocean coupled model (ice–Princeton Ocean Model [POM] are discussed and resolved. A model for the whole of the Arctic Ocean with a coarser resolution (about 25 km was developed to investigate the performance of the ice–POM model by examining the reproducibility of seasonal and interannual sea-ice variability. It was found that this coarser resolution model can reproduce seasonal and interannual sea-ice variations compared to observations, but it cannot be used to predict variations over the short-term, such as one to two weeks. Therefore, second, high-resolution (about 2.5 km regional models were set up along the ASR to investigate the accuracy of short-term sea-ice predictions. High-resolution computations were able to reasonably reproduce the sea-ice extent compared to Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer–Earth Observing System satellite observations because of the improved expression of the ice–albedo feedback process and the ice–eddy interaction process.
Indian Ocean experiments with a coupled model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wainer, I. [Sao Paulo, Univ. (Brazil). Dept. of Oceanography

1997-03-01

A coupled ocean-atmosphere model is used to investigate the equatorial Indian Ocean response to the seasonally varying monsoon winds. Special attention is given to the oceanic response to the spatial distribution and changes in direction of the zonal winds. The Indian Ocean is surrounded by an Asian land mass to the North and an African land mass to the West. The model extends latitudinally between 41 N and 41 S. The asymmetric atmospheric model is driven by a mass source/sink term that is proportional to the sea surface temperature (SST) over the oceans and the heat balance over the land. The ocean is modeled using the Anderson and McCreary reduced-gravity transport model that includes a prognostic equation for the SST. The coupled system is driven by the annual cycle as manifested by zonally symmetric and asymmetric land and ocean heating. They explored the different nature of the equatorial ocean response to various patterns of zonal wind stress forcing in order to isolate the impact of the remote response on the Somali current. The major conclusions are : i) the equatorial response is fundamentally different for easterlies and westerlies, ii) the impact of the remote forcing on the Somali current is a function of the annual cycle, iii) the size of the basin sets the phase of the interference of the remote forcing on the Somali current relative to the local forcing.
Exploring the Inner Edge of the Habitable Zone with Fully Coupled Oceans

Science.gov (United States)

Way, M.J; Del Genio, A.D.; Kelley, M.; Aleinov, I.; Clune, T.

2015-01-01

The role of rotation in planetary atmospheres plays an important role in regulating atmospheric and oceanic heat flow, cloud formation and precipitation. Using the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) three dimension General Circulation Model (3D-GCM) we demonstrate how varying rotation rate and increasing the incident solar flux on a planet are related to each other and may allow the inner edge of the habitable zone to be much closer than many previous habitable zone studies have indicated. This is shown in particular for fully coupled ocean runs -- some of the first that have been utilized in this context. Results with a 100m mixed layer depth and our fully coupled ocean runs are compared with those of Yang et al. 2014, which demonstrates consistency across models. However, there are clear differences for rotations rates of 1-16x present earth day lengths between the mixed layer and fully couple ocean models, which points to the necessity of using fully coupled oceans whenever possible. The latter was recently demonstrated quite clearly by Hu & Yang 2014 in their aquaworld study with a fully coupled ocean when compared with similar mixed layer ocean studies and by Cullum et al. 2014. Atmospheric constituent amounts were also varied alongside adjustments to cloud parameterizations (results not shown here). While the latter have an effect on what a planet's global mean temperature is once the oceans reach equilibrium they do not qualitatively change the overall relationship between the globally averaged surface temperature and incident solar flux for rotation rates ranging from 1 to 256 times the present Earth day length. At the same time this study demonstrates that given the lack of knowledge about the atmospheric constituents and clouds on exoplanets there is still a large uncertainty as to where a planet will sit in a given star's habitable zone.
Collaborative project. Ocean-atmosphere interaction from meso-to planetary-scale. Mechanisms, parameterization, and variability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Small, Richard [National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States); Bryan, Frank [National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States); Tribbia, Joseph [National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States); Park, Sungsu [National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States); Dennis, John [National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States); Saravanan, R. [National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States); Schneider, Niklas [National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States); Kwon, Young-Oh [National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States)

2015-06-11

This project aims to improve long term global climate simulations by resolving ocean mesoscale activity and the corresponding response in the atmosphere. The main computational objectives are; i) to perform and assess Community Earth System Model (CESM) simulations with the new Community Atmospheric Model (CAM) spectral element dynamical core; ii) use static mesh refinement to focus on oceanic fronts; iii) develop a new Earth System Modeling tool to investigate the atmospheric response to fronts by selectively filtering surface flux fields in the CESM coupler. The climate research objectives are 1) to improve the coupling of ocean fronts and the atmospheric boundary layer via investigations of dependency on model resolution and stability functions: 2) to understand and simulate the ensuing tropospheric response that has recently been documented in observations: and 3) to investigate the relationship of ocean frontal variability to low frequency climate variability and the accompanying storm tracks and extremes in high resolution simulations. This is a collaborative multi-institution project consisting of computational scientists, climate scientists and climate model developers. It specifically aims at DOE objectives of advancing simulation and predictive capability of climate models through improvements in resolution and physical process representation.
Oceanic sources of predictability for MJO propagation across the Maritime Continent in a subset of S2S forecast models

Science.gov (United States)

DeMott, C. A.; Klingaman, N. P.

2017-12-01

Skillful prediction of the Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO) passage across the Maritime Continent (MC) has important implications for global forecasts of high-impact weather events, such as atmospheric rivers and heat waves. The North American teleconnection response to the MJO is strongest when MJO convection is located in the western Pacific Ocean, but many climate and forecast models are deficient in their simulation of MC-crossing MJO events. Compared to atmosphere-only general circulation models (AGCMs), MJO simulation skill generally improves with the addition of ocean feedbacks in coupled GCMs (CGCMs). Using observations, previous studies have noted that the degree of ocean coupling may vary considerably from one MJO event to the next. The coupling mechanisms may be linked to the presence of ocean Equatorial Rossby waves, the sign and amplitude of Equatorial surface currents, and the upper ocean temperature and salinity profiles. In this study, we assess the role of ocean feedbacks to MJO prediction skill using a subset of CGCMs participating in the Subseasonal-to-Seasonal (S2S) Project database. Oceanic observational and reanalysis datasets are used to characterize the upper ocean background state for observed MJO events that do and do not propagate beyond the MC. The ability of forecast models to capture the oceanic influence on the MJO is first assessed by quantifying SST forecast skill. Next, a set of previously developed air-sea interaction diagnostics is applied to model output to measure the role of SST perturbations on the forecast MJO. The "SST effect" in forecast MJO events is compared to that obtained from reanalysis data. Leveraging all ensemble members of a given forecast helps disentangle oceanic model biases from atmospheric model biases, both of which can influence the expression of ocean feedbacks in coupled forecast systems. Results of this study will help identify areas of needed model improvement for improved MJO forecasts.
The role of ocean-atmosphere interaction in Typhoon Sinlaku (2008) using a regional coupled data assimilation system

Science.gov (United States)

Wada, Akiyoshi; Kunii, Masaru

2017-05-01

For improving analyses of tropical cyclone (TC) and sea surface temperature (SST) and thereby TC simulations, a regional mesoscale strongly coupled atmosphere-ocean data assimilation system was developed with the local ensemble transform Kalman filter (LETKF) implemented with the Japan Meteorological Agency's nonhydrostatic model (NHM) coupled with a multilayer ocean model and the third-generation ocean wave model. The NHM-LETKF coupled data assimilation system was applied to Typhoon Sinlaku (2008) along with the original NHM-LETKF system to investigate the sensitivity of Sinlaku to SST assimilation with the Level 2 Pre-processed (L2P) standard product of satellite SST. SST calculated in the coupled-assimilation experiment with the coupled data assimilation system and the satellite SST (CPL) showed a better correlation with Optimally Interpolated SST than SST used in the control experiment with the original NHM-LETKF (CNTL) and SST calculated in the succession experiment with the coupled system without satellite SST (SUCC). The time series in the CPL experiment well captured the variation in the SST observed at the Kuroshio Extension Observation buoy site. In addition, TC-induced sea surface cooling was analyzed more realistically in the CPL experiment than that in the CNTL and SUCC experiments. However, the central pressure analyzed in each three experiments was overestimated compared with the Regional Specialized Meteorological Center Tokyo best-track central pressure, mainly due to the coarse horizontal resolution of 15 km. The 96 h TC simulations indicated that the CPL experiment provided more favorable initial and boundary conditions than the CNTL experiment to simulate TC tracks more accurately.
Radiative transfer solutions for coupled atmosphere ocean systems using the matrix operator technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hollstein, André; Fischer, Jürgen

2012-01-01

Accurate radiative transfer models are the key tools for the understanding of radiative transfer processes in the atmosphere and ocean, and for the development of remote sensing algorithms. The widely used scalar approximation of radiative transfer can lead to errors in calculated top of atmosphere radiances. We show results with errors in the order of±8% for atmosphere ocean systems with case one waters. Variations in sea water salinity and temperature can lead to variations in the signal of similar magnitude. Therefore, we enhanced our scalar radiative transfer model MOMO, which is in use at Freie Universität Berlin, to treat these effects as accurately as possible. We describe our one-dimensional vector radiative transfer model for an atmosphere ocean system with a rough interface. We describe the matrix operator scheme and the bio-optical model for case one waters. We discuss some effects of neglecting polarization in radiative transfer calculations and effects of salinity changes for top of atmosphere radiances. Results are shown for the channels of the satellite instruments MERIS and OLCI from 412.5 nm to 900 nm.
Analyzing coastal turbidity under complex terrestrial loads characterized by a 'stress connectivity matrix' with an atmosphere-watershed-coastal ocean coupled model

Science.gov (United States)

Yamamoto, Takahiro; Nadaoka, Kazuo

2018-04-01

Atmospheric, watershed and coastal ocean models were integrated to provide a holistic analysis approach for coastal ocean simulation. The coupled model was applied to coastal ocean in the Philippines where terrestrial sediment loads provided from several adjacent watersheds play a major role in influencing coastal turbidity and are partly responsible for the coastal ecosystem degradation. The coupled model was validated using weather and hydrologic measurement to examine its potential applicability. The results revealed that the coastal water quality may be governed by the loads not only from the adjacent watershed but also from the distant watershed via coastal currents. This important feature of the multiple linkages can be quantitatively characterized by a "stress connectivity matrix", which indicates the complex underlying structure of environmental stresses in coastal ocean. The multiple stress connectivity concept shows the potential advantage of the integrated modelling approach for coastal ocean assessment, which may also serve for compensating the lack of measured data especially in tropical basins.
Improving MJO Prediction and Simulation Using AGCM Coupled Ocean Model with Refined Vertical Resolution

Science.gov (United States)

Tu, Chia-Ying; Tseng, Wan-Ling; Kuo, Pei-Hsuan; Lan, Yung-Yao; Tsuang, Ben-Jei; Hsu, Huang-Hsiung

2017-04-01

Precipitation in Taiwan area is significantly influenced by MJO (Madden-Julian Oscillation) in the boreal winter. This study is therefore conducted by toggling the MJO prediction and simulation with a unique model structure. The one-dimensional TKE (Turbulence Kinetic Energy) type ocean model SIT (Snow, Ice, Thermocline) with refined vertical resolution near surface is able to resolve cool skin, as well as diurnal warm layer. SIT can simulate accurate SST and hence give precise air-sea interaction. By coupling SIT with ECHAM5 (MPI-Meteorology), CAM5 (NCAR) and HiRAM (GFDL), the MJO simulations in 20-yrs climate integrations conducted by three SIT-coupled AGCMs are significant improved comparing to those driven by prescribed SST. The horizontal resolutions in ECHAM5, CAM5 and HiRAM are 2-deg., 1-deg and 0.5-deg., respectively. This suggests that the improvement of MJO simulation by coupling SIT is AGCM-resolution independent. This study further utilizes HiRAM coupled SIT to evaluate its MJO forecast skill. HiRAM has been recognized as one of the best model for seasonal forecasts of hurricane/typhoon activity (Zhao et al., 2009; Chen & Lin, 2011; 2013), but was not as successful in MJO forecast. The preliminary result of the HiRAM-SIT experiment during DYNAMO period shows improved success in MJO forecast. These improvements of MJO prediction and simulation in both hindcast experiments and climate integrations are mainly from better-simulated SST diurnal cycle and diurnal amplitude, which is contributed by the refined vertical resolution near ocean surface in SIT. Keywords: MJO Predictability, DYNAMO
Bi-decadal variability excited in the coupled ocean-atmosphere system by strong tropical volcanic eruptions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zanchettin, D.; Lorenz, S.; Lohmann, K.; Jungclaus, J.H. [Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Ocean in the Earth System Department, Hamburg (Germany); Timmreck, C. [Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Atmosphere in the Earth System Department, Hamburg (Germany); Graf, H.-F. [University of Cambridge, Centre for Atmospheric Science, Cambridge (United Kingdom); Rubino, A. [Ca' Foscari University, Department of Environmental Sciences, Venice (Italy); Krueger, K. [Leibniz-Institute of Marine Sciences, IFM-GEOMAR, Kiel (Germany)

2012-07-15

Decadal and bi-decadal climate responses to tropical strong volcanic eruptions (SVEs) are inspected in an ensemble simulation covering the last millennium based on the Max Planck Institute - Earth system model. An unprecedentedly large collection of pre-industrial SVEs (up to 45) producing a peak annual-average top-of-atmosphere radiative perturbation larger than -1.5 Wm{sup -2} is investigated by composite analysis. Post-eruption oceanic and atmospheric anomalies coherently describe a fluctuation in the coupled ocean-atmosphere system with an average length of 20-25 years. The study provides a new physically consistent theoretical framework to interpret decadal Northern Hemisphere (NH) regional winter climates variability during the last millennium. The fluctuation particularly involves interactions between the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and the North Atlantic gyre circulation closely linked to the state of the winter North Atlantic Oscillation. It is characterized by major distinctive details. Among them, the most prominent are: (a) a strong signal amplification in the Arctic region which allows for a sustained strengthened teleconnection between the North Pacific and the North Atlantic during the first post-eruption decade and which entails important implications from oceanic heat transport and from post-eruption sea ice dynamics, and (b) an anomalous surface winter warming emerging over the Scandinavian/Western Russian region around 10-12 years after a major eruption. The simulated long-term climate response to SVEs depends, to some extent, on background conditions. Consequently, ensemble simulations spanning different phases of background multidecadal and longer climate variability are necessary to constrain the range of possible post-eruption decadal evolution of NH regional winter climates. (orig.)
LIGHT SCATTERING FROM EXOPLANET OCEANS AND ATMOSPHERES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zugger, M. E.; Kane, T. J.; Kasting, J. F.; Williams, D. M.; Philbrick, C. R.

2010-01-01

Orbital variation in reflected starlight from exoplanets could eventually be used to detect surface oceans. Exoplanets with rough surfaces, or dominated by atmospheric Rayleigh scattering, should reach peak brightness in full phase, orbital longitude (OL) = 180 0 , whereas ocean planets with transparent atmospheres should reach peak brightness in crescent phase near OL = 30 0 . Application of Fresnel theory to a planet with no atmosphere covered by a calm ocean predicts a peak polarization fraction of 1 at OL = 74 0 ; however, our model shows that clouds, wind-driven waves, aerosols, absorption, and Rayleigh scattering in the atmosphere and within the water column dilute the polarization fraction and shift the peak to other OLs. Observing at longer wavelengths reduces the obfuscation of the water polarization signature by Rayleigh scattering but does not mitigate the other effects. Planets with thick Rayleigh scattering atmospheres reach peak polarization near OL = 90 0 , but clouds and Lambertian surface scattering dilute and shift this peak to smaller OL. A shifted Rayleigh peak might be mistaken for a water signature unless data from multiple wavelength bands are available. Our calculations suggest that polarization alone may not positively identify the presence of an ocean under an Earth-like atmosphere; however, polarization adds another dimension which can be used, in combination with unpolarized orbital light curves and contrast ratios, to detect extrasolar oceans, atmospheric water aerosols, and water clouds. Additionally, the presence and direction of the polarization vector could be used to determine planet association with the star, and constrain orbit inclination.
Real-Time Ocean Prediction System for the East Coast of India

Science.gov (United States)

Warrior, H. V.

2016-02-01

The primary objective of the research work reported in this abstract was to develop a Realtime Environmental model for Ocean Dispersion and Impact (as part of an already in-place Decision Support System) for the purpose of radiological safety for the area along Kalpakkam (East Indian) coast. This system involves combining real-time ocean observations with numerical models of ocean processes to provide hindcasts, nowcasts and forecasts of currents, tides and waves. In this work we present the development of an Automated Coupled Atmospheric - Ocean Model (we call it IIT-CAOM) used to forecast the sea surface currents, sea surface temperature (SST) and salinity etc of the Bay of Bengal region under the influence of transient and unsteady atmospheric conditions. This method uses a coupling of Atmosphere and Ocean model. The models used here are the WRF for atmospheric simulations and POM for the ocean counterpart. It has a 3 km X 3 km resolution. This Coupled Model uses GFS (Global Forecast System) Data or FNL (Final Analyses) Data as initial conditions for jump-starting the atmospheric model. The Atmospheric model is run first thus extracting air temperature, wind speed and relative humidity. The heat flux subroutine computes the net heat flux, using above mentioned parameters data. The net heat flux feeds to the ocean model by simply adding net heat flux subroutine to the ocean model code without changing the model original structure. The online forecast of the IIT-CAOM is currently available in the web. The whole system has been automized and runs without any more manual support. The IIT-CAOM simulations have been carried out for Kalpakkam region, which is located on the East coast of India, about 70 km south of Chennai in Tamilnadu State and a three day forecast of sea surface currents, sea surface temperature (SST) and salinity, etc have been obtained.
Hurricane Matthew (2016) and its Storm Surge Inundation under Global Warming Scenarios: Application of an Interactively Coupled Atmosphere-Ocean Model

Science.gov (United States)

Jisan, M. A.; Bao, S.; Pietrafesa, L.; Pullen, J.

2017-12-01

An interactively coupled atmosphere-ocean model was used to investigate the impacts of future ocean warming, both at the surface and the layers below, on the track and intensity of a hurricane and its associated storm surge and inundation. The category-5 hurricane Matthew (2016), which made landfall on the South Carolina coast of the United States, was used for the case study. Future ocean temperature changes and sea level rise (SLR) were estimated based on the projection of Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)'s Representative Concentration Pathway scenarios RCP 2.6 and RCP 8.5. After being validated with the present-day observational data, the model was applied to simulate the changes in track, intensity, storm surge and inundation that Hurricane Matthew would cause under future climate change scenarios. It was found that a significant increase in hurricane intensity, storm surge water level, and inundation area for Hurricane Matthew under future ocean warming and SLR scenarios. For example, under the RCP 8.5 scenario, the maximum wind speed would increase by 17 knots (14.2%), the minimum sea level pressure would decrease by 26 hPa (2.85%), and the inundated area would increase by 401 km2 (123%). By including the effect of SLR for the middle-21st-century scenario, the inundated area will further increase by up to 49.6%. The increase in the hurricane intensity and the inundated area was also found for the RCP 2.6 scenario. The response of sea surface temperature was analyzed to investigate the change in intensity. A comparison was made between the impacts when only the sea surface warming is considered versus when both the sea surface and the underneath layers are considered. These results showed that even without the effect of SLR, the storm surge level and the inundated area would be higher due to the increased hurricane intensity under the influence of the future warmer ocean temperature. The coupled effect of ocean warming and SLR would cause the
Surface wave effects in the NEMO ocean model: Forced and coupled experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Breivik, Øyvind; Mogensen, Kristian; Bidlot, Jean-Raymond; Balmaseda, Magdalena Alonso; Janssen, Peter A. E. M.

2015-04-01

The NEMO general circulation ocean model is extended to incorporate three physical processes related to ocean surface waves, namely the surface stress (modified by growth and dissipation of the oceanic wavefield), the turbulent kinetic energy flux from breaking waves, and the Stokes-Coriolis force. Experiments are done with NEMO in ocean-only (forced) mode and coupled to the ECMWF atmospheric and wave models. Ocean-only integrations are forced with fields from the ERA-Interim reanalysis. All three effects are noticeable in the extratropics, but the sea-state-dependent turbulent kinetic energy flux yields by far the largest difference. This is partly because the control run has too vigorous deep mixing due to an empirical mixing term in NEMO. We investigate the relation between this ad hoc mixing and Langmuir turbulence and find that it is much more effective than the Langmuir parameterization used in NEMO. The biases in sea surface temperature as well as subsurface temperature are reduced, and the total ocean heat content exhibits a trend closer to that observed in a recent ocean reanalysis (ORAS4) when wave effects are included. Seasonal integrations of the coupled atmosphere-wave-ocean model consisting of NEMO, the wave model ECWAM, and the atmospheric model of ECMWF similarly show that the sea surface temperature biases are greatly reduced when the mixing is controlled by the sea state and properly weighted by the thickness of the uppermost level of the ocean model. These wave-related physical processes were recently implemented in the operational coupled ensemble forecast system of ECMWF.

Impacts of dynamical ocean coupling in MJO experiments using NICAM/NICOCO

Science.gov (United States)

Miyakawa, T.

2016-12-01

The cloud-system resolving atmosphereic model NICAM has been successfull in producing Madden-Julian Oscillations(MJOs), having it's prediction skill estimated to be about 4 weeks in a series of hindcast experiments for winter MJO events during 2003-2012 (Miyakawa et al. 2014). A simple mixed-layer ocean model has been applied with nudging towards a prescribed "persistent anomaly SST", which maintains the initial anomaly with a time-varying climatological seasonal cycle. This setup enables the model to interact with an ocean with reasonably realistic SST, and also run in a "forecast mode", without using any observational information after the initial date. A limitation is that under this setup, the model skill drops if the oceanic anomaly rapidly changes after the initial date in the real world. Here we run a recently developed, full 3D-ocean coupled version NICAM-COCO (NICOCO) and explore its impact on MJO simulations. Dynamical ocean models can produce oceanic waves/currents, but will also have a bias and drift away from reality. In a sub-seasonal simulation (an initial problem), it is essential to compare the merit of having better represented oceanic signals and the demerit of bias/drift. A test case simulation series featuring an MJO that triggered the abrupt termination of a major El Nino in 1998 shows that the abrupt termination occurs in all 9 simulation members, highlighting the merit of ocean coupling. However, this is a case where oceanic signals are at its extremes. We carried out an estimation of MJO prediction skill for a preliminary 1-degree mesh ocean version of NICOCO in a similar manner to Miyakawa et al. (2014). The MJO skill was degraded for simulations that was initialized at RMM phases 1 and 2 (corresponding to the Indian Ocean), while those initialized at phase 8 (Africa) was not strongly affected. The tendency of the model ocean to overestimate the Maritime Continent warm pool SST possibly delays the eastward propagation of MJO convective
Techniques for asynchronous and periodically-synchronous coupling of atmosphere and ocean models. Pt. 1. General strategy and application to the cyclo-stationary case

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sausen, R [Deutsche Forschungsanstalt fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR), Wessling (Germany). Inst. fuer Physik der Atmosphaere; Voss, R [Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum (DKRZ), Hamburg (Germany)

1995-07-01

Asynchronous and periodically-synchronous schemes for coupling atmosphere and ocean models are presented. The performance of the schemes is tested by simulating the climatic response to a step function forcing and to a gradually increasing forcing with a simple zero-dimensional non-linear energy balance model. Both the initial transient response and the asymptotic approach of the equilibrium state are studied. If no annual cycle is allowed the asynchronous coupling technique proves to be a suitable tool. However, if the annual cycle is retained, the periodically-synchronous coupling technique reproduces the results of the synchronously coupled runs with smaller bias. In this case it is important that the total length of one synchronous period and one ocean only period is not a multiple of 6 months. (orig.)
Mechanism of climate change over South America during the LGM in coupled Ocean- Atmosphere model simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Khodri, M.

2006-12-01

On a regional perspective the database of proxy information for South America during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) shows large and regionally extensive changes of the mean climate and vegetation types over the Amazon basin. In some instances these changes were associated with decrease in the mean precipitation amount (and most probably in moist deep convection) over the Amazonian and South East Brazil monsoon regions and wetter mean conditions in present day drought-prone regions such as Northeast of Brazil (Nordeste). These changes have been interpreted as local responses to shift in the mean position and intensity of the Atlantic ITCZ due to glacial extratropical forcings or to changes in the South American Monsoons. However there are still two issues is the path to further understand the mechanism of climate change over South America during the LGM. The first is incomplete knowledge in both the modeling and observational communities of how the moist deep convection over the Amazonian region respond to glacial boundary condition and how this changes might interact with the meridional shift of rainfall over Nordeste and Atlantic Ocean. The second is our understanding of how ocean-atmosphere changes that do occur in the tropical Pacific region influence the climate of the remainder of the planet and on a regional way over South America. Using PMIP-2 coupled Ocean-Atmosphere simulations for LGM and comparison to paleodata we show that hydrological cycle changes over the Amazon basin might be independent of their Atlantic Ocean counterpart, while teleconnections with Pacific Ocean might have played a significant role in the observed changes over tropical South America.
A conceptual prediction model for seasonal drought processes using atmospheric and oceanic standardized anomalies: application to regional drought processes in China

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zhenchen; Lu, Guihua; He, Hai; Wu, Zhiyong; He, Jian

2018-01-01

Reliable drought prediction is fundamental for water resource managers to develop and implement drought mitigation measures. Considering that drought development is closely related to the spatial-temporal evolution of large-scale circulation patterns, we developed a conceptual prediction model of seasonal drought processes based on atmospheric and oceanic standardized anomalies (SAs). Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis is first applied to drought-related SAs at 200 and 500 hPa geopotential height (HGT) and sea surface temperature (SST). Subsequently, SA-based predictors are built based on the spatial pattern of the first EOF modes. This drought prediction model is essentially the synchronous statistical relationship between 90-day-accumulated atmospheric-oceanic SA-based predictors and SPI3 (3-month standardized precipitation index), calibrated using a simple stepwise regression method. Predictor computation is based on forecast atmospheric-oceanic products retrieved from the NCEP Climate Forecast System Version 2 (CFSv2), indicating the lead time of the model depends on that of CFSv2. The model can make seamless drought predictions for operational use after a year-to-year calibration. Model application to four recent severe regional drought processes in China indicates its good performance in predicting seasonal drought development, despite its weakness in predicting drought severity. Overall, the model can be a worthy reference for seasonal water resource management in China.
Coupled ocean-atmosphere surface variability and its climate impacts in the tropical Atlantic region

Science.gov (United States)

Fontaine, B.; Janicot, Serge; Roucou, P.

This study examines time evolution and statistical relationships involving the two leading ocean-atmosphere coupled modes of variability in the tropical Atlantic and some climate anomalies over the tropical 120°W-60°W region using selected historical files (75-y near global SSTs and precipitation over land), more recent observed data (30-y SST and pseudo wind stress in the tropical Atlantic) and reanalyses from the US National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis System on the period 1968-1997: surface air temperature, sea level pressure, moist static energy content at 850 hPa, precipitable water and precipitation. The first coupled mode detected through singular value decomposition of the SST and pseudo wind-stress data over the tropical Atlantic (30°N-20°S) expresses a modulation in the thermal transequatorial gradient of SST anomalies conducted by one month leading wind-stress anomalies mainly in the tropical north Atlantic during northern winter and fall. It features a slight dipole structure in the meridional plane. Its time variability is dominated by a quasi-decadal signal well observed in the last 20-30 ys and, when projected over longer-term SST data, in the 1920s and 1930s but with shorter periods. The second coupled mode is more confined to the south-equatorial tropical Atlantic in the northern summer and explains considerably less wind-stress/SST cross-covariance. Its time series features an interannual variability dominated by shorter frequencies with increased variance in the 1960s and 1970s before 1977. Correlations between these modes and the ENSO-like Nino3 index lead to decreasing amplitude of thermal anomalies in the tropical Atlantic during warm episodes in the Pacific. This could explain the nonstationarity of meridional anomaly gradients on seasonal and interannual time scales. Overall the relationships between the oceanic component of the coupled modes and the climate anomaly patterns denote thermodynamical
Tropical teleconnections via the ocean and atmosphere induced by Southern Ocean deep convective events

Science.gov (United States)

Marinov, I.; Cabre, A.; Gunn, A.; Gnanadesikan, A.

2016-12-01

The current generation (CMIP5) of Earth System Models (ESMs) shows a huge variability in their ability to represent Southern Ocean (SO) deep-ocean convection and Antarctic Bottom Water, with a preference for open-sea convection in the Weddell and Ross gyres. A long control simulation in a coarse 3o resolution ESM (the GFDL CM2Mc model) shows a highly regular multi-decadal oscillation between periods of SO open sea convection and non-convective periods. This process also happens naturally, with different frequencies and durations of convection across most CMIP5 models under preindustrial forcing (deLavergne et al, 2014). Here we assess the impact of SO deep convection and resulting sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies on the tropical atmosphere and ocean via teleconnections, with a focus on interannual to multi-decadal timescales. We combine analysis of our low-resolution coupled model with inter-model analysis across historical CMIP5 simulations. SST cooling south of 60S during non-convective decades triggers a stronger, northward shifted SH Hadley cell, which results in intensified northward cross-equatorial moist heat transport and a poleward shift in the ITCZ. Resulting correlations between the cross-equatorial atmospheric heat transport and ITCZ location are in good agreement with recent theories (e.g. Frierson et al. 2013; Donohoe et al. 2014). Lagged correlations between a SO convective index and cross-equatorial heat transports (in the atmosphere and ocean), as well as various tropical (and ENSO) climate indices are analyzed. In the ocean realm, we find that non-convective decades result in weaker AABW formation and weaker ACC but stronger Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) formation, likely as a result of stronger SO westerlies (more positive SAM). The signals of AABW and AAIW are seen in the tropics on short timescales of years to decades in the temperature, heat storage and heat transport anomalies and also in deep and intermediate ocean oxygen. Most
The UKC2 regional coupled environmental prediction system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. W. Lewis

2018-01-01

Full Text Available It is hypothesized that more accurate prediction and warning of natural hazards, such as of the impacts of severe weather mediated through various components of the environment, require a more integrated Earth System approach to forecasting. This hypothesis can be explored using regional coupled prediction systems, in which the known interactions and feedbacks between different physical and biogeochemical components of the environment across sky, sea and land can be simulated. Such systems are becoming increasingly common research tools. This paper describes the development of the UKC2 regional coupled research system, which has been delivered under the UK Environmental Prediction Prototype project. This provides the first implementation of an atmosphere–land–ocean–wave modelling system focussed on the United Kingdom and surrounding seas at km-scale resolution. The UKC2 coupled system incorporates models of the atmosphere (Met Office Unified Model, land surface with river routing (JULES, shelf-sea ocean (NEMO and ocean waves (WAVEWATCH III. These components are coupled, via OASIS3-MCT libraries, at unprecedentedly high resolution across the UK within a north-western European regional domain. A research framework has been established to explore the representation of feedback processes in coupled and uncoupled modes, providing a new research tool for UK environmental science. This paper documents the technical design and implementation of UKC2, along with the associated evaluation framework. An analysis of new results comparing the output of the coupled UKC2 system with relevant forced control simulations for six contrasting case studies of 5-day duration is presented. Results demonstrate that performance can be achieved with the UKC2 system that is at least comparable to its component control simulations. For some cases, improvements in air temperature, sea surface temperature, wind speed, significant wave height and mean wave period
Ocean acidification impacts bacteria – phytoplankton coupling at low-nutrient conditions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hornick, T.; Bach, L.T.; Crawfurd, K.J.; Spilling, K.; Achterberg, E.P.; Woodhouse, J.N.; Schulz, K.G.; Brussaard, C.P.D.; Riebesell, U.; Grossart, H.-P.

2017-01-01

The oceans absorb about a quarter of the annuallyproduced anthropogenic atmospheric carbon dioxide(CO2/, resulting in a decrease in surface water pH, aprocess termed ocean acidification (OA). Surprisingly littleis known about how OA affects the physiology of heterotrophicbacteria or the coupling of
The Coastal Ocean Prediction Systems program: Understanding and managing our coastal ocean

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1990-01-01

This document is a compilation of summaries of papers presented at the Coastal Ocean Prediction Systems workshop. Topics include; marine forecasting, regulatory agencies and regulations, research and application models, research and operational observing, oceanic and atmospheric data assimilation, and coastal physical processes
North Pacific Mesoscale Coupled Air-Ocean Simulations Compared with Observations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Koracin, Darko; Cerovecki, Ivana; Vellore, Ramesh; Mejia, John; Hatchett, Benjamin; McCord, Travis; McLean, Julie; Dorman, Clive

2013-04-11

Executive summary The main objective of the study was to investigate atmospheric and ocean interaction processes in the western Pacific and, in particular, effects of significant ocean heat loss in the Kuroshio and Kuroshio Extension regions on the lower and upper atmosphere. It is yet to be determined how significant are these processes are on climate scales. The understanding of these processes led us also to development of the methodology of coupling the Weather and Research Forecasting model with the Parallel Ocean Program model for western Pacific regional weather and climate simulations. We tested NCAR-developed research software Coupler 7 for coupling of the WRF and POP models and assessed its usability for regional-scale applications. We completed test simulations using the Coupler 7 framework, but implemented a standard WRF model code with options for both one- and two-way mode coupling. This type of coupling will allow us to seamlessly incorporate new WRF updates and versions in the future. We also performed a long-term WRF simulation (15 years) covering the entire North Pacific as well as high-resolution simulations of a case study which included extreme ocean heat losses in the Kuroshio and Kuroshio Extension regions. Since the extreme ocean heat loss occurs during winter cold air outbreaks (CAO), we simulated and analyzed a case study of a severe CAO event in January 2000 in detail. We found that the ocean heat loss induced by CAOs is amplified by additional advection from mesocyclones forming on the southern part of the Japan Sea. Large scale synoptic patterns with anomalously strong anticyclone over Siberia and Mongolia, deep Aleutian Low, and the Pacific subtropical ridge are a crucial setup for the CAO. It was found that the onset of the CAO is related to the breaking of atmospheric Rossby waves and vertical transport of vorticity that facilitates meridional advection. The study also indicates that intrinsic parameterization of the surface fluxes
Accelerated Prediction of the Polar Ice and Global Ocean (APPIGO)

Science.gov (United States)

2014-09-30

APPIGO) Eric Chassignet Center for Ocean-Atmosphere Prediction Studies (COAPS) Florida State University PO Box 3062840 Tallahassee, FL 32306...PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) Florida Atlantic University,Center for Ocean-Atmosphere Prediction Studies (COAPS),PO Box 3062840...Cavalieri, D. J., C. I. Parkinson , P. Gloersen, and H. J. Zwally. 1997. Arctic and Antarctic Sea Ice Concentrations from Multichannel Passive-Microwave
Can decadal climate predictions be improved by ocean ensemble dispersion filtering?

Science.gov (United States)

Kadow, C.; Illing, S.; Kröner, I.; Ulbrich, U.; Cubasch, U.

2017-12-01

Decadal predictions by Earth system models aim to capture the state and phase of the climate several years inadvance. Atmosphere-ocean interaction plays an important role for such climate forecasts. While short-termweather forecasts represent an initial value problem and long-term climate projections represent a boundarycondition problem, the decadal climate prediction falls in-between these two time scales. The ocean memorydue to its heat capacity holds big potential skill on the decadal scale. In recent years, more precise initializationtechniques of coupled Earth system models (incl. atmosphere and ocean) have improved decadal predictions.Ensembles are another important aspect. Applying slightly perturbed predictions results in an ensemble. Insteadof using and evaluating one prediction, but the whole ensemble or its ensemble average, improves a predictionsystem. However, climate models in general start losing the initialized signal and its predictive skill from oneforecast year to the next. Here we show that the climate prediction skill of an Earth system model can be improvedby a shift of the ocean state toward the ensemble mean of its individual members at seasonal intervals. Wefound that this procedure, called ensemble dispersion filter, results in more accurate results than the standarddecadal prediction. Global mean and regional temperature, precipitation, and winter cyclone predictions showan increased skill up to 5 years ahead. Furthermore, the novel technique outperforms predictions with largerensembles and higher resolution. Our results demonstrate how decadal climate predictions benefit from oceanensemble dispersion filtering toward the ensemble mean. This study is part of MiKlip (fona-miklip.de) - a major project on decadal climate prediction in Germany.We focus on the Max-Planck-Institute Earth System Model using the low-resolution version (MPI-ESM-LR) andMiKlip's basic initialization strategy as in 2017 published decadal climate forecast: http
Atmospheric Wind Relaxations and the Oceanic Response in the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem

Science.gov (United States)

Fewings, M. R.; Dorman, C. E.; Washburn, L.; Liu, W.

2010-12-01

the Gulf of Alaska influence ocean conditions in central and southern California via these wind relaxations. The ocean response within a few km of the coast involves poleward-flowing currents that transport warm water out of the lees of capes and headlands and counter to the direction of the California Current [Send et al. 1987, Harms and Winant 1998, Winant et al. 2003, Melton et al. 2009]. A similar response occurs in the Benguela and Canary Current coastal upwelling systems. The ocean response involves both barotropic and baroclinic dynamics and is consistent with existing geophysical models of buoyant, coastally-trapped plumes [Washburn et al., in prep]. Our ongoing work includes i) studying the regional ocean response to determine its spatial extent, time evolution, and ocean-atmosphere coupling dynamics; ii) developing an atmospheric index to predict wind relaxations in southern California based on pressure in the Gulf of Alaska; iii) examining the strength and frequency of wind relaxations over the past 30 years for connections to El Niño and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation; and iv) predicting future variations in wind relaxations and the response of the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem.
A Coupled Atmospheric and Wave Modeling System for Storm Simulations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Du, Jianting; Larsén, Xiaoli Guo; Bolanos, R.

2015-01-01

to parametrize z0. The results are validated through QuikScat data and point measurements from an open ocean site Ekosk and a coastal, relatively shallow water site Horns Rev. It is found that the modeling system captures in general better strong wind and strong wave characteristics for open ocean condition than......This study aims at improving the simulation of wind and waves during storms in connection with wind turbine design and operations in coastal areas. For this particular purpose, we investigated the Coupled-Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport (COAWST) Modeling System which couples the Weather...... resolution ranging from 25km to 2km. Meanwhile, the atmospheric forcing data of dierent spatial resolution, with one about 100km (FNL) and the other about 38km (CFSR) are both used. In addition, bathymatry data of diferent resolutions (1arc-minute and 30arc-seconds) are used. We used three approaches...
The prediction of surface temperature in the new seasonal prediction system based on the MPI-ESM coupled climate model

Science.gov (United States)

Baehr, J.; Fröhlich, K.; Botzet, M.; Domeisen, D. I. V.; Kornblueh, L.; Notz, D.; Piontek, R.; Pohlmann, H.; Tietsche, S.; Müller, W. A.

2015-05-01

A seasonal forecast system is presented, based on the global coupled climate model MPI-ESM as used for CMIP5 simulations. We describe the initialisation of the system and analyse its predictive skill for surface temperature. The presented system is initialised in the atmospheric, oceanic, and sea ice component of the model from reanalysis/observations with full field nudging in all three components. For the initialisation of the ensemble, bred vectors with a vertically varying norm are implemented in the ocean component to generate initial perturbations. In a set of ensemble hindcast simulations, starting each May and November between 1982 and 2010, we analyse the predictive skill. Bias-corrected ensemble forecasts for each start date reproduce the observed surface temperature anomalies at 2-4 months lead time, particularly in the tropics. Niño3.4 sea surface temperature anomalies show a small root-mean-square error and predictive skill up to 6 months. Away from the tropics, predictive skill is mostly limited to the ocean, and to regions which are strongly influenced by ENSO teleconnections. In summary, the presented seasonal prediction system based on a coupled climate model shows predictive skill for surface temperature at seasonal time scales comparable to other seasonal prediction systems using different underlying models and initialisation strategies. As the same model underlying our seasonal prediction system—with a different initialisation—is presently also used for decadal predictions, this is an important step towards seamless seasonal-to-decadal climate predictions.
The Navy’s Coupled Atmosphere-Ocean-Wave Prediction System

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-15

7300 Security, Code 1226 Office of Counsel,Code 1008.3 ADOR/Director NCST E. R. Franchi , 7000 Public Affairs (Unclassified/ Unlimited Only...Office as both a global model and relocatable regional model. The wave components of the system are run operationally at production centers at both...utilizes meteorological observations including radiosondes, satellite data, ship reports, and ocean observations with time-dependent global
Atmospheric and oceanic excitation of decadal-scale Earth orientation variations

Science.gov (United States)

Gross, Richard S.; Fukumori, Ichiro; Menemenlis, Dimitris

2005-09-01

The contribution of atmospheric wind and surface pressure and oceanic current and bottom pressure variations during 1949-2002 to exciting changes in the Earth's orientation on decadal timescales is investigated using an atmospheric angular momentum series computed from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis project and an oceanic angular momentum series computed from a near-global ocean model that was forced by surface fluxes from the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis project. Not surprisingly, since decadal-scale variations in the length of day are caused mainly by interactions between the mantle and core, the effect of the atmosphere and oceans is found to be only about 14% of that observed. More surprisingly, it is found that the effect of atmospheric and oceanic processes on decadal-scale changes in polar motion is also only about 20% (x component) and 38% (y component) of that observed. Therefore redistribution of mass within the atmosphere and oceans does not appear to be the main cause of the Markowitz wobble. It is also found that on timescales between 10 days and 4 years the atmospheric and oceanic angular momentum series used here have very little skill in explaining Earth orientation variations before the mid to late 1970s. This is attributed to errors in both the Earth orientation observations prior to 1976 when measurements from the accurate space-geodetic techniques became available and to errors in the modeled atmospheric fields prior to 1979 when the satellite era of global weather observing systems began.
Decadal climate predictability in the southern Indian Ocean captured by SINTEX-F using a simple SST-nudging scheme.

Science.gov (United States)

Morioka, Yushi; Doi, Takeshi; Behera, Swadhin K

2018-01-26

Decadal climate variability in the southern Indian Ocean has great influences on southern African climate through modulation of atmospheric circulation. Although many efforts have been made to understanding physical mechanisms, predictability of the decadal climate variability, in particular, the internally generated variability independent from external atmospheric forcing, remains poorly understood. This study investigates predictability of the decadal climate variability in the southern Indian Ocean using a coupled general circulation model, called SINTEX-F. The ensemble members of the decadal reforecast experiments were initialized with a simple sea surface temperature (SST) nudging scheme. The observed positive and negative peaks during late 1990s and late 2000s are well reproduced in the reforecast experiments initiated from 1994 and 1999, respectively. The experiments initiated from 1994 successfully capture warm SST and high sea level pressure anomalies propagating from the South Atlantic to the southern Indian Ocean. Also, the other experiments initiated from 1999 skillfully predict phase change from a positive to negative peak. These results suggest that the SST-nudging initialization has the essence to capture the predictability of the internally generated decadal climate variability in the southern Indian Ocean.
Sensitivity of open-water ice growth and ice concentration evolution in a coupled atmosphere-ocean-sea ice model

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Xiaoxu; Lohmann, Gerrit

2017-09-01

A coupled atmosphere-ocean-sea ice model is applied to investigate to what degree the area-thickness distribution of new ice formed in open water affects the ice and ocean properties. Two sensitivity experiments are performed which modify the horizontal-to-vertical aspect ratio of open-water ice growth. The resulting changes in the Arctic sea-ice concentration strongly affect the surface albedo, the ocean heat release to the atmosphere, and the sea-ice production. The changes are further amplified through a positive feedback mechanism among the Arctic sea ice, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), and the surface air temperature in the Arctic, as the Fram Strait sea ice import influences the freshwater budget in the North Atlantic Ocean. Anomalies in sea-ice transport lead to changes in sea surface properties of the North Atlantic and the strength of AMOC. For the Southern Ocean, the most pronounced change is a warming along the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), owing to the interhemispheric bipolar seasaw linked to AMOC weakening. Another insight of this study lies on the improvement of our climate model. The ocean component FESOM is a newly developed ocean-sea ice model with an unstructured mesh and multi-resolution. We find that the subpolar sea-ice boundary in the Northern Hemisphere can be improved by tuning the process of open-water ice growth, which strongly influences the sea ice concentration in the marginal ice zone, the North Atlantic circulation, salinity and Arctic sea ice volume. Since the distribution of new ice on open water relies on many uncertain parameters and the knowledge of the detailed processes is currently too crude, it is a challenge to implement the processes realistically into models. Based on our sensitivity experiments, we conclude a pronounced uncertainty related to open-water sea ice growth which could significantly affect the climate system sensitivity.
Modeling of radiation transport in coupled atmosphere-snow-ice-ocean systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stamnes, K.; Hamre, B.; Stamnes, J.J.; Ryzhikov, G.; Biryulina, M.; Mahoney, R.; Hauss, B.; Sei, A.

2011-01-01

A radiative transfer model for coupled atmosphere-snow-ice-ocean systems (CASIO-DISORT) is used to develop accurate and efficient tools for computing the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) of sea ice for a wide range of situations occurring in nature. These tools include a method to generate sea ice inherent optical properties (IOPs: single-scattering albedo, extinction optical depth, and scattering asymmetry parameter) for any wavelength between 300 and 4000 nm as a function of sea ice physical parameters including real and imaginary parts of the sea ice refractive index, brine pocket concentration and effective brine pocket size, air bubble concentration and effective air bubble size, volume fraction of ice impurities and impurity absorption coefficient, and sea ice thickness. The CASIO-DISORT code was used to compute look-up tables (LUTs) of the Fourier expansion coefficients of the BRDF as a function of angles of illumination and observation, sea ice IOPs, and ocean albedo. By interpolation in the LUTs one efficiently obtains accurate BRDF values. To include snow on the ice we modified DISORT2 to accept Fourier expansion coefficients for the BDRF as input instead of the BRDF itself, thereby reducing the computation time by a factor of about 60. The BRDF computed by CASIO-DISORT or retrieved from the LUTs applies to diffuse light only. To remedy this shortcoming we added a specular Gaussian beam component to the new BRDF tool and verified that it works well for BRDFs for bare and snow-covered sea ice.

A bio-optical model suitable for use in forward and inverse coupled atmosphere-ocean radiative transfer models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Kexin; Li Wei; Eide, Hans; Stamnes, Knut

2007-01-01

A simple, yet complete bio-optical model for the inherent optical properties (IOPs) of oceanic waters is developed. This bio-optical model is specifically designed for use in comprehensive, multiple scattering radiative transfer models for the coupled atmosphere-ocean system. Such models can be used to construct next-generation algorithms for simultaneous retrieval of aerosol and marine parameters. The computed remote sensing reflectance R rs (λ) is validated against field measurements of R rs (λ) compiled in the SeaBASS data base together with simultaneous chlorophyll concentrations (C) ranging from 0.03 to 100mgm -3 . This connection between R rs and C is used to construct a chlorophyll concentration retrieval algorithm that yields reliable results for a large range of chlorophyll concentrations. The overall performance of a MODIS/VIIRS chlorophyll concentration retrieval algorithm is found to be less satisfactory
Assessment of the possible future climatic impact of carbon dioxide increases based on a coupled one-dimensional atmospheric-oceanic model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hunt, B.G.; Wells, N.C.

1979-01-01

A radiative-convective equilibrium model of the atmosphere has been coupled with a mixed layer model of the ocean to investigate the response of this one-dimensional system to increasing carbon dioxide amounts in the atmosphere. For global mean conditions a surface temperature rise of about 2 0 K was obtained for a doubling of the carbon dioxide amount, in reasonable agreement with the commonly accepted results of Manabe and Wetherald. This temperature rise was essentially invariant with season and indicates that including a shallow (300 m) ocean slab in this problem does not basically alter previous assessments. While the mixed layer depth of the ocean was only very slightly changed by the temperature increase, which extended throughout the depth of the mixed layer, the impact of this increase on the overall behavior of the ocean warrants further study. A calculation was also made of the temporal variation of the sea surface temperature for three possible carbon dioxide growth rates starting from an initial carbon dioxide content of 300 ppm. This indicated that the thermal inertia of the slab ocean provides a time lag of 8 years in the sea surface temperature response compared to a land situation. This is not considered to be of great significance as regards the likely future climatic impact of carbon dioxide increase
NOAA's National Air Quality Predictions and Development of Aerosol and Atmospheric Composition Prediction Components for the Next Generation Global Prediction System

Science.gov (United States)

Stajner, I.; Hou, Y. T.; McQueen, J.; Lee, P.; Stein, A. F.; Tong, D.; Pan, L.; Huang, J.; Huang, H. C.; Upadhayay, S.

2016-12-01

NOAA provides operational air quality predictions using the National Air Quality Forecast Capability (NAQFC): ozone and wildfire smoke for the United States and airborne dust for the contiguous 48 states at http://airquality.weather.gov. NOAA's predictions of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) became publicly available in February 2016. Ozone and PM2.5 predictions are produced using a system that operationally links the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model with meteorological inputs from the North American mesoscale forecast Model (NAM). Smoke and dust predictions are provided using the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model. Current NAQFC focus is on updating CMAQ to version 5.0.2, improving PM2.5 predictions, and updating emissions estimates, especially for NOx using recently observed trends. Wildfire smoke emissions from a newer version of the USFS BlueSky system are being included in a new configuration of the NAQFC NAM-CMAQ system, which is re-run for the previous 24 hours when the wildfires were observed from satellites, to better represent wildfire emissions prior to initiating predictions for the next 48 hours. In addition, NOAA is developing the Next Generation Global Prediction System (NGGPS) to represent the earth system for extended weather prediction. NGGPS will include a representation of atmospheric dynamics, physics, aerosols and atmospheric composition as well as coupling with ocean, wave, ice and land components. NGGPS is being developed with a broad community involvement, including community developed components and academic research to develop and test potential improvements for potentially inclusion in NGGPS. Several investigators at NOAA's research laboratories and in academia are working to improve the aerosol and gaseous chemistry representation for NGGPS, to develop and evaluate the representation of atmospheric composition, and to establish and improve the coupling with radiation and microphysics
Submesoscale features and their interaction with fronts and internal tides in a high-resolution coupled atmosphere-ocean-wave model of the Bay of Bengal

Science.gov (United States)

Jensen, Tommy G.; Shulman, Igor; Wijesekera, Hemantha W.; Anderson, Stephanie; Ladner, Sherwin

2018-03-01

Large freshwater fluxes into the Bay of Bengal by rainfall and river discharges result in strong salinity fronts in the bay. In this study, a high-resolution coupled atmosphere-ocean-wave model with comprehensive physics is used to model the weather, ocean circulation, and wave field in the Bay of Bengal. Our objective is to explore the submesoscale activity that occurs in a realistic coupled model that resolves mesoscales and allows part of the submesoscale field. Horizontal resolution in the atmosphere varies from 2 to 6 km and is 13 km for surface waves, while the ocean model is submesoscale permitting with resolutions as high as 1.5 km and a vertical resolution of 0.5 m in the upper 10 m. In this paper, three different cases of oceanic submesoscale features are discussed. In the first case, heavy rainfall and intense downdrafts produced by atmospheric convection are found to force submesoscale currents, temperature, and salinity anomalies in the oceanic mixed layer and impact the mesoscale flow. In a second case, strong solitary-like waves are generated by semidiurnal tides in the Andaman Sea and interact with mesoscale flows and fronts and affect submesoscale features generated along fronts. A third source of submesoscale variability is found further north in the Bay of Bengal where river outflows help maintain strong salinity gradients throughout the year. For that case, a comparison with satellite observations of sea surface height anomalies, sea surface temperature, and chlorophyll shows that the model captures the observed mesoscale eddy features of the flow field, but in addition, submesoscale upwelling and downwelling patterns associated with ageostrophic secondary circulations along density fronts are also captured by the model.
Influence of various forcings on global climate in historical times using a coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stendel, Martin; Mogensen, Irene A.; Christensen, Jens H.

2006-01-01

The results of a simulation of the climate of the last five centuries with a state-of-the-art coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model are presented. The model has been driven with most relevant forcings, both natural (solar variability, volcanic aerosol) and anthropogenic (greenhouse...... gases, sulphate aerosol, land-use changes). In contrast to previous GCM studies, we have taken into account the latitudinal dependence of volcanic aerosol and the changing land cover for a period covering several centuries. We find a clear signature of large volcanic eruptions in the simulated...
Role of atmosphere-ocean interactions in supermodeling the tropical Pacific climate

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Mao-Lin; Keenlyside, Noel; Bhatt, Bhuwan C.; Duane, Gregory S.

2017-12-01

The supermodel strategy interactively combines several models to outperform the individual models comprising it. A key advantage of the approach is that nonlinear improvements can be achieved, in contrast to the linear weighted combination of individual unconnected models. This property is found in a climate supermodel constructed by coupling two versions of an atmospheric model differing only in their convection scheme to a single ocean model. The ocean model receives a weighted combination of the momentum and heat fluxes. Optimal weights can produce a supermodel with a basic state similar to observations: a single Intertropical Convergence zone (ITCZ), with a western Pacific warm pool and an equatorial cold tongue. This is in stark contrast to the erroneous double ITCZ pattern simulated by both of the two stand-alone coupled models. By varying weights, we develop a conceptual scheme to explain how combining the momentum fluxes of the two different atmospheric models affects equatorial upwelling and surface wind feedback so as to give a realistic basic state in the tropical Pacific. In particular, we propose a mechanism based on the competing influences of equatorial zonal wind and off-equatorial wind stress curl in driving equatorial upwelling in the coupled models. Our results show how nonlinear ocean-atmosphere interaction is essential in combining these two effects to build different sea surface temperature structures, some of which are realistic. They also provide some insight into observed and modelled tropical Pacific climate.
Longitudinal Biases in the Seychelles Dome Simulated by 34 Ocean-Atmosphere Coupled General Circulation Models

Science.gov (United States)

Nagura, M.; Sasaki, W.; Tozuka, T.; Luo, J.; Behera, S. K.; Yamagata, T.

2012-12-01

The upwelling dome of the southern tropical Indian Ocean is examined by using simulated results from 34 ocean-atmosphere coupled general circulation models (CGCMs) including those from the phase five of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). Among the current set of the 34 CGCMs, 12 models erroneously produce the upwelling dome in the eastern half of the basin while the observed Seychelles Dome is located in the southwestern tropical Indian Ocean (Figure 1). The annual mean Ekman pumping velocity is almost zero in the southern off-equatorial region in these models. This is in contrast with the observations that show Ekman upwelling as the cause of the Seychelles Dome. In the models that produce the dome in the eastern basin, the easterly biases are prominent along the equator in boreal summer and fall that cause shallow thermocline biases along the Java and Sumatra coasts via Kelvin wave dynamics and result in a spurious upwelling dome there. In addition, these models tend to overestimate (underestimate) the magnitude of annual (semiannual) cycle of thermocline depth variability in the dome region, which is another consequence of the easterly wind biases in boreal summer-fall. Compared to the CMIP3 models (Yokoi et al. 2009), the CMIP5 models are even worse in simulating the dome longitudes and magnitudes of annual and semiannual cycles of thermocline depth variability in the dome region. Considering the increasing need to understand regional impacts of climate modes, these results may give serious caveats to interpretation of model results and help in further model developments.; Figure 1: The longitudes of the shallowest annual-mean D20 in 5°S-12°S. The open and filled circles are for the observations and the CGCMs, respectively.
The Middle Miocene climate as modelled in an atmosphere-ocean-biosphere model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Krapp

2011-11-01

Full Text Available We present simulations with a coupled atmosphere-ocean-biosphere model for the Middle Miocene 15 million years ago. The model is insofar more consistent than previous models because it captures the essential interactions between ocean and atmosphere and between atmosphere and vegetation. The Middle Miocene topography, which alters both large-scale ocean and atmospheric circulations, causes a global warming of 0.7 K compared to present day. Higher than present-day CO₂ levels of 480 and 720 ppm cause a global warming of 2.8 and 4.9 K. The associated water vapour feedback enhances the greenhouse effect which leads to a polar amplification of the warming. These results suggest that higher than present-day CO₂ levels are necessary to drive the warm Middle Miocene climate, also because the dynamic vegetation model simulates a denser vegetation which is in line with fossil records. However, we do not find a flatter than present-day equator-to-pole temperature gradient as has been suggested by marine and terrestrial proxies. Instead, a compensation between atmospheric and ocean heat transport counteracts the flattening of the temperature gradient. The acclaimed role of the large-scale ocean circulation in redistributing heat cannot be supported by our results. Including full ocean dynamics, therefore, does not solve the problem of the flat temperature gradient during the Middle Miocene.
Extension of SCIATRAN by coupling atmospheric and oceanic radiative transfer: First results of comparisons for in-situ and satellite data

Science.gov (United States)

Blum, Mirjam; Rozanov, Vladimir; Bracher, Astrid; Burrows, John P.

The radiative transfer model SCIATRAN [V. V. Rozanov et al., 2002; A. Rozanov et al., 2005, 2008] has been developed to model atmospheric radiative transfer. This model is mainly applied to improve the analysis of high spectrally resolved satellite data as, for instance, data of the instrument SCIAMACHY (Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric CHar-tographY) onboard the ENVISAT satellite. Within the present study, SCIATRAN has been extended by taking radiative processes as well as at the atmosphere-water interface as within the water into account, which were caused by water itself and its constituents. Comparisons of this extended version of SCIATRAN for in-situ data and for MERIS satellite information yield first results, which will be shown. It is expected that the new version of SCIATRAN, including the coupling of atmospheric and oceanic radiative transfer, will widen the use of high spectrally resolved data in the form of achieving new findings, such as information about ocean biooptics and biogeochemistry like, for example, biomass of different phytoplankton groups or CDOM fluorescence. In addition, it is awaited that the new version improves the retrieval of atmospheric trace gases above oceanic waters. References: 1. V. V. Rozanov, M. Buchwitz, K.-U. Eichmann, R. de Beek, and J. P. Burrows. Sciatran -a new radiative transfer model for geophysical applications in the 240-2400nm spectral region: the pseudo-spherical version. Adv. in Space Res. 29, 1831-1835 (2002) 2. A. Rozanov, V. V. Rozanov, M. Buchwitz, A. Kokhanovsky, and J. P. Burrows. SCIA-TRAN 2.0 -A new radiative tranfer model for geophysical applications in the 175-2400nm spectral region. Adv. in Space Res. 36, 1015-1019 (2005) 3. A. Rozanov. SCIATRAN 2.X: Radiative transfer model and retrieval software package. URL = http://www.iup.physik.uni-bremen.de/sciatran (2008)
Models for changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide, ocean geochemistry and circulation during the late Pleistocene

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Naqvi, S.W.A.; SenGupta, R.

in oceanic alkalinity (and hence a decrease in atmospheric CO@d2@@) due to CaCO@d3@@ compensation. A likely mechanism for this rearrangement could be an orbital-forced insolation related increase in biological production in the Southern Ocean. This, coupled...
Using the Model Coupling Toolkit to couple earth system models

Science.gov (United States)

Warner, J.C.; Perlin, N.; Skyllingstad, E.D.

2008-01-01

Continued advances in computational resources are providing the opportunity to operate more sophisticated numerical models. Additionally, there is an increasing demand for multidisciplinary studies that include interactions between different physical processes. Therefore there is a strong desire to develop coupled modeling systems that utilize existing models and allow efficient data exchange and model control. The basic system would entail model "1" running on "M" processors and model "2" running on "N" processors, with efficient exchange of model fields at predetermined synchronization intervals. Here we demonstrate two coupled systems: the coupling of the ocean circulation model Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) to the surface wave model Simulating WAves Nearshore (SWAN), and the coupling of ROMS to the atmospheric model Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Prediction System (COAMPS). Both coupled systems use the Model Coupling Toolkit (MCT) as a mechanism for operation control and inter-model distributed memory transfer of model variables. In this paper we describe requirements and other options for model coupling, explain the MCT library, ROMS, SWAN and COAMPS models, methods for grid decomposition and sparse matrix interpolation, and provide an example from each coupled system. Methods presented in this paper are clearly applicable for coupling of other types of models. ?? 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
The Impact of Ocean Observations in Seasonal Climate Prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Rienecker, Michele; Keppenne, Christian; Kovach, Robin; Marshak, Jelena

2010-01-01

The ocean provides the most significant memory for the climate system. Hence, a critical element in climate forecasting with coupled models is the initialization of the ocean with states from an ocean data assimilation system. Remotely-sensed ocean surface fields (e.g., sea surface topography, SST, winds) are now available for extensive periods and have been used to constrain ocean models to provide a record of climate variations. Since the ocean is virtually opaque to electromagnetic radiation, the assimilation of these satellite data is essential to extracting the maximum information content. More recently, the Argo drifters have provided unprecedented sampling of the subsurface temperature and salinity. Although the duration of this observation set has been too short to provide solid statistical evidence of its impact, there are indications that Argo improves the forecast skill of coupled systems. This presentation will address the impact these different observations have had on seasonal climate predictions with the GMAO's coupled model.
76 FR 65183 - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-20

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Climate Assessment... Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce (DOC). ACTION: Notice of open..., National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. [FR Doc. 2011-27113 Filed 10-19-11; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE...
Hydrodynamics of oceans and atmospheres

CERN Document Server

Eckart, Carl

1960-01-01

Hydrodynamics of Oceans and Atmospheres is a systematic account of the hydrodynamics of oceans and atmospheres. Topics covered range from the thermodynamic functions of an ideal gas and the thermodynamic coefficients for water to steady motions, the isothermal atmosphere, the thermocline, and the thermosphere. Perturbation equations, field equations, residual equations, and a general theory of rays are also presented. This book is comprised of 17 chapters and begins with an introduction to the basic equations and their solutions, with the aim of illustrating the laws of dynamics. The nonlinear
Nonlinear dynamics and predictability in the atmospheric sciences

Science.gov (United States)

Ghil, M.; Kimoto, M.; Neelin, J. D.

1991-01-01

Systematic applications of nonlinear dynamics to studies of the atmosphere and climate are reviewed for the period 1987-1990. Problems discussed include paleoclimatic applications, low-frequency atmospheric variability, and interannual variability of the ocean-atmosphere system. Emphasis is placed on applications of the successive bifurcation approach and the ergodic theory of dynamical systems to understanding and prediction of intraseasonal, interannual, and Quaternary climate changes.
Coupled model of INM-IO global ocean model, CICE sea ice model and SCM OIAS framework

Science.gov (United States)

Bayburin, Ruslan; Rashit, Ibrayev; Konstantin, Ushakov; Vladimir, Kalmykov; Gleb, Dyakonov

2015-04-01

Status of coupled Arctic model of ocean and sea ice is presented. Model consists of INM IO global ocean component of high resolution, Los Alamos National Laboratory CICE sea ice model and a framework SCM OIAS for the ocean-ice-atmosphere-land coupled modeling on massively-parallel architectures. Model is currently under development at the Institute of Numerical Mathematics (INM), Hydrometeorological Center (HMC) and P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology (IO). Model is aimed at modeling of intra-annual variability of hydrodynamics in Arctic and. The computational characteristics of the world ocean-sea ice coupled model governed by SCM OIAS are presented. The model is parallelized using MPI technologies and currently can use efficiently up to 5000 cores. Details of programming implementation, computational configuration and physical phenomena parametrization are analyzed in terms of intercoupling complex. Results of five year computational experiment of sea ice, snow and ocean state evolution in Arctic region on tripole grid with horizontal resolution of 3-5 kilometers, closed by atmospheric forcing field from repeating "normal" annual course taken from CORE1 experiment data base are presented and analyzed in terms of the state of vorticity and warm Atlantic water expansion.
Ocean-atmosphere interactions during cyclone Nargis

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Mc; Foltz, G.R.; Lee, T.; Murty, V.S.N.; Ravichandran, M.; Vecchi, G.A.; Vialard, J.; Wiggert, J.D.; Yu, L.

=UTF-8 Author version: EOS: Trans. Am. Geophys. Union: 90(7); 2009; 53-60; doi:10.1029/2009EO070001 Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions During Cyclone Nargis M. J. McPhaden (1) , G. R. Foltz (2) , T. Lee (3) , V. S. N. Murty (4) , M... Moored Array for African-Asian-Australian Monsoon Analysis and Prediction; McPhaden et al, 2008) designed to complement a constellation of earth observing satellites for key environmental parameters such as winds, sea surface temperature (SST), and sea...
Large-Scale Atmosphere-Ocean Coupling.

Science.gov (United States)

1984-05-01

atmosphere (INT. -r, i 0) InEkman layer off the coast of Peru eastward) and meridional (y, positive north- the latter case. T, which was assumcd uniform...influence of teleconnectivity of the atmosphere is strongest for diabetic forcing located near the equatorial central Pacific, but much reduced i for ocinp...the monsoon diabetic heat sources during the latter half of the year (July- February, denoted by atching numerals). The extent of the diabetic beat
Swell impact on wind stress and atmospheric mixing in a regional coupled atmosphere-wave model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wu, Lichuan; Rutgersson, Anna; Sahlée, Erik

2016-01-01

Over the ocean, the atmospheric turbulence can be significantly affected by swell waves. Change in the atmospheric turbulence affects the wind stress and atmospheric mixing over swell waves. In this study, the influence of swell on atmospheric mixing and wind stress is introduced into an atmosphere-wave-coupled...... regional climate model, separately and combined. The swell influence on atmospheric mixing is introduced into the atmospheric mixing length formula by adding a swell-induced contribution to the mixing. The swell influence on the wind stress under wind-following swell, moderate-range wind, and near......-neutral and unstable stratification conditions is introduced by changing the roughness length. Five year simulation results indicate that adding the swell influence on atmospheric mixing has limited influence, only slightly increasing the near-surface wind speed; in contrast, adding the swell influence on wind stress...
Effects of atmospheric inorganic nitrogen deposition on ocean biogeochemistry

OpenAIRE

Krishnamurthy, Aparna; Moore, J. Keith; Zender, Charles S; Luo, Chao

2007-01-01

We perform a sensitivity study with the Biogeochemical Elemental Cycling (BEC) ocean model to understand the impact of atmospheric inorganic nitrogen deposition on marine biogeochemistry and air-sea CO2 exchange. Simulations involved examining the response to three different atmospheric inorganic nitrogen deposition scenarios namely, Pre-industrial (22 Tg N/year), 1990s (39 Tg N/year), and an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) prediction for 2100, IPCC-A1FI (69 Tg N/year). Glob...

Development and validation of a regional coupled forecasting system for S2S forecasts

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, R.; Subramanian, A. C.; Hoteit, I.; Miller, A. J.; Ralph, M.; Cornuelle, B. D.

2017-12-01

Accurate and efficient forecasting of oceanic and atmospheric circulation is essential for a wide variety of high-impact societal needs, including: weather extremes; environmental protection and coastal management; management of fisheries, marine conservation; water resources; and renewable energy. Effective forecasting relies on high model fidelity and accurate initialization of the models with observed state of the ocean-atmosphere-land coupled system. A regional coupled ocean-atmosphere model with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and the MITGCM ocean model coupled using the ESMF (Earth System Modeling Framework) coupling framework is developed to resolve mesoscale air-sea feedbacks. The regional coupled model allows oceanic mixed layer heat and momentum to interact with the atmospheric boundary layer dynamics at the mesoscale and submesoscale spatiotemporal regimes, thus leading to feedbacks which are otherwise not resolved in coarse resolution global coupled forecasting systems or regional uncoupled forecasting systems. The model is tested in two scenarios in the mesoscale eddy rich Red Sea and Western Indian Ocean region as well as mesoscale eddies and fronts of the California Current System. Recent studies show evidence for air-sea interactions involving the oceanic mesoscale in these two regions which can enhance predictability on sub seasonal timescale. We will present results from this newly developed regional coupled ocean-atmosphere model for forecasts over the Red Sea region as well as the California Current region. The forecasts will be validated against insitu observations in the region as well as reanalysis fields.
OceanNOMADS: Real-time and retrospective access to operational U.S. ocean prediction products

Science.gov (United States)

Harding, J. M.; Cross, S. L.; Bub, F.; Ji, M.

2011-12-01

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Operational Model Archive and Distribution System (NOMADS) provides both real-time and archived atmospheric model output from servers at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) and National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) respectively (http://nomads.ncep.noaa.gov/txt_descriptions/marRutledge-1.pdf). The NOAA National Ocean Data Center (NODC) with NCEP is developing a complementary capability called OceanNOMADS for operational ocean prediction models. An NCEP ftp server currently provides real-time ocean forecast output (http://www.opc.ncep.noaa.gov/newNCOM/NCOM_currents.shtml) with retrospective access through NODC. A joint effort between the Northern Gulf Institute (NGI; a NOAA Cooperative Institute) and the NOAA National Coastal Data Development Center (NCDDC; a division of NODC) created the developmental version of the retrospective OceanNOMADS capability (http://www.northerngulfinstitute.org/edac/ocean_nomads.php) under the NGI Ecosystem Data Assembly Center (EDAC) project (http://www.northerngulfinstitute.org/edac/). Complementary funding support for the developmental OceanNOMADS from U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) through the Southeastern University Research Association (SURA) Model Testbed (http://testbed.sura.org/) this past year provided NODC the analogue that facilitated the creation of an NCDDC production version of OceanNOMADS (http://www.ncddc.noaa.gov/ocean-nomads/). Access tool development and storage of initial archival data sets occur on the NGI/NCDDC developmental servers with transition to NODC/NCCDC production servers as the model archives mature and operational space and distribution capability grow. Navy operational global ocean forecast subsets for U.S waters comprise the initial ocean prediction fields resident on the NCDDC production server. The NGI/NCDDC developmental server currently includes the Naval Research Laboratory Inter-America Seas
The Coastal Ocean Prediction Systems program: Understanding and managing our coastal ocean. Volume 2: Overview and invited papers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1990-05-15

This document is a compilation of summaries of papers presented at the Coastal Ocean Prediction Systems workshop. Topics include; marine forecasting, regulatory agencies and regulations, research and application models, research and operational observing, oceanic and atmospheric data assimilation, and coastal physical processes.
A conceptual prediction model for seasonal drought processes using atmospheric and oceanic standardized anomalies and its application to four recent severe regional drought events in China

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Z.; LU, G.; He, H.; Wu, Z.; He, J.

2017-12-01

Reliable drought prediction is fundamental for seasonal water management. Considering that drought development is closely related to the spatio-temporal evolution of large-scale circulation patterns, we develop a conceptual prediction model of seasonal drought processes based on atmospheric/oceanic Standardized Anomalies (SA). It is essentially the synchronous stepwise regression relationship between 90-day-accumulated atmospheric/oceanic SA-based predictors and 3-month SPI updated daily (SPI3). It is forced with forecasted atmospheric and oceanic variables retrieved from seasonal climate forecast systems, and it can make seamless drought prediction for operational use after a year-to-year calibration. Simulation and prediction of four severe seasonal regional drought processes in China were forced with the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis datasets and the NCEP Climate Forecast System Version 2 (CFSv2) operationally forecasted datasets, respectively. With the help of real-time correction for operational application, model application during four recent severe regional drought events in China revealed that the model is good at development prediction but weak in severity prediction. In addition to weakness in prediction of drought peak, the prediction of drought relief is possible to be predicted as drought recession. This weak performance may be associated with precipitation-causing weather patterns during drought relief. Based on initial virtual analysis on predicted 90-day prospective SPI3 curves, it shows that the 2009/2010 drought in Southwest China and 2014 drought in North China can be predicted and simulated well even for the prospective 1-75 day. In comparison, the prospective 1-45 day may be a feasible and acceptable lead time for simulation and prediction of the 2011 droughts in Southwest China and East China, after which the simulated and predicted developments clearly change.
Turbidity, SOLAR RADIATION - ATMOSPHERIC and other data from XIANG YANG HONG 05 and SHI YAN 3 in the Philippine Sea, Indian Ocean and South Pacific Ocean from 1991-11-01 to 1993-11-30 (NODC Accession 9400186)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Conductivity, Temperature and Depth (CTD) and other data were collected as part of the Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Response Experiment. Data were collected from Ships...
Radiative transfer modeling through terrestrial atmosphere and ocean accounting for inelastic processes: Software package SCIATRAN

Science.gov (United States)

Rozanov, V. V.; Dinter, T.; Rozanov, A. V.; Wolanin, A.; Bracher, A.; Burrows, J. P.

2017-06-01

SCIATRAN is a comprehensive software package which is designed to model radiative transfer processes in the terrestrial atmosphere and ocean in the spectral range from the ultraviolet to the thermal infrared (0.18-40 μm). It accounts for multiple scattering processes, polarization, thermal emission and ocean-atmosphere coupling. The main goal of this paper is to present a recently developed version of SCIATRAN which takes into account accurately inelastic radiative processes in both the atmosphere and the ocean. In the scalar version of the coupled ocean-atmosphere radiative transfer solver presented by Rozanov et al. [61] we have implemented the simulation of the rotational Raman scattering, vibrational Raman scattering, chlorophyll and colored dissolved organic matter fluorescence. In this paper we discuss and explain the numerical methods used in SCIATRAN to solve the scalar radiative transfer equation including trans-spectral processes, and demonstrate how some selected radiative transfer problems are solved using the SCIATRAN package. In addition we present selected comparisons of SCIATRAN simulations with those published benchmark results, independent radiative transfer models, and various measurements from satellite, ground-based, and ship-borne instruments. The extended SCIATRAN software package along with a detailed User's Guide is made available for scientists and students, who are undertaking their own research typically at universities, via the web page of the Institute of Environmental Physics (IUP), University of Bremen: http://www.iup.physik.uni-bremen.de.
Atmospheric and Oceanic Response to Southern Ocean Deep Convection Oscillations on Decadal to Centennial Time Scales in Climate Models

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, T.; Reintges, A.; Park, W.; Latif, M.

2014-12-01

Many current coupled global climate models simulate open ocean deep convection in the Southern Ocean as a recurring event with time scales ranging from a few years to centennial (de Lavergne et al., 2014, Nat. Clim. Ch.). The only observation of such event, however, was the occurrence of the Weddell Polynya in the mid-1970s, an open water area of 350 000 km2 within the Antarctic sea ice in three consecutive winters. Both the wide range of modeled frequency of occurrence and the absence of deep convection in the Weddell Sea highlights the lack of understanding concerning the phenomenon. Nevertheless, simulations indicate that atmospheric and oceanic responses to the cessation of deep convection in the Southern Ocean include a strengthening of the low-level atmospheric circulation over the Southern Ocean (increasing SAM index) and a reduction in the export of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW), potentially masking the regional effects of global warming (Latif et al., 2013, J. Clim.; Martin et al., 2014, Deep Sea Res. II). It is thus of great importance to enhance our understanding of Southern Ocean deep convection and clarify the associated time scales. In two multi-millennial simulations with the Kiel Climate Model (KCM, ECHAM5 T31 atmosphere & NEMO-LIM2 ~2˚ ocean) we showed that the deep convection is driven by strong oceanic warming at mid-depth periodically overriding the stabilizing effects of precipitation and ice melt (Martin et al., 2013, Clim. Dyn.). Sea ice thickness also affects location and duration of the deep convection. A new control simulation, in which, amongst others, the atmosphere grid resolution is changed to T42 (~2.8˚), yields a faster deep convection flip-flop with a period of 80-100 years and a weaker but still significant global climate response similar to CMIP5 simulations. While model physics seem to affect the time scale and intensity of the phenomenon, the driving mechanism is a rather robust feature. Finally, we compare the atmospheric and
The atmospheric wet pool: definition and comparison with the oceanic warm pool

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHANG Caiyun; CHEN Ge

2008-01-01

The oceanic warm pool (OWP) defined by sea surface temperature (SST) is known as the "heat reservoir" in the ocean. The warmest portion in the ocean mirrors the fact that the wettest region with the largest accumulation of water vapor (WV) in the atmosphere, termed atmospheric wet pool (AWP), should be identified because of the well-known Clausius-Clapeyron relationship between SST and WV. In this study, we used 14-year simultaneous observations of WV and SST from January 1988 to December 2001 to define the AWP and investigate its coupling and co-variations with the OWP. The joint examination of the area variations, centroid locations, and zonal migrations of the AWP and OWP lead to a number of interesting findings. The results hopefully can contribute to our understanding of the air-sea interaction in general and characterization of El Nifio/La Nina events in particular.
Translation of Land Surface Model Accuracy and Uncertainty into Coupled Land-Atmosphere Prediction

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Santanello, Joseph A.; Kumar, Sujay; Peters-Lidard, Christa D.; Harrison, Kenneth W.; Zhou, Shuija

2012-01-01

Land-atmosphere (L-A) Interactions playa critical role in determining the diurnal evolution of both planetary boundary layer (PBL) and land surface heat and moisture budgets, as well as controlling feedbacks with clouds and precipitation that lead to the persistence of dry and wet regimes. Recent efforts to quantify the strength of L-A coupling in prediction models have produced diagnostics that integrate across both the land and PBL components of the system. In this study, we examine the impact of improved specification of land surface states, anomalies, and fluxes on coupled WRF forecasts during the summers of extreme dry (2006) and wet (2007) land surface conditions in the U.S. Southern Great Plains. The improved land initialization and surface flux parameterizations are obtained through the use of a new optimization and uncertainty estimation module in NASA's Land Information System (US-OPT/UE), whereby parameter sets are calibrated in the Noah land surface model and classified according to a land cover and soil type mapping of the observation sites to the full model domain. The impact of calibrated parameters on the a) spinup of the land surface used as initial conditions, and b) heat and moisture states and fluxes of the coupled WRF Simulations are then assessed in terms of ambient weather and land-atmosphere coupling along with measures of uncertainty propagation into the forecasts. In addition, the sensitivity of this approach to the period of calibration (dry, wet, average) is investigated. Finally, tradeoffs of computational tractability and scientific validity, and the potential for combining this approach with satellite remote sensing data are also discussed.
Translation of Land Surface Model Accuracy and Uncertainty into Coupled Land-Atmosphere Prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Santanello, J. A.; Kumar, S.; Peters-Lidard, C. D.; Harrison, K. W.; Zhou, S.

2012-12-01

Land-atmosphere (L-A) interactions play a critical role in determining the diurnal evolution of both planetary boundary layer (PBL) and land surface heat and moisture budgets, as well as controlling feedbacks with clouds and precipitation that lead to the persistence of dry and wet regimes. Recent efforts to quantify the strength of L-A coupling in prediction models have produced diagnostics that integrate across both the land and PBL components of the system. In this study, we examine the impact of improved specification of land surface states, anomalies, and fluxes on coupled WRF forecasts during the summers of extreme dry (2006) and wet (2007) land surface conditions in the U.S. Southern Great Plains. The improved land initialization and surface flux parameterizations are obtained through the use of a new optimization and uncertainty estimation module in NASA's Land Information System (LIS-OPT/UE), whereby parameter sets are calibrated in the Noah land surface model and classified according to a land cover and soil type mapping of the observation sites to the full model domain. The impact of calibrated parameters on the a) spinup of the land surface used as initial conditions, and b) heat and moisture states and fluxes of the coupled WRF simulations are then assessed in terms of ambient weather and land-atmosphere coupling along with measures of uncertainty propagation into the forecasts. In addition, the sensitivity of this approach to the period of calibration (dry, wet, average) is investigated. Finally, tradeoffs of computational tractability and scientific validity, and the potential for combining this approach with satellite remote sensing data are also discussed.
Simulations of future climate with a coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stendel, M.; Schmith, T.; Hesselbjerg Christensen, J.

2001-01-01

A coupled atmosphere/ocean general circulation model to study the time-dependent climate response to changing concentrations of greenhouse gases, chlorofluorocarbons and aerosols according to the new IPCC SRES scenarios A2 and B2 has been used. The results of these experiments are compared to an unforced 300-year control experiment. The changes in the last three decades of the scenario simulations (2071-2100) are furthermore compared to the simulation of present-day climate (1961-1990). In accordance with previous experiments we find that greenhouse warming is reduced when aerosol effects are considered. Sulfur emissions, however, are lower than in the IS92a scenario. Consequently, the greenhouse warming effect, which leads to a bigger temperature increase than in the GSDIO experiment can outweigh the aerosol cooling effect. The result shows that there still are serious difficulties and uncertainties in this type of model simulation. Those are partially due to oversimplifications in the model, concerning the radiative properties of aerosols in particular, and therefore the indirect aerosol effect. Another inherent problem, however, is the uncertainty in the scenarios themselves. This is the case for short-lived substances with an inhomogeneous spatial and temporal distribution, such as aerosols. Therefore, on a decadal horizon, changes in the emissions of those substance can exert a significant effect on anthropogenic climate change. (LN)
Monte Carlo climate change forecasts with a global coupled ocean-atmosphere model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cubasch, U.; Santer, B.D.; Hegerl, G.; Hoeck, H.; Maier-Reimer, E.; Mikolajwicz, U.; Stoessel, A.; Voss, R.

1992-01-01

The Monte Carlo approach, which has increasingly been used during the last decade in the field of extended range weather forecasting, has been applied for climate change experiments. Four integrations with a global coupled ocean-atmosphere model have been started from different initial conditions, but with the same greenhouse gas forcing according to the IPCC scenario A. All experiments have been run for a period of 50 years. The results indicate that the time evolution of the global mean warming depends strongly on the initial state of the climate system. It can vary between 6 and 31 years. The Monte Carlo approach delivers information about both the mean response and the statistical significance of the response. While the individual members of the ensemble show a considerable variation in the climate change pattern of temperature after 50 years, the ensemble mean climate change pattern closely resembles the pattern obtained in a 100 year integration and is, at least over most of the land areas, statistically significant. The ensemble averaged sea-level change due to thermal expansion is significant in the global mean and locally over wide regions of the Pacific. The hydrological cycle is also significantly enhanced in the global mean, but locally the changes in precipitation and soil moisture are masked by the variability of the experiments. (orig.)
Evaluation of a present-day climate simulation with a new coupled atmosphere-ocean model GENMOM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. R. Alder

2011-02-01

Full Text Available We present a new, non-flux corrected AOGCM, GENMOM, that combines the GENESIS version 3 atmospheric GCM (Global Environmental and Ecological Simulation of Interactive Systems and MOM2 (Modular Ocean Model version 2 nominally at T31 resolution. We evaluate GENMOM by comparison with reanalysis products (e.g., NCEP2 and three models used in the IPCC AR4 assessment. GENMOM produces a global temperature bias of 0.6 °C. Atmospheric features such as the jet stream structure and major semi-permanent sea level pressure centers are well simulated as is the mean planetary-scale wind structure that is needed to produce the correct position of stormtracks. Most ocean surface currents are reproduced except where they are not resolvable at T31 resolution. Overall, GENMOM captures reasonably well the observed gradients and spatial distributions of annual surface temperature and precipitation and the simulations are on par with other AOGCMs. Deficiencies in the GENMOM simulations include a warm bias in the surface temperature over the southern oceans, a split in the ITCZ and weaker-than-observed overturning circulation.
Coupled Data Assimilation for Integrated Earth System Analysis and Prediction: Goals, Challenges, and Recommendations

Science.gov (United States)

Penny, Stephen G.; Akella, Santha; Buehner, Mark; Chevallier, Matthieu; Counillon, Francois; Draper, Clara; Frolov, Sergey; Fujii, Yosuke; Karspeck, Alicia; Kumar, Arun

2017-01-01

The purpose of this report is to identify fundamental issues for coupled data assimilation (CDA), such as gaps in science and limitations in forecasting systems, in order to provide guidance to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on how to facilitate more rapid progress internationally. Coupled Earth system modeling provides the opportunity to extend skillful atmospheric forecasts beyond the traditional two-week barrier by extracting skill from low-frequency state components such as the land, ocean, and sea ice. More generally, coupled models are needed to support seamless prediction systems that span timescales from weather, subseasonal to seasonal (S2S), multiyear, and decadal. Therefore, initialization methods are needed for coupled Earth system models, either applied to each individual component (called Weakly Coupled Data Assimilation - WCDA) or applied the coupled Earth system model as a whole (called Strongly Coupled Data Assimilation - SCDA). Using CDA, in which model forecasts and potentially the state estimation are performed jointly, each model domain benefits from observations in other domains either directly using error covariance information known at the time of the analysis (SCDA), or indirectly through flux interactions at the model boundaries (WCDA). Because the non-atmospheric domains are generally under-observed compared to the atmosphere, CDA provides a significant advantage over single-domain analyses. Next, we provide a synopsis of goals, challenges, and recommendations to advance CDA: Goals: (a) Extend predictive skill beyond the current capability of NWP (e.g. as demonstrated by improving forecast skill scores), (b) produce physically consistent initial conditions for coupled numerical prediction systems and reanalyses (including consistent fluxes at the domain interfaces), (c) make best use of existing observations by allowing observations from each domain to influence and improve the full earth system analysis, (d) develop a robust
Flexible global ocean-atmosphere-land system model. A modeling tool for the climate change research community

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou, Tianjun; Yu, Yongqiang; Liu, Yimin; Wang, Bin

2014-01-01

First book available on systematic evaluations of the performance of the global climate model FGOALS. Covers the whole field, ranging from the development to the applications of this climate system model. Provide an outlook for the future development of the FGOALS model system. Offers brief introduction about how to run FGOALS. Coupled climate system models are of central importance for climate studies. A new model known as FGOALS (the Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System model), has been developed by the State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (LASG/IAP, CAS), a first-tier national geophysical laboratory. It serves as a powerful tool, both for deepening our understanding of fundamental mechanisms of the climate system and for making decadal prediction and scenario projections of future climate change. ''Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System Model: A Modeling Tool for the Climate Change Research Community'' is the first book to offer systematic evaluations of this model's performance. It is comprehensive in scope, covering both developmental and application-oriented aspects of this climate system model. It also provides an outlook of future development of FGOALS and offers an overview of how to employ the model. It represents a valuable reference work for researchers and professionals working within the related areas of climate variability and change.
Atmosphere-Ocean Variations in the Indo-Pacific Sector during ENSO Episodes.

Science.gov (United States)

Lau, Ngar-Cheung; Nath, Mary Jo

2003-01-01

The influences of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events on air-sea interaction in the Indian-western Pacific (IWP) Oceans have been investigated using a general circulation model. Observed monthly sea surface temperature (SST) variations in the deep tropical eastern/central Pacific (DTEP) have been inserted in the lower boundary of this model through the 1950-99 period. At all maritime grid points outside of DTEP, the model atmosphere has been coupled with an oceanic mixed layer model with variable depth. Altogether 16 independent model runs have been conducted.Composite analysis of selected ENSO episodes illustrates that the prescribed SST anomalies in DTEP affect the surface atmospheric circulation and precipitation patterns in IWP through displacements of the near-equatorial Walker circulation and generation of Rossby wave modes in the subtropics. Such atmospheric responses modulate the surface fluxes as well as the oceanic mixed layer depth, and thereby establish a well-defined SST anomaly pattern in the IWP sector several months after the peak in ENSO forcing in DTEP. In most parts of the IWP region, the net SST tendency induced by atmospheric changes has the same polarity as the local composite SST anomaly, thus indicating that the atmospheric forcing acts to reinforce the underlying SST signal.By analyzing the output from a suite of auxiliary experiments, it is demonstrated that the SST perturbations in IWP (which are primarily generated by ENSO-related atmospheric changes) can, in turn, exert notable influences on the atmospheric conditions over that region. This feedback mechanism also plays an important role in the eastward migration of the subtropical anticyclones over the western Pacific in both hemispheres.
Future projections of the surface heat and water budgets of the Mediterranean Sea in an ensemble of coupled atmosphere-ocean regional climate models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dubois, C.; Somot, S.; Deque, M.; Sevault, F. [CNRM-GAME, Meteo-France, CNRS, Toulouse (France); Calmanti, S.; Carillo, A.; Dell' Aquilla, A.; Sannino, G. [ENEA, Rome (Italy); Elizalde, A.; Jacob, D. [Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg (Germany); Gualdi, S.; Oddo, P.; Scoccimarro, E. [INGV, Bologna (Italy); L' Heveder, B.; Li, L. [Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique, Paris (France)

2012-10-15

Within the CIRCE project ''Climate change and Impact Research: the Mediterranean Environment'', an ensemble of high resolution coupled atmosphere-ocean regional climate models (AORCMs) are used to simulate the Mediterranean climate for the period 1950-2050. For the first time, realistic net surface air-sea fluxes are obtained. The sea surface temperature (SST) variability is consistent with the atmospheric forcing above it and oceanic constraints. The surface fluxes respond to external forcing under a warming climate and show an equivalent trend in all models. This study focuses on the present day and on the evolution of the heat and water budget over the Mediterranean Sea under the SRES-A1B scenario. On the contrary to previous studies, the net total heat budget is negative over the present period in all AORCMs and satisfies the heat closure budget controlled by a net positive heat gain at the strait of Gibraltar in the present climate. Under climate change scenario, some models predict a warming of the Mediterranean Sea from the ocean surface (positive net heat flux) in addition to the positive flux at the strait of Gibraltar for the 2021-2050 period. The shortwave and latent flux are increasing and the longwave and sensible fluxes are decreasing compared to the 1961-1990 period due to a reduction of the cloud cover and an increase in greenhouse gases (GHGs) and SSTs over the 2021-2050 period. The AORCMs provide a good estimates of the water budget with a drying of the region during the twenty-first century. For the ensemble mean, he decrease in precipitation and runoff is about 10 and 15% respectively and the increase in evaporation is much weaker, about 2% compared to the 1961-1990 period which confirm results obtained in recent studies. Despite a clear consistency in the trends and results between the models, this study also underlines important differences in the model set-ups, methodology and choices of some physical parameters inducing
Impact of a realistic river routing in coupled ocean-atmosphere simulations of the Last Glacial Maximum climate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alkama, Ramdane [IPSL, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l' Environnement, Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex (France); Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, Structure et fonctionnement des systemes hydriques continentaux (Sisyphe), Paris (France); Kageyama, M.; Ramstein, G.; Marti, O.; Swingedouw, D. [IPSL, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l' Environnement, Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex (France); Ribstein, P. [Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, Structure et fonctionnement des systemes hydriques continentaux (Sisyphe), Paris (France)

2008-06-15

The presence of large ice sheets over North America and North Europe at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) strongly impacted Northern hemisphere river pathways. Despite the fact that such changes may significantly alter the freshwater input to the ocean, modified surface hydrology has never been accounted for in coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model simulations of the LGM climate. To reconstruct the LGM river routing, we use the ICE-5G LGM topography. Because of the uncertainties in the extent of the Fennoscandian ice sheet in the Eastern part of the Kara Sea, we consider two more realistic river routing scenarios. The first scenario is characterised by the presence of an ice dammed lake south of the Fennoscandian ice sheet, and corresponds to the ICE-5G topography. This lake is fed by the Ob and Yenisei rivers. In the second scenario, both these rivers flow directly into the Arctic Ocean, which is more consistent with the latest QUEEN ice sheet margin reconstructions. We study the impact of these changes on the LGM climate as simulated by the IPSL{sub C}M4 model and focus on the overturning thermohaline circulation. A comparison with a classical LGM simulation performed using the same model and modern river basins as designed in the PMIP2 exercise leads to the following conclusions: (1) The discharge into the North Atlantic Ocean is increased by 2,000 m{sup 3}/s between 38 and 54 N in both simulations that contain LGM river routing, compared to the classical LGM experiment. (2) The ice dammed lake is shown to have a weak impact, relative to the classical simulation, both in terms of climate and ocean circulation. (3) In contrast, the North Atlantic deep convection and meridional overturning are weaker than during the classical LGM run if the Ob and Yenisei rivers flow directly into the Arctic Ocean. The total discharge into the Arctic Ocean is increased by 31,000 m{sup 3}/s, relative to the classical LGM simulation. Consequentially, northward ocean heat
Description and verification of a U.S. Naval Research Lab's loosely coupled data assimilation system for the Navy's Earth System Model

Science.gov (United States)

Barton, N. P.; Metzger, E. J.; Smedstad, O. M.; Ruston, B. C.; Wallcraft, A. J.; Whitcomb, T.; Ridout, J. A.; Zamudio, L.; Posey, P.; Reynolds, C. A.; Richman, J. G.; Phelps, M.

2017-12-01

The Naval Research Laboratory is developing an Earth System Model (NESM) to provide global environmental information to meet Navy and Department of Defense (DoD) operations and planning needs from the upper atmosphere to under the sea. This system consists of a global atmosphere, ocean, ice, wave, and land prediction models and the individual models include: atmosphere - NAVy Global Environmental Model (NAVGEM); ocean - HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM); sea ice - Community Ice CodE (CICE); WAVEWATCH III™; and land - NAVGEM Land Surface Model (LSM). Data assimilation is currently loosely coupled between the atmosphere component using a 6-hour update cycle in the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Atmospheric Variational Data Assimilation System - Accelerated Representer (NAVDAS-AR) and the ocean/ice components using a 24-hour update cycle in the Navy Coupled Ocean Data Assimilation (NCODA) with 3 hours of incremental updating. This presentation will describe the US Navy's coupled forecast model, the loosely coupled data assimilation, and compare results against stand-alone atmosphere and ocean/ice models. In particular, we will focus on the unique aspects of this modeling system, which includes an eddy resolving ocean model and challenges associated with different update-windows and solvers for the data assimilation in the atmosphere and ocean. Results will focus on typical operational diagnostics for atmosphere, ocean, and ice analyses including 500 hPa atmospheric height anomalies, low-level winds, temperature/salinity ocean depth profiles, ocean acoustical proxies, sea ice edge, and sea ice drift. Overall, the global coupled system is performing with comparable skill to the stand-alone systems.
Coupled interactions of organized deep convection over the tropical western pacific

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hong, X.; Raman, S. [North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States)

1996-04-01

The relationship between sea surface temperature (SST) and deep convection is complex. In general, deep convection occurs more frequently and with more intensity as SSTs become higher. This theory assumes that the atmospheric stability is sufficiently reduced to allow the onset of moist convection. However, the amount and intensity of convection observed tends to decrease with increasing SST because very warm SSTs. A reason for such decrease is the enhancements to surface fluxes of heat and moisture out of the ocean surface because of the vertical overturning associated with deep convection. Early studies used the radiative-convective models of the atmosphere to examine the role of the convective exchange of heat and moisture in maintaining the vertical temperature profile. In this paper we use a Coupled Ocean/Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS) to simulate a squall line over a tropical ocean global atmosphere/coupled ocean atmosphere response experiment (TOGA/COARE) area and to investigate how the ocean cooling mechanisms associated with organized deep convection act to limit tropical SSTs.

Response of ocean acidification to a gradual increase and decrease of atmospheric CO2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cao, Long; Zhang, Han; Zheng, Meidi; Wang, Shuangjing

2014-01-01

We perform coupled climate–carbon cycle model simulations to examine changes in ocean acidity in response to idealized change of atmospheric CO 2 . Atmospheric CO 2 increases at a rate of 1% per year to four times its pre-industrial level of 280 ppm and then decreases at the same rate to the pre-industrial level. Our simulations show that changes in surface ocean chemistry largely follow changes in atmospheric CO 2 . However, changes in deep ocean chemistry in general lag behind the change in atmospheric CO 2 because of the long time scale associated with the penetration of excess CO 2 into the deep ocean. In our simulations with the effect of climate change, when atmospheric CO 2 reaches four times its pre-industrial level, global mean aragonite saturation horizon (ASH) shoals from the pre-industrial value of 1288 to 143 m. When atmospheric CO 2 returns from the peak value of 1120 ppm to pre-industrial level, ASH is 630 m, which is approximately the value of ASH when atmospheric CO 2 first increases to 719 ppm. At pre-industrial CO 2 9% deep-sea cold-water corals are surrounded by seawater that is undersaturated with aragonite. When atmospheric CO 2 reaches 1120 ppm, 73% cold-water coral locations are surrounded by seawater with aragonite undersaturation, and when atmospheric CO 2 returns to the pre-industrial level, 18% cold-water coral locations are surrounded by seawater with aragonite undersaturation. Our analysis indicates the difficulty for some marine ecosystems to recover to their natural chemical habitats even if atmospheric CO 2 content can be lowered in the future. (paper)
The role of atmospheric diagnosis and Big Data science in improving hydroclimatic extreme prediction and the merits of climate informed prediction for future water resources management

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Mengqian; Lall, Upmanu

2017-04-01

The threats that hydroclimatic extremes pose to sustainable development, safety and operation of infrastructure are both severe and growing. Recent heavy precipitation triggered flood events in many regions and increasing frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation suggested by various climate projections highlight the importance of understanding the associated hydrometeorological patterns and space-time variability of such extreme events, and developing a new approach to improve predictability with a better estimation of uncertainty. This clear objective requires the optimal utility of Big Data analytics on multi-source datasets to extract informative predictors from the complex ocean-atmosphere coupled system and develop a statistical and physical based framework. The proposed presentation includes the essence of our selected works in the past two years, as part of our Global Floods Initiatives. Our approach for an improved extreme prediction begins with a better understanding of the associated atmospheric circulation patterns, under the influence and regulation of slowly changing oceanic boundary conditions [Lu et al., 2013, 2016a; Lu and Lall, 2016]. The study of the associated atmospheric circulation pattern and the regulation of teleconnected climate signals adopted data science techniques and statistical modeling recognizing the nonstationarity and nonlinearity of the system, as the underlying statistical assumptions of the classical extreme value frequency analysis are challenged in hydroclimatic studies. There are two main factors that are considered important for understanding how future flood risk will change. One is the consideration of moisture holding capacity as a function of temperature, as suggested by Clausius-Clapeyron equation. The other is the strength of the convergence or convection associated with extreme precipitation. As convergence or convection gets stronger, rain rates can be expected to increase if the moisture is available. For
Southern hemisphere climate variability as represented by an ocean-atmosphere coupled model

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Beraki, A

2012-09-01

Full Text Available in the atmospheric circulation. The ability of predicting these modes of climate variability on longer timescales is vital. Potential predictability is usually measured as a signal-to-noise contrast between the slowly evolving and chaotic components of the climate...
The role of Southern Ocean mixing and upwelling in glacial-interglacial atmospheric CO2 change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watson, Andrew J.; Naveira Garabato, Alberto C.

2006-01-01

Decreased ventilation of the Southern Ocean in glacial time is implicated in most explanations of lower glacial atmospheric CO 2 . Today, the deep (>2000 m) ocean south of the Polar Front is rapidly ventilated from below, with the interaction of deep currents with topography driving high mixing rates well up into the water column. We show from a buoyancy budget that mixing rates are high in all the deep waters of the Southern Ocean. Between the surface and 2000 m depth, water is upwelled by a residual meridional overturning that is directly linked to buoyancy fluxes through the ocean surface. Combined with the rapid deep mixing, this upwelling serves to return deep water to the surface on a short time scale. We propose two new mechanisms by which, in glacial time, the deep Southern Ocean may have been more isolated from the surface. Firstly, the deep ocean appears to have been more stratified because of denser bottom water resulting from intense sea ice formation near Antarctica. The greater stratification would have slowed the deep mixing. Secondly, subzero atmospheric temperatures may have meant that the present-day buoyancy flux from the atmosphere to the ocean surface was reduced or reversed. This in turn would have reduced or eliminated the upwelling (contrary to a common assumption, upwelling is not solely a function of the wind stress but is coupled to the air/sea buoyancy flux too). The observed very close link between Antarctic temperatures and atmospheric CO 2 could then be explained as a natural consequence of the connection between the air/sea buoyancy flux and upwelling in the Southern Ocean, if slower ventilation of the Southern Ocean led to lower atmospheric CO 2 . Here we use a box model, similar to those of previous authors, to show that weaker mixing and reduced upwelling in the Southern Ocean can explain the low glacial atmospheric CO 2 in such a formulation
77 FR 33443 - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-06

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Pacific Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. ACTION: Notice of public meeting. SUMMARY: The panel to review assessment...
The Regional Earth System Model (RegESM) using RegCM4 coupled with the MITgcm ocean model: First assessments over the MED-CORDEX domain

Science.gov (United States)

Mariotti, Laura; Utku Turunçoǧlu, Ufuk; Farneti, Riccardo; Sannino, Gianmaria; Vittoria Struglia, Maria; Carillo, Adriana; Giorgi, Filippo

2016-04-01

In the framework of global climate studies, there is an increasingly growing concern about the vulnerability of the Mediterranean region, where high population density and intense exploitation activities pose severe questions on the sustainability of terrestrial water management, both for the present and the future. Ocean modeling studies suggest that the Mediterranean thermohaline circulation could be weakened in conditions of global greenhouse warming, an event which would undoubtedly affect regional climate, possibly triggering global feedback processes. Experiments with the atmosphere-ocean coupled system confirmed that a good comprehension of Mediterranean processes requires the explicit inclusion of the feedbacks between the atmospheric and the oceanic components, thus achieving a complete, fully coupled description of the Mediterranean hydrological cycle, at the same time gaining new insights in our current ability to reproduce the atmospheric hydrological processes and to close the hydrological balance. These issues are addressed by the upgraded PROTHEUS system which was jointly developed by ENEA and ICTP. Here we present a first evaluation of the performances of the new PROTHEUS system (called PROTHEUS 2.0) composed by the regional climate model RegCM4 (Giorgi et al. 2012) coupled with both the ocean model MITgcm (Marshall J. et al. 1997a,b) and the HD river model (Max-Planck's HD model; Hagemann and Dümenil, 1998) using RegESM (Regional Earth System Model) as a driver. The three-component (atmosphere, ocean and river routing) fully coupled model exchanges sea surface temperature (SST) from the ocean to the atmospheric model, surface wind stress, energy and freshwater fluxes from the atmosphere to the ocean model, surface and sub-surface runoff from the atmospheric component to the river routing model (Max-Planck's HD model; Hagemann and Dümenil, 1998). In order to have water conservation within the system, the river routing component sends the
Improving Wind Predictions in the Marine Atmospheric Boundary Layer through Parameter Estimation in a Single-Column Model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Jared A.; Hacker, Joshua P.; Delle Monache, Luca; Kosović, Branko; Clifton, Andrew; Vandenberghe, Francois; Rodrigo, Javier Sanz

2016-12-14

A current barrier to greater deployment of offshore wind turbines is the poor quality of numerical weather prediction model wind and turbulence forecasts over open ocean. The bulk of development for atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) parameterization schemes has focused on land, partly due to a scarcity of observations over ocean. The 100-m FINO1 tower in the North Sea is one of the few sources worldwide of atmospheric profile observations from the sea surface to turbine hub height. These observations are crucial to developing a better understanding and modeling of physical processes in the marine ABL. In this study, we use the WRF single column model (SCM), coupled with an ensemble Kalman filter from the Data Assimilation Research Testbed (DART), to create 100-member ensembles at the FINO1 location. The goal of this study is to determine the extent to which model parameter estimation can improve offshore wind forecasts.
Collaborative Project. Understanding the effects of tides and eddies on the ocean dynamics, sea ice cover and decadal/centennial climate prediction using the Regional Arctic Climate Model (RACM)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hutchings, Jennifer [Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK (United States); Joseph, Renu [Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK (United States)

2013-09-14

The goal of this project is to develop an eddy resolving ocean model (POP) with tides coupled to a sea ice model (CICE) within the Regional Arctic System Model (RASM) to investigate the importance of ocean tides and mesoscale eddies in arctic climate simulations and quantify biases associated with these processes and how their relative contribution may improve decadal to centennial arctic climate predictions. Ocean, sea ice and coupled arctic climate response to these small scale processes will be evaluated with regard to their influence on mass, momentum and property exchange between oceans, shelf-basin, ice-ocean, and ocean-atmosphere. The project will facilitate the future routine inclusion of polar tides and eddies in Earth System Models when computing power allows. As such, the proposed research addresses the science in support of the BER’s Climate and Environmental Sciences Division Long Term Measure as it will improve the ocean and sea ice model components as well as the fully coupled RASM and Community Earth System Model (CESM) and it will make them more accurate and computationally efficient.
Atmospheric and oceanic impacts of Antarctic glaciation across the Eocene-Oligocene transition.

Science.gov (United States)

Kennedy, A T; Farnsworth, A; Lunt, D J; Lear, C H; Markwick, P J

2015-11-13

The glaciation of Antarctica at the Eocene-Oligocene transition (approx. 34 million years ago) was a major shift in the Earth's climate system, but the mechanisms that caused the glaciation, and its effects, remain highly debated. A number of recent studies have used coupled atmosphere-ocean climate models to assess the climatic effects of Antarctic glacial inception, with often contrasting results. Here, using the HadCM3L model, we show that the global atmosphere and ocean response to growth of the Antarctic ice sheet is sensitive to subtle variations in palaeogeography, using two reconstructions representing Eocene and Oligocene geological stages. The earlier stage (Eocene; Priabonian), which has a relatively constricted Tasman Seaway, shows a major increase in sea surface temperature over the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean in response to the ice sheet. This response does not occur for the later stage (Oligocene; Rupelian), which has a more open Tasman Seaway. This difference in temperature response is attributed to reorganization of ocean currents between the stages. Following ice sheet expansion in the earlier stage, the large Ross Sea gyre circulation decreases in size. Stronger zonal flow through the Tasman Seaway allows salinities to increase in the Ross Sea, deep-water formation initiates and multiple feedbacks then occur amplifying the temperature response. This is potentially a model-dependent result, but it highlights the sensitive nature of model simulations to subtle variations in palaeogeography, and highlights the need for coupled ice sheet-climate simulations to properly represent and investigate feedback processes acting on these time scales. © 2015 The Author(s).
Impact on the earth, ocean and atmosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Ahrens, Thomas J.; O'Keefe, John D.

1987-01-01

On the basis of finite-difference techniques, cratering flow calculations are used to obtain the spatial attenuation of shock pressure with radius along the impact axis for the impact of silicate rock and iron impactors on a silicate half-space at speeds of 5 to 45 km/sec. Upon impact of a 10 to 30 km diameter silicate or water object onto a 5 km deep ocean overlying a silicate half-space planet at 30 km/sec, it is found that from 12 to 15 percent of the incident energy is coupled into the water. The mass of atmosphere lost due to impacts of 1 to 5 km radius projectiles is calculated.
Flexible global ocean-atmosphere-land system model. A modeling tool for the climate change research community

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhou, Tianjun; Yu, Yongqiang; Liu, Yimin; Wang, Bin (eds.) [Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, (China). Inst. of Atmospheric Physics

2014-04-01

First book available on systematic evaluations of the performance of the global climate model FGOALS. Covers the whole field, ranging from the development to the applications of this climate system model. Provide an outlook for the future development of the FGOALS model system. Offers brief introduction about how to run FGOALS. Coupled climate system models are of central importance for climate studies. A new model known as FGOALS (the Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System model), has been developed by the State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (LASG/IAP, CAS), a first-tier national geophysical laboratory. It serves as a powerful tool, both for deepening our understanding of fundamental mechanisms of the climate system and for making decadal prediction and scenario projections of future climate change. ''Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System Model: A Modeling Tool for the Climate Change Research Community'' is the first book to offer systematic evaluations of this model's performance. It is comprehensive in scope, covering both developmental and application-oriented aspects of this climate system model. It also provides an outlook of future development of FGOALS and offers an overview of how to employ the model. It represents a valuable reference work for researchers and professionals working within the related areas of climate variability and change.
UK Environmental Prediction - integration and evaluation at the convective scale

Science.gov (United States)

Fallmann, Joachim; Lewis, Huw; Castillo, Juan Manuel; Pearson, David; Harris, Chris; Saulter, Andy; Bricheno, Lucy; Blyth, Eleanor

2016-04-01

Traditionally, the simulation of regional ocean, wave and atmosphere components of the Earth System have been considered separately, with some information on other components provided by means of boundary or forcing conditions. More recently, the potential value of a more integrated approach, as required for global climate and Earth System prediction, for regional short-term applications has begun to gain increasing research effort. In the UK, this activity is motivated by an understanding that accurate prediction and warning of the impacts of severe weather requires an integrated approach to forecasting. The substantial impacts on individuals, businesses and infrastructure of such events indicate a pressing need to understand better the value that might be delivered through more integrated environmental prediction. To address this need, the Met Office, NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and NERC National Oceanography Centre have begun to develop the foundations of a coupled high resolution probabilistic forecast system for the UK at km-scale. This links together existing model components of the atmosphere, coastal ocean, land surface and hydrology. Our initial focus has been on a 2-year Prototype project to demonstrate the UK coupled prediction concept in research mode. This presentation will provide an update on UK environmental prediction activities. We will present the results from the initial implementation of an atmosphere-land-ocean coupled system, including a new eddy-permitting resolution ocean component, and discuss progress and initial results from further development to integrate wave interactions in this relatively high resolution system. We will discuss future directions and opportunities for collaboration in environmental prediction, and the challenges to realise the potential of integrated regional coupled forecasting for improving predictions and applications.
Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions Modulate Irrigation's Climate Impacts

Science.gov (United States)

Krakauer, Nir Y.; Puma, Michael J.; Cook, Benjamin I.; Gentine, Pierre; Nazarenko, Larissa

2016-01-01

Numerous studies have focused on the local and regional climate effects of irrigated agriculture and other land cover and land use change (LCLUC) phenomena, but there are few studies on the role of ocean- atmosphere interaction in modulating irrigation climate impacts. Here, we compare simulations with and without interactive sea surface temperatures of the equilibrium effect on climate of contemporary (year 2000) irrigation geographic extent and intensity. We find that ocean-atmosphere interaction does impact the magnitude of global-mean and spatially varying climate impacts, greatly increasing their global reach. Local climate effects in the irrigated regions remain broadly similar, while non-local effects, particularly over the oceans, tend to be larger. The interaction amplifies irrigation-driven standing wave patterns in the tropics and mid-latitudes in our simulations, approximately doubling the global-mean amplitude of surface temperature changes due to irrigation. The fractions of global area experiencing significant annual-mean surface air temperature and precipitation change also approximately double with ocean-atmosphere interaction. Subject to confirmation with other models, these findings imply that LCLUC is an important contributor to climate change even in remote areas such as the Southern Ocean, and that attribution studies should include interactive oceans and need to consider LCLUC, including irrigation, as a truly global forcing that affects climate and the water cycle over ocean as well as land areas.
The stability of the thermohaline circulation in a coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schiller, A. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Meteorologie, Hamburg (Germany); Mikolajewicz, U. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Meteorologie, Hamburg (Germany); Voss, R. [Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum (DKRZ), Hamburg (Germany)

1996-02-01

The stability of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation against meltwater input is investigated in a coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model. The meltwater input to the Labrador Sea is increased linearly for 250 years to a maximum input of 0.625 Sv and then reduced again to 0 (both instantaneously and slowly decreasing over 250 years). The resulting freshening forces a shutdown of the formation of North Atlantic deepwater and a subsequent reversal of the thermohaline circulation of the Atlantic, filling the deep Atlantic with Antarctic bottom water. The change in the overturning pattern causes a drastic reduction of the Atlantic northward heat transport, resulting in a strong cooling with maximum amplitude over the northern North Atlantic and a southward shift of the sea-ice margin in the Atlantic. Due to the increased meridional temperature gradient, the Atlantic intertropical convergence zone is displaced southward and the westerlies in the northern hemisphere gain strength. We identify four main feedbacks affecting the stability of the thermohaline circulation: the change in the overturning circulation of the Atlantic leads to longer residence times of the surface waters in high northern latitudes, which allows them to accumulate more precipitation and runoff from the continents, which results in an increased stability in the North Atlantic.
Variability, interaction and change in the atmosphere-ocean-ecology system of the Western Indian Ocean.

Science.gov (United States)

Spencer, T; Laughton, A S; Flemming, N C

2005-01-15

Traditional ideas of intraseasonal and interannual climatic variability in the Western Indian Ocean, dominated by the mean cycle of seasonally reversing monsoon winds, are being replaced by a more complex picture, comprising air-sea interactions and feedbacks; atmosphere-ocean dynamics operating over intrannual to interdecadal time-scales; and climatological and oceanographic boundary condition changes at centennial to millennial time-scales. These forcings, which are mediated by the orography of East Africa and the Asian continent and by seafloor topography (most notably in this area by the banks and shoals of the Mascarene Plateau which interrupts the westward-flowing South Equatorial Current), determine fluxes of water, nutrients and biogeochemical constituents, the essential controls on ocean and shallow-sea productivity and ecosystem health. Better prediction of climatic variability for rain-fed agriculture, and the development of sustainable marine resource use, is of critical importance to the developing countries of this region but requires further basic information gathering and coordinated ocean observation systems.
Pleistocene atmospheric CO2 change linked to Southern Ocean nutrient utilization

Science.gov (United States)

Ziegler, M.; Diz, P.; Hall, I. R.; Zahn, R.

2011-12-01

Biological uptake of CO2 by the ocean and its subsequent storage in the abyss is intimately linked with the global carbon cycle and constitutes a significant climatic force1. The Southern Ocean is a particularly important region because its wind-driven upwelling regime brings CO2 laden abyssal waters to the surface that exchange CO2 with the atmosphere. The Subantarctic Zone (SAZ) is a CO2 sink and also drives global primary productivity as unutilized nutrients, advected with surface waters from the south, are exported via Subantarctic Mode Water (SAMW) as preformed nutrients to the low latitudes where they fuel the biological pump in upwelling areas. Recent model estimates suggest that up to 40 ppm of the total 100 ppm atmospheric pCO2 reduction during the last ice age were driven by increased nutrient utilization in the SAZ and associated feedbacks on the deep ocean alkalinity. Micro-nutrient fertilization by iron (Fe), contained in the airborne dust flux to the SAZ, is considered to be the prime factor that stimulated this elevated photosynthetic activity thus enhancing nutrient utilization. We present a millennial-scale record of the vertical stable carbon isotope gradient between subsurface and deep water (Δδ13C) in the SAZ spanning the past 350,000 years. The Δδ13C gradient, derived from planktonic and benthic foraminifera, reflects the efficiency of biological pump and is highly correlated (rxy = -0.67 with 95% confidence interval [0.63; 0.71], n=874) with the record of dust flux preserved in Antarctic ice cores6. This strongly suggests that nutrient utilization in the SAZ was dynamically coupled to dust-induced Fe fertilization across both glacial-interglacial and faster millennial timescales. In concert with ventilation changes of the deep Southern Ocean this drove ocean-atmosphere CO2 exchange and, ultimately, atmospheric pCO2 variability during the late Pleistocene.
The Role of Ocean and Atmospheric Heat Transport in the Arctic Amplification

Science.gov (United States)

Vargas Martes, R. M.; Kwon, Y. O.; Furey, H. H.

2017-12-01

Observational data and climate model projections have suggested that the Arctic region is warming around twice faster than the rest of the globe, which has been referred as the Arctic Amplification (AA). While the local feedbacks, e.g. sea ice-albedo feedback, are often suggested as the primary driver of AA by previous studies, the role of meridional heat transport by ocean and atmosphere is less clear. This study uses the Community Earth System Model version 1 Large Ensemble simulation (CESM1-LE) to seek deeper understanding of the role meridional oceanic and atmospheric heat transports play in AA. The simulation consists of 40 ensemble members with the same physics and external forcing using a single fully coupled climate model. Each ensemble member spans two time periods; the historical period from 1920 to 2005 using the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) historical forcing and the future period from 2006 to 2100 using the CMIP5 Representative Concentration Pathways 8.5 (RCP8.5) scenario. Each of the ensemble members are initialized with slightly different air temperatures. As the CESM1-LE uses a single model unlike the CMIP5 multi-model ensemble, the internal variability and the externally forced components can be separated more clearly. The projections are calculated by comparing the period 2081-2100 relative to the time period 2001-2020. The CESM1-LE projects an AA of 2.5-2.8 times faster than the global average, which is within the range of those from the CMIP5 multi-model ensemble. However, the spread of AA from the CESM1-LE, which is attributed to the internal variability, is 2-3 times smaller than that of the CMIP5 ensemble, which may also include the inter-model differences. CESM1LE projects a decrease in the atmospheric heat transport into the Arctic and an increase in the oceanic heat transport. The atmospheric heat transport is further decomposed into moisture transport and dry static energy transport. Also, the oceanic heat
Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC) Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System (NOGAPS)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System (NOGAPS) provides numerical guidance and products in support of a wide range of Navy oceanographic and...
Evidence for the role of the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation and the ocean heat uptake in hiatus prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Pasini, Antonello; Triacca, Umberto; Attanasio, Alessandro

2017-08-01

The recent hiatus in global temperature at the surface has been analysed by several studies, mainly using global climate models. The common accepted picture is that since the late 1990s, the increase in anthropogenic radiative forcings has been counterbalanced by other factors, e.g., a decrease in natural forcings, augmented ocean heat storage and negative phases of ocean-atmosphere-coupled oscillation patterns. Here, simple vector autoregressive models are used for forecasting the temperature hiatus in the period 2001-2014. This gives new insight into the problem of understanding the ocean contribution (in terms of heat uptake and atmosphere-ocean-coupled oscillations) to the appearance of this recent hiatus. In particular, considering data about the ocean heat content until a depth of 700 m and the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation is necessary for correctly forecasting the hiatus, so catching both trend and interannual variability. Our models also show that the ocean heat uptake is substantially driven by the natural component of the total radiative forcing at a decadal time scale, confining the importance of the anthropogenic influences to a longer range warming of the ocean.
Impact of resolving the diurnal cycle in an ocean-atmosphere GCM. Pt. 1: a diurnally forced OGCM

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bernie, D.J. [University of Reading, National Centre for Atmospheric Science - Climate, Department of Meteorology, Reading (United Kingdom); Laboratoire d' Oceanographie et du Climat, Experimentation et Approches Numeriques, IPSL, Paris (France); Met Office Hadley Centre, Exeter, EX1 3PB (United Kingdom); Guilyardi, E. [University of Reading, National Centre for Atmospheric Science - Climate, Department of Meteorology, Reading (United Kingdom); Laboratoire d' Oceanographie et du Climat, Experimentation et Approches Numeriques, IPSL, Paris (France); Madec, G. [Laboratoire d' Oceanographie et du Climat, Experimentation et Approches Numeriques, IPSL, Paris (France); Slingo, J.M.; Woolnough, S.J. [University of Reading, National Centre for Atmospheric Science - Climate, Department of Meteorology, Reading (United Kingdom)

2007-11-15

The diurnal cycle is a fundamental time scale in the climate system, at which the upper ocean and atmosphere are routinely observed to vary. Current climate models, however, are not configured to resolve the diurnal cycle in the upper ocean or the interaction of the ocean and atmosphere on these time scales. This study examines the diurnal cycle of the tropical upper ocean and its climate impacts. In the present paper, the first of two, a high vertical resolution ocean general circulation model (OGCM), with modified physics, is developed which is able to resolve the diurnal cycle of sea surface temperature (SST) and current variability in the upper ocean. It is then validated against a satellite derived parameterization of diurnal SST variability and in-situ current observations. The model is then used to assess rectification of the intraseasonal SST response to the Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO) by the diurnal cycle of SST. Across the equatorial Indo-Pacific it is found that the diurnal cycle increases the intraseasonal SST response to the MJO by around 20%. In the Pacific, the diurnal cycle also modifies the exchange of momentum between equatorially divergent Ekman currents and the meridionally convergent geostrophic currents beneath, resulting in a 10% increase in the strength of the Ekman cells and equatorial upwelling. How the thermodynamic and dynamical impacts of the diurnal cycle effect the mean state, and variability, of the climate system cannot be fully investigated in the constrained design of ocean-only experiments presented here. The second part of this study, published separately, addresses the climate impacts of the diurnal cycle in the coupled system by coupling the OGCM developed here to an atmosphere general circulation model. (orig.)

Underway pressure, temperature, and salinity data from the MOANA WAVE from the Pacific warm pool in support of the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment (COARE) from 02 February 1993 to 21 February 1993 (NODC Accession 9600090)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Pressure, temperature, and salinity data were collected while underway from the MOANA WAVE from the Pacific warm pool. Data were collected in support of the Coupled...
Impact of air-sea drag coefficient for latent heat flux on large scale climate in coupled and atmosphere stand-alone simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Torres, Olivier; Braconnot, Pascale; Marti, Olivier; Gential, Luc

2018-05-01

The turbulent fluxes across the ocean/atmosphere interface represent one of the principal driving forces of the global atmospheric and oceanic circulation. Despite decades of effort and improvements, representation of these fluxes still presents a challenge due to the small-scale acting turbulent processes compared to the resolved scales of the models. Beyond this subgrid parameterization issue, a comprehensive understanding of the impact of air-sea interactions on the climate system is still lacking. In this paper we investigates the large-scale impacts of the transfer coefficient used to compute turbulent heat fluxes with the IPSL-CM4 climate model in which the surface bulk formula is modified. Analyzing both atmosphere and coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model (AGCM, OAGCM) simulations allows us to study the direct effect and the mechanisms of adjustment to this modification. We focus on the representation of latent heat flux in the tropics. We show that the heat transfer coefficients are highly similar for a given parameterization between AGCM and OAGCM simulations. Although the same areas are impacted in both kind of simulations, the differences in surface heat fluxes are substantial. A regional modification of heat transfer coefficient has more impact than uniform modification in AGCM simulations while in OAGCM simulations, the opposite is observed. By studying the global energetics and the atmospheric circulation response to the modification, we highlight the role of the ocean in dampening a large part of the disturbance. Modification of the heat exchange coefficient modifies the way the coupled system works due to the link between atmospheric circulation and SST, and the different feedbacks between ocean and atmosphere. The adjustment that takes place implies a balance of net incoming solar radiation that is the same in all simulations. As there is no change in model physics other than drag coefficient, we obtain similar latent heat flux
One kind of atmosphere-ocean three layer model for calculating the velocity of ocean current

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jing, Z; Xi, P

1979-10-01

A three-layer atmosphere-ocean model is given in this paper to calcuate the velocity of ocean current, particularly the function of the vertical coordinate, taking into consideratiln (1) the atmospheric effect on the generation of ocean current, (2) a calculated coefficient of the eddy viscosity instead of an assumed one, and (3) the sea which actually varies in depth.
Dynamical seasonal climate prediction using an ocean-atmosphere coupled climate model developed in partnership between South Africa and the IRI

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Beraki, AF

2014-02-01

Full Text Available dedicated a large amount of resources to utilize Atmospheric General Circulation Models 66 (AGCMs) as operational seasonal forecast tools (Landman et al. 2012). These models 67 have all been developed outside of South Africa, but have been used extensively... Niña seasons (Landman et al. 2012; Landman and Beraki 2012). As noted above, coupled 99 models are largely assumed or hypothesized to represent the state of the art of seasonal 100 forecasting. In fact, it has been conclusively shown through...
Impact of Soil Moisture Assimilation on Land Surface Model Spin-Up and Coupled LandAtmosphere Prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Santanello, Joseph A., Jr.; Kumar, Sujay V.; Peters-Lidard, Christa D.; Lawston, P.

2016-01-01

Advances in satellite monitoring of the terrestrial water cycle have led to a concerted effort to assimilate soil moisture observations from various platforms into offline land surface models (LSMs). One principal but still open question is that of the ability of land data assimilation (LDA) to improve LSM initial conditions for coupled short-term weather prediction. In this study, the impact of assimilating Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E) soil moisture retrievals on coupled WRF Model forecasts is examined during the summers of dry (2006) and wet (2007) surface conditions in the southern Great Plains. LDA is carried out using NASAs Land Information System (LIS) and the Noah LSM through an ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) approach. The impacts of LDA on the 1) soil moisture and soil temperature initial conditions for WRF, 2) land-atmosphere coupling characteristics, and 3) ambient weather of the coupled LIS-WRF simulations are then assessed. Results show that impacts of soil moisture LDA during the spin-up can significantly modify LSM states and fluxes, depending on regime and season. Results also indicate that the use of seasonal cumulative distribution functions (CDFs) is more advantageous compared to the traditional annual CDF bias correction strategies. LDA performs consistently regardless of atmospheric forcing applied, with greater improvements seen when using coarser, global forcing products. Downstream impacts on coupled simulations vary according to the strength of the LDA impact at the initialization, where significant modifications to the soil moisture flux- PBL-ambient weather process chain are observed. Overall, this study demonstrates potential for future, higher-resolution soil moisture assimilation applications in weather and climate research.
Modern and ancient geochemical constraints on Proterozoic atmosphere-ocean redox evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Hardisty, D. S.; Horner, T. J.; Wankel, S. D.; Lu, Z.; Lyons, T.; Nielsen, S.

2017-12-01

A detailed understanding of the spatiotemporal oxygenation of Earth's atmosphere-ocean system through the Precambrian has important implications for the environments capable of sustaining early eukaryotic life and the evolving oxidant budget of subducted sediments. Proxy records suggest an anoxic Fe-rich deep ocean through much of the Precambrian and atmospheric and surface-ocean oxygenation that started in earnest at the Paleoproterozoic Great Oxidation Event (GOE). The marine photic zone represented the initial site of oxygen production and accumulation via cyanobacteria, yet our understanding of surface-ocean oxygen contents and the extent and timing of oxygen propagation and exchange between the atmosphere and deeper ocean are limited. Here, we present an updated perspective of the constraints on atmospheric, surface-ocean, and deep-ocean oxygen contents starting at the GOE. Our research uses the iodine content of Proterozoic carbonates as a tracer of dissolved iodate in the shallow ocean, a redox-sensitive species quantitatively reduced in modern oxygen minimum zones. We supplement our understanding of the ancient record with novel experiments examining the rates of iodate production from oxygenated marine environments based on seawater incubations. Combining new data from iodine with published shallow marine (Ce anomaly, N isotopes) and atmospheric redox proxies, we provide an integrated view of the vertical redox structure of the atmosphere and ocean across the Proterozoic.
Classroom Demonstrations Of Atmosphere-ocean Dynamics: Baroclinic Instability

Science.gov (United States)

Aurnou, Jonathan; Nadiga, B. T.

2008-09-01

Here we will present simple hands-on experimental demonstrations that show how baroclinic instabilities develop in rotating fluid dynamical systems. Such instabilities are found in the Earth's oceans and atmosphere as well as in the atmospheres and oceans of planetary bodies throughout the solar system and beyond. Our inexpensive experimental apparatus consists of a vinyl-record player, a wide shallow pan, and a weighted, dyed block of ice. Most directly, these demonstrations can be used to explain winter-time atmospheric weather patterns observed in Earth's mid-latitudes.
North Pacific Mesoscale Coupled Air-Ocean Simulations Compared with Observations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cerovecki, Ivana [Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States). Scripps Inst. of Oceanography; McClean, Julie [Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States). Scripps Inst. of Oceanography; Koracin, Darko [Desert Research Inst. (DRI), Reno, NV (United States). Division of Atmospheric Sciences

2014-11-14

The overall objective of this study was to improve the representation of regional ocean circulation in the North Pacific by using high resolution atmospheric forcing that accurately represents mesoscale processes in ocean-atmosphere regional (North Pacific) model configuration. The goal was to assess the importance of accurate representation of mesoscale processes in the atmosphere and the ocean on large scale circulation. This is an important question, as mesoscale processes in the atmosphere which are resolved by the high resolution mesoscale atmospheric models such as Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF), are absent in commonly used atmospheric forcing such as CORE forcing, employed in e.g. the Community Climate System Model (CCSM).
OSOAA: A Vector Radiative Transfer Model of Coupled Atmosphere-Ocean System for a Rough Sea Surface Application to the Estimates of the Directional Variations of the Water Leaving Reflectance to Better Process Multi-angular Satellite Sensors Data Over the Ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Chami, Malik; LaFrance, Bruno; Fougnie, Bertrand; Chowdhary, Jacek; Harmel, Tristan; Waquet, Fabien

2015-01-01

In this study, we present a radiative transfer model, so-called OSOAA, that is able to predict the radiance and degree of polarization within the coupled atmosphere-ocean system in the presence of a rough sea surface. The OSOAA model solves the radiative transfer equation using the successive orders of scattering method. Comparisons with another operational radiative transfer model showed a satisfactory agreement within 0.8%. The OSOAA model has been designed with a graphical user interface to make it user friendly for the community. The radiance and degree of polarization are provided at any level, from the top of atmosphere to the ocean bottom. An application of the OSOAA model is carried out to quantify the directional variations of the water leaving reflectance and degree of polarization for phytoplankton and mineral-like dominated waters. The difference between the water leaving reflectance at a given geometry and that obtained for the nadir direction could reach 40%, thus questioning the Lambertian assumption of the sea surface that is used by inverse satellite algorithms dedicated to multi-angular sensors. It is shown as well that the directional features of the water leaving reflectance are weakly dependent on wind speed. The quantification of the directional variations of the water leaving reflectance obtained in this study should help to correctly exploit the satellite data that will be acquired by the current or forthcoming multi-angular satellite sensors.
Fast Atmosphere-Ocean Model Runs with Large Changes in CO2

Science.gov (United States)

Russell, Gary L.; Lacis, Andrew A.; Rind, David H.; Colose, Christopher; Opstbaum, Roger F.

2013-01-01

How does climate sensitivity vary with the magnitude of climate forcing? This question was investigated with the use of a modified coupled atmosphere-ocean model, whose stability was improved so that the model would accommodate large radiative forcings yet be fast enough to reach rapid equilibrium. Experiments were performed in which atmospheric CO2 was multiplied by powers of 2, from 1/64 to 256 times the 1950 value. From 8 to 32 times, the 1950 CO2, climate sensitivity for doubling CO2 reaches 8 C due to increases in water vapor absorption and cloud top height and to reductions in low level cloud cover. As CO2 amount increases further, sensitivity drops as cloud cover and planetary albedo stabilize. No water vapor-induced runaway greenhouse caused by increased CO2 was found for the range of CO2 examined. With CO2 at or below 1/8 of the 1950 value, runaway sea ice does occur as the planet cascades to a snowball Earth climate with fully ice covered oceans and global mean surface temperatures near 30 C.
Isolating the atmospheric circulation response to Arctic sea-ice loss in the coupled climate system

Science.gov (United States)

Kushner, Paul; Blackport, Russell

2017-04-01

In the coupled climate system, projected global warming drives extensive sea-ice loss, but sea-ice loss drives warming that amplifies and can be confounded with the global warming process. This makes it challenging to cleanly attribute the atmospheric circulation response to sea-ice loss within coupled earth-system model (ESM) simulations of greenhouse warming. In this study, many centuries of output from coupled ocean/atmosphere/land/sea-ice ESM simulations driven separately by sea-ice albedo reduction and by projected greenhouse-dominated radiative forcing are combined to cleanly isolate the hemispheric scale response of the circulation to sea-ice loss. To isolate the sea-ice loss signal, a pattern scaling approach is proposed in which the local multidecadal mean atmospheric response is assumed to be separately proportional to the total sea-ice loss and to the total low latitude ocean surface warming. The proposed approach estimates the response to Arctic sea-ice loss with low latitude ocean temperatures fixed and vice versa. The sea-ice response includes a high northern latitude easterly zonal wind response, an equatorward shift of the eddy driven jet, a weakening of the stratospheric polar vortex, an anticyclonic sea level pressure anomaly over coastal Eurasia, a cyclonic sea level pressure anomaly over the North Pacific, and increased wintertime precipitation over the west coast of North America. Many of these responses are opposed by the response to low-latitude surface warming with sea ice fixed. However, both sea-ice loss and low latitude surface warming act in concert to reduce storm track strength throughout the mid and high latitudes. The responses are similar in two related versions of the National Center for Atmospheric Research earth system models, apart from the stratospheric polar vortex response. Evidence is presented that internal variability can easily contaminate the estimates if not enough independent climate states are used to construct them
Analysis of the Effects of SST and Model Resolutions on the Identification of the 1993 Superstorm Using an Ocean-Atmosphere Coupled Regional System

Science.gov (United States)

Aktas, D.; Velissariou, P.; Chassignet, E.; Bourassa, M. A.

2014-12-01

The non-tropical storm, the 12-14 March 1993 Superstorm, which called the Storm of the Century had a wide reaching effect on the Northern Gulf of Mexico region and the East Coast of the United States. Previous studies show that the initial development of the storm could not be simulated accurately enough to represent the intensity and the evolution of the storm over the Gulf of Mexico region. The aim of this study is to identify the effects of the air-sea fluxes, the sea surface temperature (SST) and the model resolution on determining the intensity and the track of the storm more accurately. To this end, the outputs from two-way coupled model runs were examined to analyze the storm characteristics. Model configurations have been set within a coupled system framework that includes the atmospheric model Weather Research & Forecasting Model (WRF) and the ocean model Regional Ocean Model (ROMS). Three WRF domains assigned 15 km, 5 km and ~1.6 km resolutions, respectively and an 8 km resolution ROMS domain were used in the coupled system. The initial and boundary conditions for WRF were extracted from the NCEP Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR) products and the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) generated SSTs while, the conditions for ROMS were extracted from HYCOM. Comparisons were performed against NOAA buoys and GridSAT brightness temperatures. Minimum mean sea level pressure (MSLP), maximum wind speed and storm locations were examined. Time series for MSLP and wind speed were used to illustrate how air-sea interaction and resolution changes storm intensity along the track. The results showing the RMS differences on the storm location and intensity of the storm are also presented.
Revised predictions of long-period ocean tidal effects on Earth's rotation rate

Science.gov (United States)

Dickman, S. R.; Nam, Young S.

1995-01-01

The rotational response of Earth to long-period tidal forces, embodied in a 'zonal response function,' can be expected to vary with frequency because of variable contributions by the oceans, mantle, and core. The zonal response function has been estimated from 9 years of International Radio Interferometric Surveying (IRIS) universal time (UT1) data and compared with theoretical predictions, using a spherical harmonic tide model to compute the oceans' dynamic response, at semiannual, monthly, fortnightly, and 9-day lunisolar tidal frequencies. Different amounts of mantle anelasticity have been considered for both the oceanic and soild earth responses; predictions have been made assuming axial core-mantle coupling which is either complete or absent. Additionally, an extensive recalibration of the ocean model's frictional parameters was performed using constraints derived in part from Space92 polar motion data; zonal response function predictions have also been made employing this recalibrated ocean tide model. Our results indicate that any amount of core coupling can be ruled out at a fortnightly period and probably at a 9-day period, but not at a monthly period. Our results also suggest that the mantle responds purely elastically at a 9-day period but may behave increasingly anelastically at longer periods. A simple dispersive rule is postulated for periods ranging up to the 14-month Chandler wobble period.
Regional impacts of climate change and atmospheric CO2 on future ocean carbon uptake: A multi-model linear feedback analysis

OpenAIRE

Roy Tilla; Bopp Laurent; Gehlen Marion; Schneider Birgitt; Cadule Patricia; Frölicher Thomas; Segschneider Jochen; Tijputra Jerry; Heinze Christoph; Joos Fortunat

2011-01-01

The increase in atmospheric CO2 over this century depends on the evolution of the oceanic air–sea CO2 uptake which will be driven by the combined response to rising atmospheric CO2 itself and climate change. Here the future oceanic CO2 uptake is simulated using an ensemble of coupled climate–carbon cycle models. The models are driven by CO2 emissions from historical data and the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) A2 high emission scenario. A linear feedback analysis successfully sep...
Potential decadal predictability and its sensitivity to sea ice albedo parameterization in a global coupled model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Koenigk, Torben; Caian, Mihaela; Doescher, Ralf; Wyser, Klaus [Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, Rossby Centre, Norrkoeping (Sweden); Koenig Beatty, Christof [Universite Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium)

2012-06-15

Decadal prediction is one focus of the upcoming 5th IPCC Assessment report. To be able to interpret the results and to further improve the decadal predictions it is important to investigate the potential predictability in the participating climate models. This study analyzes the upper limit of climate predictability on decadal time scales and its dependency on sea ice albedo parameterization by performing two perfect ensemble experiments with the global coupled climate model EC-Earth. In the first experiment, the standard albedo formulation of EC-Earth is used, in the second experiment sea ice albedo is reduced. The potential prognostic predictability is analyzed for a set of oceanic and atmospheric parameters. The decadal predictability of the atmospheric circulation is small. The highest potential predictability was found in air temperature at 2 m height over the northern North Atlantic and the southern South Atlantic. Over land, only a few areas are significantly predictable. The predictability for continental size averages of air temperature is relatively good in all northern hemisphere regions. Sea ice thickness is highly predictable along the ice edges in the North Atlantic Arctic Sector. The meridional overturning circulation is highly predictable in both experiments and governs most of the decadal climate predictability in the northern hemisphere. The experiments using reduced sea ice albedo show some important differences like a generally higher predictability of atmospheric variables in the Arctic or higher predictability of air temperature in Europe. Furthermore, decadal variations are substantially smaller in the simulations with reduced ice albedo, which can be explained by reduced sea ice thickness in these simulations. (orig.)
Contribution of Dynamic Vegetation Phenology to Decadal Climate Predictability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Weiss, M.; Miller, P.A.; Hurk, van den B.J.J.M.; Noije, van T.; Stefanescu, S.; Haarsma, R.; Ulft, van L.H.; Hazeleger, W.; Sager, Le P.; Smith, B.; Schurgers, G.

2014-01-01

In this study, the impact of coupling and initializing the leaf area index from the dynamic vegetation model Lund-Potsdam-Jena General Ecosystem Simulator (LPJ-GUESS) is analyzed on skill of decadal predictions in the fully coupled atmosphere-land-ocean-sea ice model, the European Consortium Earth
Advancing coastal ocean modelling, analysis, and prediction for the US Integrated Ocean Observing System

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkin, John L.; Rosenfeld, Leslie; Allen, Arthur; Baltes, Rebecca; Baptista, Antonio; He, Ruoying; Hogan, Patrick; Kurapov, Alexander; Mehra, Avichal; Quintrell, Josie; Schwab, David; Signell, Richard; Smith, Jane

2017-01-01

This paper outlines strategies that would advance coastal ocean modelling, analysis and prediction as a complement to the observing and data management activities of the coastal components of the US Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®) and the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). The views presented are the consensus of a group of US-based researchers with a cross-section of coastal oceanography and ocean modelling expertise and community representation drawn from Regional and US Federal partners in IOOS. Priorities for research and development are suggested that would enhance the value of IOOS observations through model-based synthesis, deliver better model-based information products, and assist the design, evaluation, and operation of the observing system itself. The proposed priorities are: model coupling, data assimilation, nearshore processes, cyberinfrastructure and model skill assessment, modelling for observing system design, evaluation and operation, ensemble prediction, and fast predictors. Approaches are suggested to accomplish substantial progress in a 3–8-year timeframe. In addition, the group proposes steps to promote collaboration between research and operations groups in Regional Associations, US Federal Agencies, and the international ocean research community in general that would foster coordination on scientific and technical issues, and strengthen federal–academic partnerships benefiting IOOS stakeholders and end users.
Electromagnetic Coupling of Ocean Flow with the Earth System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert Tyler

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The ocean is electromagnetically coupled with the Earth System. This results in momentum transfer, as well as a participation by the ocean in the _ observable electric and magnetic fields. The coupling is typically quite weak and quantitative analyses indicate that many of these connections may be discounted when considering the transfer of momentum. But because of systematic effects there are also cases where an immediate discount is not justified and electromagnetic transfer of ocean momentum should remain within the realm of consideration. For practical considerations, even if the coupling is weak these effects are phenomenologically important because the electric and magnetic fields associated with this coupling offer an observational means for inferring the ocean flow. While in situ measurements of the electric field have long been used to measure ocean transport, new opportunities for remote sensing ocean flow through ground and space magnetic observatories are now being considered. In this article a brief update of the status of these observational methods is given. Extending beyond these established elements of the _ electromagnetic involvement, an attempt is made to provide a quantitative discussion of lesser considered elements of the _ electromagnetic coupling with the mantle and fluid core.
Biogeochemical linkage between atmosphere and ocean in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean: Results from the EqPOS research cruise

Science.gov (United States)

Furutani, H.; Inai, Y.; Aoki, S.; Honda, H.; Omori, Y.; Tanimoto, H.; Iwata, T.; Ueda, S.; Miura, K.; Uematsu, M.

2012-12-01

Eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean is a unique oceanic region from several biogeochemical points of view. It is a remote open ocean with relatively high marine biological activity, which would result in limited influence of human activity but enhanced effect of marine natural processes on atmospheric composition. It is also characterized as high nutrient low chlorophyll (HNLC) ocean, in which availability of trace metals such as iron and zinc limits marine primary production and thus atmospheric deposition of these trace elements to the ocean surface is expected to play an important role in regulating marine primary production and defining unique microbial community. High sea surface temperature in the region generates strong vertical air convection which efficiently brings tropospheric atmospheric composition into stratosphere. In this unique eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, EqPOS (Equatorial Pacific Ocean and Stratospheric/Tropospheric Atmospheric Study) research cruise was organized as a part of SOLAS Japan activity to understand biogeochemical ocean-atmospheric interaction in the region. Coordinated atmospheric, oceanic, and marine biological observations including sampling/characterization of thin air-sea interfacial layer (sea surface microlayer: SML) and launching large stratospheric air sampling balloons were carried out on-board R/V Hakuho Maru starting from 29 January for 39 days. Biogeochemically important trace/long-lived gases such as CO2, dimethyl sulfide (DMS), and some volatile organic carbons (VOCs) both in the atmosphere and seawater were continuously monitored and their air-sea fluxes were also observed using gradient and eddy-covariance techniques. Atmospheric gas measurement of CO2, CH4, N2O, SF6, CO, H2, Ar and isotopic composition of selected gases were further extended to stratospheric air by balloon-born sampling in addition to a vertical profiling of O3, CO2, and H2O with sounding sondes. Physical and chemical properties of marine
Effect of Atmospheric Organics on Bioavailable Fe Lifetime in the Oceans

Science.gov (United States)

Meskhidze, Nicholas; Hurley, David; Royalty, Taylor Michael; Johnson, Matthew S.

2016-01-01

The deposition of atmospheric aerosols is an important supply pathway of soluble iron (sol-Fe) to the global oceans influencing marine ecosystem processes and climate. Previous studies have shown that natural and anthropogenic acidic trace gases, when mixed with mineral dust, can lead to production of sol-Fe, leading to considerable increase in dust-Fe solubility. Recent studies have further highlighted the importance of atmospheric organic compounds/ligands in the production of sol-Fe during atmospheric transport and transformation of mineral aerosols. However, the actual scope of this aerosol sol-Fe for stimulating the primary productivity in the oceans is determined by both: the total atmospheric fluxes of sol-Fe and the lifetime of sol-Fe after its deposition to the ocean. In this study several atmospheric organic ligands were investigated for their effect on the lifetime of sol-Fe after mixing with seawater. Organic ligands were selected based on their abundance in the marine boundary layer and rainwater and their ability to form bidentate complexes with Fe. The results reveal that the tested organics had minor influence on Fe(II) lifetime in seawater. However, results also show that some organic acid considerably extended the lifetime of colloidal and aqueous Fe(III). Using these results we simulate aerosol sol-Fe lifetime in the ocean for different mineral dust deposition events in the presence and the absence of atmospheric organic ligands. The calculations suggest that when a large dust plume is assumed to contain Fe(II) alone, less than 15% of aerosol sol-Fe gets complexed with marine organic ligands. However, this fraction increases to over 90% when atmospheric Fe is allowed to bond with atmospheric organic acids prior to deposition to the oceans. Calculations also show that for the conditions when seawater organic ligands get titrated by Fe released from dust aerosol particles, retention of sol-Fe in the ocean depends on surface ocean mixing, i

Physical and meteorological data from the Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) array in the tropical Pacific Ocean

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) Array of 55 moored buoys spans the tropical Pacific from longitudes 165Â°E to 95Â°W between latitudes of approximately 8Â°S and...
When a Slowly Rotating Aquaplanet is Coupled to a Dynamical Ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Salameh, J.; Marotzke, J.

2017-12-01

Planets orbiting in close distance from their stars have a high probability to be detected, and are expected to be slowly rotating due to strong tidal forces. By increasing the rotation period from 1 Earth-day to 365 Earth-days, we previously found that the global-mean surface temperature of an aquaplanet with a static mixed-layer ocean decreases by up to 27 K. The cooling is attributed to an increase of the planetary albedo with the rotation period, which is associated with the different distributions of the sea ice and the deep convective clouds. However, we had there assumed a fixed mixed-layer depth and a zero oceanic heat transport in the aquaplanet configuration. The limitations of these assumptions in such exotic climates are still unclear. We therefore perform coupled atmosphere-ocean aquaplanet simulations with the general circulation model ICON for various rotation periods ranging from 1 Earth-day to 365 Earth-days. We investigate how the underlying oceanic circulation modifies the mean climate of slowly rotating aquaplanets, and whether the day-to-night oceanic heat transport reduces the surface-temperature gradients and the sea-ice extent.
Stochastic and Statistical Methods in Climate, Atmosphere, and Ocean Science

NARCIS (Netherlands)

D.T. Crommelin (Daan); B. Khouider; B. Engquist

2015-01-01

htmlabstractIntroduction The behavior of the atmosphere, oceans, and climate is intrinsically uncertain. The basic physical principles that govern atmospheric and oceanic flows are well known, for example, the Navier-Stokes equations for fluid flow, thermodynamic properties of moist air, and the
Report Viewgraphs for IC Project: Fully-coupled climate simulations with an eddy-permitting ocean component

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Veneziani, Carmela [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2016-07-25

Two sets of simulations were performed within this allocation: 1) a 12-year fully-coupled experiment in pre-industrial conditions, using the CICE4 version of the sea-ice model; 2) a set of multi-decadal ocean-ice-only experiments, forced with CORE-I atmospheric fields and using the CICE5 version of the sea-ice model.
GESAMP Working Group 38, The Atmospheric Input of Chemicals to the Ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Duce, Robert; Liss, Peter

2014-05-01

There is growing recognition of the impact of the atmospheric input of both natural and anthropogenic substances on ocean chemistry, biology, and biogeochemistry as well as climate. These inputs are closely related to a number of important global change issues. For example, the increasing input of anthropogenic nitrogen species from the atmosphere to much of the ocean may cause a low level fertilization that could result in an increase in marine 'new' productivity of up to ~3% and thus impact carbon drawdown from the atmosphere. Similarly, much of the oceanic iron, which is a limiting nutrient in significant areas of the ocean, originates from the atmospheric input of minerals as a result of the long-range transport of mineral dust from continental regions. The increased supply of soluble phosphorus from atmospheric anthropogenic sources (through large-scale use of fertilizers) may also have a significant impact on surface-ocean biogeochemistry, but estimates of any effects are highly uncertain. There have been few assessments of the atmospheric inputs of sulfur and nitrogen oxides to the ocean and their impact on the rates of ocean acidification. These inputs may be particularly critical in heavily trafficked shipping lanes and in ocean regions proximate to highly industrialized land areas. Other atmospheric substances may also have an impact on the ocean, in particular lead, cadmium, and POPs. To address these and related issues the United Nations Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP) initiated Working Group 38, The Atmospheric Input of Chemicals to the Ocean, in 2008. This Working Group has had four meetings. To date four peer reviewed papers have been produced from this effort, with a least eight others in the process of being written or published. This paper will discuss some of the results of the Working Group's deliberations and its plans for possible future work.
Oceanic Emissions and Atmospheric Depositions of Volatile Organic Compounds

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, M.; Blomquist, B.; Beale, R.; Nightingale, P. D.; Liss, P. S.

2015-12-01

Atmospheric volatile organic compounds (VOCs) affect the tropospheric oxidative capacity due to their ubiquitous abundance and relatively high reactivity towards the hydroxyal radical. Over the ocean and away from terrestrial emission sources, oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs) make up a large fraction of VOCs as airmasses age and become more oxidized. In addition to being produced or destroyed in the marine atmosphere, OVOCs can also be emitted from or deposited to the surface ocean. Here we first present direct air-sea flux measurements of three of the most abundant OVOCs - methanol, acetone, and acetaldehyde, by the eddy covariance technique from two cruises in the Atlantic: the Atlantic Meridional Transect in 2012 and the High Wind Gas Exchange Study in 2013. The OVOC mixing ratios were quantified by a high resolution proton-reaction-transfer mass spectrometer with isotopically labeled standards and their air-sea (net) fluxes were derived from the eddy covariance technique. Net methanol flux was consistently from the atmosphere to the surface ocean, while acetone varied from supersaturation (emission) in the subtropics to undersaturation (deposition) in the higher latitudes of the North Atlantic. The net air-sea flux of acetaldehyde is near zero through out the Atlantic despite the apparent supersaturation of this compound in the surface ocean. Knowing the dissolved concentrations and in situ production rates of these compounds in seawater, we then estimate their bulk atmospheric depositions and oceanic emissions. Lastly, we summarize the state of knowledge on the air-sea transport of a number of organic gasses, and postulate the magnitude and environmental impact of total organic carbon transfer between the ocean and the atmosphere.
Atmospheric deposition of methanol over the Atlantic Ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Mingxi; Nightingale, Philip D.; Beale, Rachael; Liss, Peter S.; Blomquist, Byron; Fairall, Christopher

2013-01-01

In the troposphere, methanol (CH3OH) is present ubiquitously and second in abundance among organic gases after methane. In the surface ocean, methanol represents a supply of energy and carbon for marine microbes. Here we report direct measurements of air–sea methanol transfer along a ∼10,000-km north–south transect of the Atlantic. The flux of methanol was consistently from the atmosphere to the ocean. Constrained by the aerodynamic limit and measured rate of air–sea sensible heat exchange, methanol transfer resembles a one-way depositional process, which suggests dissolved methanol concentrations near the water surface that are lower than what were measured at ∼5 m depth, for reasons currently unknown. We estimate the global oceanic uptake of methanol and examine the lifetimes of this compound in the lower atmosphere and upper ocean with respect to gas exchange. We also constrain the molecular diffusional resistance above the ocean surface—an important term for improving air–sea gas exchange models. PMID:24277830
Radiative transfer through terrestrial atmosphere and ocean: Software package SCIATRAN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rozanov, V.V.; Rozanov, A.V.; Kokhanovsky, A.A.; Burrows, J.P.

2014-01-01

SCIATRAN is a comprehensive software package for the modeling of radiative transfer processes in the terrestrial atmosphere and ocean in the spectral range from the ultraviolet to the thermal infrared (0.18–40μm) including multiple scattering processes, polarization, thermal emission and ocean–atmosphere coupling. The software is capable of modeling spectral and angular distributions of the intensity or the Stokes vector of the transmitted, scattered, reflected, and emitted radiation assuming either a plane-parallel or a spherical atmosphere. Simulations are done either in the scalar or in the vector mode (i.e. accounting for the polarization) for observations by space-, air-, ship- and balloon-borne, ground-based, and underwater instruments in various viewing geometries (nadir, off-nadir, limb, occultation, zenith-sky, off-axis). All significant radiative transfer processes are accounted for. These are, e.g. the Rayleigh scattering, scattering by aerosol and cloud particles, absorption by gaseous components, and bidirectional reflection by an underlying surface including Fresnel reflection from a flat or roughened ocean surface. The software package contains several radiative transfer solvers including finite difference and discrete-ordinate techniques, an extensive database, and a specific module for solving inverse problems. In contrast to many other radiative transfer codes, SCIATRAN incorporates an efficient approach to calculate the so-called Jacobians, i.e. derivatives of the intensity with respect to various atmospheric and surface parameters. In this paper we discuss numerical methods used in SCIATRAN to solve the scalar and vector radiative transfer equation, describe databases of atmospheric, oceanic, and surface parameters incorporated in SCIATRAN, and demonstrate how to solve some selected radiative transfer problems using the SCIATRAN package. During the last decades, a lot of studies have been published demonstrating that SCIATRAN is a valuable
Predicting Sediment Thickness on Vanished Ocean Crust Since 200 Ma

Science.gov (United States)

Dutkiewicz, A.; Müller, R. D.; Wang, X.; O'Callaghan, S.; Cannon, J.; Wright, N. M.

2017-12-01

Tracing sedimentation through time on existing and vanished seafloor is imperative for constraining long-term eustasy and for calculating volumes of subducted deep-sea sediments that contribute to global geochemical cycles. We present regression algorithms that incorporate the age of the ocean crust and the mean distance to the nearest passive margin to predict sediment thicknesses and long-term decompacted sedimentation rates since 200 Ma. The mean sediment thickness decreases from ˜220 m at 200 Ma to a minimum of ˜140 m at 130 Ma, reflecting the replacement of old Panthalassic ocean floor with young sediment-poor mid-ocean ridges, followed by an increase to ˜365 m at present-day. This increase reflects the accumulation of sediments on ageing abyssal plains proximal to passive margins, coupled with a decrease in the mean distance of any parcel of ocean crust to the nearest passive margin by over 700 km, and a doubling of the total passive margin length at present-day. Mean long-term sedimentation rates increase from ˜0.5 cm/ky at 160 Ma to over 0.8 cm/ky today, caused by enhanced terrigenous sediment influx along lengthened passive margins, superimposed by the onset of ocean-wide carbonate sedimentation. Our predictive algorithms, coupled to a plate tectonic model, provide a framework for constraining the seafloor sediment-driven eustatic sea-level component, which has grown from ˜80 to 210 m since 120 Ma. This implies a long-term sea-level rise component of 130 m, partly counteracting the contemporaneous increase in ocean basin depth due to progressive crustal ageing.
Sensitivity of simulated regional Arctic climate to the choice of coupled model domain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dmitry V. Sein

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The climate over the Arctic has undergone changes in recent decades. In order to evaluate the coupled response of the Arctic system to external and internal forcing, our study focuses on the estimation of regional climate variability and its dependence on large-scale atmospheric and regional ocean circulations. A global ocean–sea ice model with regionally high horizontal resolution is coupled to an atmospheric regional model and global terrestrial hydrology model. This way of coupling divides the global ocean model setup into two different domains: one coupled, where the ocean and the atmosphere are interacting, and one uncoupled, where the ocean model is driven by prescribed atmospheric forcing and runs in a so-called stand-alone mode. Therefore, selecting a specific area for the regional atmosphere implies that the ocean–atmosphere system can develop ‘freely’ in that area, whereas for the rest of the global ocean, the circulation is driven by prescribed atmospheric forcing without any feedbacks. Five different coupled setups are chosen for ensemble simulations. The choice of the coupled domains was done to estimate the influences of the Subtropical Atlantic, Eurasian and North Pacific regions on northern North Atlantic and Arctic climate. Our simulations show that the regional coupled ocean–atmosphere model is sensitive to the choice of the modelled area. The different model configurations reproduce differently both the mean climate and its variability. Only two out of five model setups were able to reproduce the Arctic climate as observed under recent climate conditions (ERA-40 Reanalysis. Evidence is found that the main source of uncertainty for Arctic climate variability and its predictability is the North Pacific. The prescription of North Pacific conditions in the regional model leads to significant correlation with observations, even if the whole North Atlantic is within the coupled model domain. However, the inclusion of the
Preface "Nonlinear processes in oceanic and atmospheric flows"

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. García-Ladona

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Nonlinear phenomena are essential ingredients in many oceanic and atmospheric processes, and successful understanding of them benefits from multidisciplinary collaboration between oceanographers, meteorologists, physicists and mathematicians. The present Special Issue on "Nonlinear Processes in Oceanic and Atmospheric Flows" contains selected contributions from attendants to the workshop which, in the above spirit, was held in Castro Urdiales, Spain, in July 2008. Here we summarize the Special Issue contributions, which include papers on the characterization of ocean transport in the Lagrangian and in the Eulerian frameworks, generation and variability of jets and waves, interactions of fluid flow with plankton dynamics or heavy drops, scaling in meteorological fields, and statistical properties of El Niño Southern Oscillation.
Glacial ocean circulation and stratification explained by reduced atmospheric temperature.

Science.gov (United States)

Jansen, Malte F

2017-01-03

Earth's climate has undergone dramatic shifts between glacial and interglacial time periods, with high-latitude temperature changes on the order of 5-10 °C. These climatic shifts have been associated with major rearrangements in the deep ocean circulation and stratification, which have likely played an important role in the observed atmospheric carbon dioxide swings by affecting the partitioning of carbon between the atmosphere and the ocean. The mechanisms by which the deep ocean circulation changed, however, are still unclear and represent a major challenge to our understanding of glacial climates. This study shows that various inferred changes in the deep ocean circulation and stratification between glacial and interglacial climates can be interpreted as a direct consequence of atmospheric temperature differences. Colder atmospheric temperatures lead to increased sea ice cover and formation rate around Antarctica. The associated enhanced brine rejection leads to a strongly increased deep ocean stratification, consistent with high abyssal salinities inferred for the last glacial maximum. The increased stratification goes together with a weakening and shoaling of the interhemispheric overturning circulation, again consistent with proxy evidence for the last glacial. The shallower interhemispheric overturning circulation makes room for slowly moving water of Antarctic origin, which explains the observed middepth radiocarbon age maximum and may play an important role in ocean carbon storage.
Coherent Multidecadal Atmospheric and Oceanic Variability in the North Atlantic: Blocking Corresponds with Warm Subpolar Ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Hakkinen, Sirpa M.; Rhines, P. B.; Worthen, D. L.

2012-01-01

Winters with frequent atmospheric blocking, in a band of latitudes from Greenland to Western Europe, are found to persist over several decades and correspond to a warm North Atlantic Ocean. This is evident in atmospheric reanalysis data, both modern and for the full 20th century. Blocking is approximately in phase with Atlantic multidecadal ocean variability (AMV). Wintertime atmospheric blocking involves a highly distorted jetstream, isolating large regions of air from the westerly circulation. It influences the ocean through windstress-curl and associated air/sea heat flux. While blocking is a relatively high-frequency phenomenon, it is strongly modulated over decadal timescales. The blocked regime (weaker ocean gyres, weaker air-sea heat flux, paradoxically increased transport of warm subtropical waters poleward) contributes to the warm phase of AMV. Atmospheric blocking better describes the early 20thC warming and 1996-2010 warm period than does the NAO index. It has roots in the hemispheric circulation and jet stream dynamics. Subpolar Atlantic variability covaries with distant AMOC fields: both these connections may express the global influence of the subpolar North Atlantic ocean on the global climate system.
A submonthly database for detecting changes in vegetation-atmosphere coupling

Science.gov (United States)

Zscheischler, Jakob; Orth, René; Seneviratne, Sonia I.

2016-04-01

Land-atmosphere coupling and changes in coupling regimes are important for making precise future climate predictions and understanding vegetation-climate feedbacks. Here we introduce the Vegetation-Atmosphere Coupling (VAC) index which identifies regions and times of concurrent strong anomalies in temperature and photosynthetic activity. The different classes of the index determine whether a location is currently in an energy-limited or water-limited regime, and its high temporal resolution allows to investigate how these regimes change over time at the regional scale. We show that the VAC index helps to distinguish different evaporative regimes. It can therefore provide indirect information about the local soil moisture state. We further demonstrate how the index can be used to understand processes leading to and occurring during extreme climate events, using the 2010 heat wave in Russia and the 2010 Amazon drought as examples.
Statistical and dynamical assessment of land-ocean-atmosphere interactions across North Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Yan

impacts is evaluated through ensembles of fully coupled CESM dynamical experiments, with modified leaf area index (LAI) and soil moisture across the Sahel or West African Monsoon (WAM) region. The atmospheric responses to oceanic and terrestrial forcings are generally consistent between the dynamical experiments and statistical GEFA, confirming GEFA's capability of isolating the individual impacts of oceanic and terrestrial forcings on North African climate. Furthermore, with the incorporation of stepwise selection, GEFA can now provide reliable estimates of the oceanic and terrestrial impacts on the North African climate with the typical length of observational datasets, thereby enhancing the method's applicability. After the successful validation of GEFA, the key observed oceanic and terrestrial drivers of North African climate are identified through the application of GEFA to gridded observations, remote sensing products, and reanalyses. According to GEFA, oceanic drivers dominate over terrestrial drivers in terms of their observed impacts on North African climate in most seasons. Terrestrial impacts are comparable to, or more important than, oceanic impacts on rainfall during the post-monsoon across the Sahel and WAM region, and after the short rain across the Horn of Africa (HOA). The key ocean basins that regulate North African rainfall are typically located in the tropics. While the observed impacts of SST variability across the tropical Pacific and tropical Atlantic Oceans on the Sahel rainfall are largely consistent with previous model-based findings, minimal impacts from tropical Indian Ocean variability on Sahel rainfall are identified in observations, in contrast to previous modeling studies. The current observational analysis verifies model-hypothesized positive vegetation-rainfall feedback across the Sahel and HOA, which is confined to the post-monsoon and post-short rains season, respectively. However, the observed positive vegetation feedback to rainfall
Understanding the distinctively skewed and heavy tailed character of atmospheric and oceanic probability distributions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sardeshmukh, Prashant D., E-mail: Prashant.D.Sardeshmukh@noaa.gov [CIRES, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309 (United States); NOAA/Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado 80305 (United States); Penland, Cécile [NOAA/Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado 80305 (United States)

2015-03-15

The probability distributions of large-scale atmospheric and oceanic variables are generally skewed and heavy-tailed. We argue that their distinctive departures from Gaussianity arise fundamentally from the fact that in a quadratically nonlinear system with a quadratic invariant, the coupling coefficients between system components are not constant but depend linearly on the system state in a distinctive way. In particular, the skewness arises from a tendency of the system trajectory to linger near states of weak coupling. We show that the salient features of the observed non-Gaussianity can be captured in the simplest such nonlinear 2-component system. If the system is stochastically forced and linearly damped, with one component damped much more strongly than the other, then the strongly damped fast component becomes effectively decoupled from the weakly damped slow component, and its impact on the slow component can be approximated as a stochastic noise forcing plus an augmented nonlinear damping. In the limit of large time-scale separation, the nonlinear augmentation of the damping becomes small, and the noise forcing can be approximated as an additive noise plus a correlated additive and multiplicative noise (CAM noise) forcing. Much of the diversity of observed large-scale atmospheric and oceanic probability distributions can be interpreted in this minimal framework.
Intraseasonal SST-precipitation coupling during the Indian Summer Monsoon, and its modulation by the Indian Ocean Dipole

Science.gov (United States)

Jongaramrungruang, S.; Seo, H.; Ummenhofer, C.

2016-02-01

The Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) plays a crucial role in shaping the large proportion of the total precipitation over the Indian subcontinent each year. The ISM rainfall exhibits a particularly strong intraseasonal variability, that has profound socioeconomic consequences, such as agricultural planning and flood preparation. However, our understanding of the variability on this time scale is still limited due to sparse data availability in the past. In this study, we used a combination of state-of-the-art high-resolution satellite estimate of rainfall, objectively analyzed surface flux, as well as atmospheric reanalysis product to investigate the nature of the ISM intraseasonal rainfall variability and how it varies year to year. The emphasis is placed on the Bay of Bengal (BoB) where the intraseasonal ocean-atmosphere coupling is most prominent. Results show that the maximum warming of SST leads the onset of heavy precipitation event by 3-5 days, and that surface heat flux and surface wind speed are weak prior to the rain but amplifies and peaks after the rain reaches its maximum. Furthermore, the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) significantly affects the observed intraseasonal SST-precipitation relationship. The pre-convection SST warming is stronger and more pronounced during the negative phase of the IOD, while the signal is weaker and less organized in the positive phase. This is explained by the column-integrated moisture budget analysis which reveals that, during the ISM heavy rainfall in the BoB, there is more moisture interchange in the form of enhanced vertical advection from the ocean to atmosphere in negative IOD years as compared to positive IOD years. Knowing the distinction of ISM variabilities during opposite phases of the IOD will help contribute to a more reliable prediction of ISM activities.
Extreme winds and waves for offshore turbines: Coupling atmosphere and wave modeling for design and operation in coastal zones

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsén, Xiaoli Guo; Bolanos, Rodolfo; Du, Jianting

modeling for oshore wind farms. This modeling system consists of the atmospheric Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, the wave model SWAN and an interface the Wave Boundary Layer Model WBLM, within the framework of coupled-ocean-atmosphere-wave-sediment transport modeling system COAWST...... (Hereinafter the WRF-WBLM-SWAN model). WBLM is implemented in SWAN, and it calculates stress and kinetic energy budgets in the lowest atmospheric layer where the wave-induced stress is introduced to the atmospheric modeling. WBLM ensures consistent calculation of stress for both the atmospheric and wave......, which can aect the choice of the off-shore wind turbine type. X-WiWa examined various methodologies for wave modeling. The offline coupling system using atmospheric data such as WRF or global reanalysis wind field to the MIKE 21 SW model has been improved with considerations of stability, air density...
HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM): Global

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Global HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) and U.S. Navy Coupled Ocean Data Assimilation (NCODA) 3-day, daily forecast at approximately 9-km (1/12-degree)...
LOSCAR: Long-term Ocean-atmosphere-Sediment CArbon cycle Reservoir Model v2.0.4

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. E. Zeebe

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The LOSCAR model is designed to efficiently compute the partitioning of carbon between ocean, atmosphere, and sediments on time scales ranging from centuries to millions of years. While a variety of computationally inexpensive carbon cycle models are already available, many are missing a critical sediment component, which is indispensable for long-term integrations. One of LOSCAR's strengths is the coupling of ocean-atmosphere routines to a computationally efficient sediment module. This allows, for instance, adequate computation of CaCO₃ dissolution, calcite compensation, and long-term carbon cycle fluxes, including weathering of carbonate and silicate rocks. The ocean component includes various biogeochemical tracers such as total carbon, alkalinity, phosphate, oxygen, and stable carbon isotopes. LOSCAR's configuration of ocean geometry is flexible and allows for easy switching between modern and paleo-versions. We have previously published applications of the model tackling future projections of ocean chemistry and weathering, pCO₂ sensitivity to carbon cycle perturbations throughout the Cenozoic, and carbon/calcium cycling during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. The focus of the present contribution is the detailed description of the model including numerical architecture, processes and parameterizations, tuning, and examples of input and output. Typical CPU integration times of LOSCAR are of order seconds for several thousand model years on current standard desktop machines. The LOSCAR source code in C can be obtained from the author by sending a request to loscar.model@gmail.com.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Cetacean and Sound Mapping Effort: Continuing Forward with an Integrated Ocean Noise Strategy.

Science.gov (United States)

Harrison, Jolie; Ferguson, Megan; Gedamke, Jason; Hatch, Leila; Southall, Brandon; Van Parijs, Sofie

2016-01-01

To help manage chronic and cumulative impacts of human activities on marine mammals, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) convened two working groups, the Underwater Sound Field Mapping Working Group (SoundMap) and the Cetacean Density and Distribution Mapping Working Group (CetMap), with overarching effort of both groups referred to as CetSound, which (1) mapped the predicted contribution of human sound sources to ocean noise and (2) provided region/time/species-specific cetacean density and distribution maps. Mapping products were presented at a symposium where future priorities were identified, including institutionalization/integration of the CetSound effort within NOAA-wide goals and programs, creation of forums and mechanisms for external input and funding, and expanded outreach/education. NOAA is subsequently developing an ocean noise strategy to articulate noise conservation goals and further identify science and management actions needed to support them.
International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS) with Enhanced Trimming, Release 3

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This dataset contains the latest official release of International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS) with Enhanced Trimming, provided in a common...
International Comprehensive Ocean Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS) And NCEI Global Marine Observations

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — International Comprehensive Ocean Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS) consists of digital data set DSI-1173, archived at the National Center for Environmental Information...
Changes in the poleward energy flux by the atmosphere and ocean as a possible cause for ice ages

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Newell, R E

1974-01-01

It is proposed that the two preferred modes of temperature and circulation of the atmosphere which occurred over the past 100,000 yr correspond to two modes of partitioning of the poleward energy flux between the atmosphere and ocean. At present the ocean carries an appreciable fraction of the transport, for example about three-eighths at 30/sup 0/N. In the cold mode it is suggested that the ocean carries less, and the atmosphere more, than at present. During the formation of the ice, at 50,000 BP, for example, the overall flux is expected to be slightly lower than at present and during melting, at 16,000 BP, slightly higher. The transition between the modes is seen as a natural imbalance in the atmosphere-ocean energy budget with a gradual warming of the ocean during an Ice Age eventually culminating in its termination. At the present the imbalance is thought to correspond to a natural cooling of the ocean, which will lead to the next Ice Age. The magnitude of temperature changes in the polar regions differ between the hemispheres in the same way as present seasonal changes, being larger in the northern than in the southern hemisphere. Overall the atmospheric energy cycle was more intense during the Ice Ages than now. Observational tests are proposed by which predictions from the present arguments may be compared with deductions about the environment of the past. Data used for the present state of the atmospheric general circulation are the latest global data available and contain no known major uncertainties. However, data for the oceanic circulation and energy budget are less well known for the present and almost unknown for the past. Hence the proposed imbalances must be treated as part of a speculative hypothesis, but one which eventually may be subject to observational test as no solar variability is invoked.
International Comprehensive Ocean Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS) in Near-Real Time (NRT)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS) Near-Real-Time (NRT) product is an extension of the official ICOADS dataset with preliminary...
Radiative transfer modeling through terrestrial atmosphere and ocean accounting for inelastic processes: Software package SCIATRAN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rozanov, V.V.; Dinter, T.; Rozanov, A.V.; Wolanin, A.; Bracher, A.; Burrows, J.P.

2017-01-01

SCIATRAN is a comprehensive software package which is designed to model radiative transfer processes in the terrestrial atmosphere and ocean in the spectral range from the ultraviolet to the thermal infrared (0.18–40 μm). It accounts for multiple scattering processes, polarization, thermal emission and ocean–atmosphere coupling. The main goal of this paper is to present a recently developed version of SCIATRAN which takes into account accurately inelastic radiative processes in both the atmosphere and the ocean. In the scalar version of the coupled ocean–atmosphere radiative transfer solver presented by Rozanov et al. we have implemented the simulation of the rotational Raman scattering, vibrational Raman scattering, chlorophyll and colored dissolved organic matter fluorescence. In this paper we discuss and explain the numerical methods used in SCIATRAN to solve the scalar radiative transfer equation including trans-spectral processes, and demonstrate how some selected radiative transfer problems are solved using the SCIATRAN package. In addition we present selected comparisons of SCIATRAN simulations with those published benchmark results, independent radiative transfer models, and various measurements from satellite, ground-based, and ship-borne instruments. The extended SCIATRAN software package along with a detailed User's Guide is made available for scientists and students, who are undertaking their own research typically at universities, via the web page of the Institute of Environmental Physics (IUP), University of Bremen: (http://www.iup.physik.uni-bremen.de). - Highlights: • A new version of the software package SCIATRAN is presented. • Inelastic scattering in water and atmosphere is implemented in SCIATRAN. • Raman scattering and fluorescence can be included in radiative transfer calculations. • Comparisons to other radiative transfer models show excellent agreement. • Comparisons to observations show consistent results.
Intraseasonal variability in the atmosphere-ocean climate system. 2. ed.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lau, William K.M. [NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (United States). Lab. for Atmospheres; Waliser, Duane E. [California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA (United States). Earth Science and Technology Directorate, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

2012-07-01

This updated multi-author, comprehensive and authoritative review of intra-seasonal variability (ISV), has a balance of observation, theory and modeling and provides a single source of reference for all those interested in this important, multi-faceted natural phenomenon and its relation to major short-term climatic variations. All the original chapters are updated, where appropriate. The book opens with an overview of ISV and observations from an historical perspective. Successive chapters then deal with the role of ISV in monsoon variability in the South Asian, East Asian and South American monsoon regions, in North America and in the oceans. The coupling between ocean and atmosphere is considered, together with the function of angular momentum and Earth rotation. Later chapters deal with modeling ISV in the atmosphere and oceans, and the connection between the Madden and Julian Oscillation (MJO). Specifically updated in this second edition is the chapter on modeling with recent development in global high-resolution modeling of the fine structures of the MJO. The El Nino/Southern Oscillation with short-term climate change is also considered. The authors consider how knowledge of ISV may be harnessed into improving long range forecasts of severe weather, and a new chapter on substantial new development of ISV research is added. This includes five subject areas: a) new theories of the MJO; b) vertical structures of the MJO, including latent heating profile derived from satellite data; c) extratropical-tropical interaction associated with MJO; d) linkage of ISV to transport of biogeochemical species; and e) possible impact of ISV on West Africa and Middle East region. (orig.)
Global Effects of Superparameterization on Hydrothermal Land-Atmosphere Coupling on Multiple Timescales

Science.gov (United States)

Qin, Hongchen; Pritchard, Michael S.; Kooperman, Gabriel J.; Parishani, Hossein

2018-02-01

Many conventional General Circulation Models (GCMs) in the Global Land-Atmosphere Coupling Experiment (GLACE) tend to produce what is now recognized as overly strong land-atmosphere (L-A) coupling. We investigate the effects of cloud Superparameterization (SP) on L-A coupling on timescales beyond diurnal where it has been recently shown to have a favorable muting effect hydrologically. Using the Community Atmosphere Model v3.5 (CAM3.5) and its Superparameterized counterpart SPCAM3.5, we conducted soil moisture interference experiments following the GLACE and Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP) protocols. The results show that, on weekly-to-subseasonal timescales, SP also mutes hydrologic L-A coupling. This is detectable globally, and happens through the evapotranspiration-precipitation segment. But on seasonal timescales, SP does not exhibit detectable effects on hydrologic L-A coupling. Two robust regional effects of SP on thermal L-A coupling have also been explored. Over the Arabian Peninsula, SP reduces thermal L-A coupling through a straightforward control by mean rainfall reduction. More counterintuitively, over the Southwestern US and Northern Mexico, SP enhances the thermal L-A coupling in a way that is independent of rainfall and soil moisture. This signal is associated with a systematic and previously unrecognized effect of SP that produces an amplified Bowen ratio, and is detectable in multiple SP model versions and experiment designs. In addition to amplifying the present-day Bowen ratio, SP is found to amplify the climate sensitivity of Bowen ratio as well, which likely plays a role in influencing climate change predictions at the L-A interface.
An analysis of seasonal predictability in coupled model forecasts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peng, P.; Wang, W. [NOAA, Climate Prediction Center, Washington, DC (United States); Kumar, A. [NOAA, Climate Prediction Center, Washington, DC (United States); NCEP/NWS/NOAA, Climate Prediction Center, Camp Springs, MD (United States)

2011-02-15

In the recent decade, operational seasonal prediction systems based on initialized coupled models have been developed. An analysis of how the predictability of seasonal means in the initialized coupled predictions evolves with lead-time is presented. Because of the short lead-time, such an analysis for the temporal behavior of seasonal predictability involves a mix of both the predictability of the first and the second kind. The analysis focuses on the lead-time dependence of ensemble mean variance, and the forecast spread. Further, the analysis is for a fixed target season of December-January-February, and is for sea surface temperature, rainfall, and 200-mb height. The analysis is based on a large set of hindcasts from an initialized coupled seasonal prediction system. Various aspects of predictability of the first and the second kind are highlighted for variables with long (for example, SST), and fast (for example, atmospheric) adjustment time scale. An additional focus of the analysis is how the predictability in the initialized coupled seasonal predictions compares with estimates based on the AMIP simulations. The results indicate that differences in the set up of AMIP simulations and coupled predictions, for example, representation of air-sea interactions, and evolution of forecast spread from initial conditions do not change fundamental conclusion about the seasonal predictability. A discussion of the analysis presented herein, and its implications for the use of AMIP simulations for climate attribution, and for time-slice experiments to provide regional information, is also included. (orig.)
Detailed source term estimation of the atmospheric release for the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident by coupling simulations of an atmospheric dispersion model with an improved deposition scheme and oceanic dispersion model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Katata, G.; Chino, M.; Kobayashi, T. [Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), Ibaraki (Japan); and others

2015-07-01

Temporal variations in the amount of radionuclides released into the atmosphere during the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FNPS1) accident and their atmospheric and marine dispersion are essential to evaluate the environmental impacts and resultant radiological doses to the public. In this paper, we estimate the detailed atmospheric releases during the accident using a reverse estimation method which calculates the release rates of radionuclides by comparing measurements of air concentration of a radionuclide or its dose rate in the environment with the ones calculated by atmospheric and oceanic transport, dispersion and deposition models. The atmospheric and oceanic models used are WSPEEDI-II (Worldwide version of System for Prediction of Environmental Emergency Dose Information) and SEA-GEARN-FDM (Finite difference oceanic dispersion model), both developed by the authors. A sophisticated deposition scheme, which deals with dry and fog-water depositions, cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activation, and subsequent wet scavenging due to mixed-phase cloud microphysics (in-cloud scavenging) for radioactive iodine gas (I{sub 2} and CH{sub 3}I) and other particles (CsI, Cs, and Te), was incorporated into WSPEEDI-II to improve the surface deposition calculations. The results revealed that the major releases of radionuclides due to the FNPS1 accident occurred in the following periods during March 2011: the afternoon of 12 March due to the wet venting and hydrogen explosion at Unit 1, midnight of 14 March when the SRV (safety relief valve) was opened three times at Unit 2, the morning and night of 15 March, and the morning of 16 March. According to the simulation results, the highest radioactive contamination areas around FNPS1 were created from 15 to 16 March by complicated interactions among rainfall, plume movements, and the temporal variation of release rates. The simulation by WSPEEDI-II using the new source term reproduced the local and regional patterns of
Satellite Observations of Imprint of Oceanic Current on Wind Stress by Air-Sea Coupling.

Science.gov (United States)

Renault, Lionel; McWilliams, James C; Masson, Sebastien

2017-12-18

Mesoscale eddies are present everywhere in the ocean and partly determine the mean state of the circulation and ecosystem. The current feedback on the surface wind stress modulates the air-sea transfer of momentum by providing a sink of mesoscale eddy energy as an atmospheric source. Using nine years of satellite measurements of surface stress and geostrophic currents over the global ocean, we confirm that the current-induced surface stress curl is linearly related to the current vorticity. The resulting coupling coefficient between current and surface stress (s τ [N s m -3 ]) is heterogeneous and can be roughly expressed as a linear function of the mean surface wind. s τ expresses the sink of eddy energy induced by the current feedback. This has important implications for air-sea interaction and implies that oceanic mean and mesoscale circulations and their effects on surface-layer ventilation and carbon uptake are better represented in oceanic models that include this feedback.
Crustal tracers in the atmosphere and ocean: Relating their concentrations, fluxes, and ages

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Qin

Crustal tracers are important sources of key limiting nutrients (e.g., iron) in remote ocean regions where they have a large impact on global biogeochemical cycles. However, the atmospheric delivery of bio-available iron to oceans via mineral dust aerosol deposition is poorly constrained. This dissertation aims to improve understanding and model representation of oceanic dust deposition and to provide soluble iron flux maps by testing observations of crustal tracer concentrations and solubilities against predictions from two conceptual solubility models. First, we assemble a database of ocean surface dissolved Al and incorporate Al cycling into the global Biogeochemical Elemental Cycling (BEC) model. The observed Al concentrations show clear basin-scale differences that are useful for constraining dust deposition. The dynamic mixed layer depth and Al residence time in the BEC model significantly improve the simulated dissolved Al field. Some of the remaining model-data discrepancies appear related to the neglect of aerosol size, age, and air mass characteristics in estimating tracer solubility. Next, we develop the Mass-Age Tracking method (MAT) to efficiently and accurately estimate the mass-weighted age of tracers. We apply MAT to four sizes of desert dust aerosol and simulate, for the first time, global distributions of aerosol age in the atmosphere and at deposition. These dust size and age distributions at deposition, together with independent information on air mass acidity, allow us to test two simple yet plausible models for predicting the dissolution of mineral dust iron and aluminum during atmospheric transport. These models represent aerosol solubility as controlled (1) by a diffusive process leaching nutrients from the dust into equilibrium with the liquid water coating or (2) by a process that continually dissolves nutrients in proportion to the particle surface area. The surface-controlled model better captures the spatial pattern of observed
International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Surface marine observational records from ships, buoys, and other platform types are processed and binned creating monthly global and regional grids of the...
Detailed source term estimation of the atmospheric release for the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident by coupling simulations of atmospheric dispersion model with improved deposition scheme and oceanic dispersion model

Science.gov (United States)

Katata, G.; Chino, M.; Kobayashi, T.; Terada, H.; Ota, M.; Nagai, H.; Kajino, M.; Draxler, R.; Hort, M. C.; Malo, A.; Torii, T.; Sanada, Y.

2014-06-01

Temporal variations in the amount of radionuclides released into the atmosphere during the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station (FNPS1) accident and their atmospheric and marine dispersion are essential to evaluate the environmental impacts and resultant radiological doses to the public. In this paper, we estimate a detailed time trend of atmospheric releases during the accident by combining environmental monitoring data with atmospheric model simulations from WSPEEDI-II (Worldwide version of System for Prediction of Environmental Emergency Dose Information), and simulations from the oceanic dispersion model SEA-GEARN-FDM, both developed by the authors. A sophisticated deposition scheme, which deals with dry and fogwater depositions, cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activation and subsequent wet scavenging due to mixed-phase cloud microphysics (in-cloud scavenging) for radioactive iodine gas (I2 and CH3I) and other particles (CsI, Cs, and Te), was incorporated into WSPEEDI-II to improve the surface deposition calculations. The fallout to the ocean surface calculated by WSPEEDI-II was used as input data for the SEA-GEARN-FDM calculations. Reverse and inverse source-term estimation methods based on coupling the simulations from both models was adopted using air dose rates and concentrations, and sea surface concentrations. The results revealed that the major releases of radionuclides due to FNPS1 accident occurred in the following periods during March 2011: the afternoon of 12 March due to the wet venting and hydrogen explosion at Unit 1, the morning of 13 March after the venting event at Unit 3, midnight of 14 March when the SRV (Safely Relief Valve) at Unit 2 was opened three times, the morning and night of 15 March, and the morning of 16 March. According to the simulation results, the highest radioactive contamination areas around FNPS1 were created from 15 to 16 March by complicated interactions among rainfall, plume movements, and the temporal variation of
Ocean-atmosphere interaction and synoptic weather conditions in ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

R. Narasimhan (Krishtel eMaging) 1461 1996 Oct 15 13:05:22

turbances over oceans. On the other hand, these disturbances have an impact on the oceanic mixed layer, causing changes in the SST. This complex feed back process between the sea surface and the atmospheric disturbances is important in deter- mining the life span of the synoptic scale events. (Paul et al 1992). In view ...
Scaling laws for perturbations in the ocean-atmosphere system following large CO2 emissions

Science.gov (United States)

Towles, N.; Olson, P.; Gnanadesikan, A.

2015-07-01

Scaling relationships are found for perturbations to atmosphere and ocean variables from large transient CO2 emissions. Using the Long-term Ocean-atmosphere-Sediment CArbon cycle Reservoir (LOSCAR) model (Zeebe et al., 2009; Zeebe, 2012b), we calculate perturbations to atmosphere temperature, total carbon, ocean temperature, total ocean carbon, pH, alkalinity, marine-sediment carbon, and carbon-13 isotope anomalies in the ocean and atmosphere resulting from idealized CO2 emission events. The peak perturbations in the atmosphere and ocean variables are then fit to power law functions of the form of γ DαEβ, where D is the event duration, E is its total carbon emission, and γ is a coefficient. Good power law fits are obtained for most system variables for E up to 50 000 PgC and D up to 100 kyr. Although all of the peak perturbations increase with emission rate E/D, we find no evidence of emission-rate-only scaling, α + β = 0. Instead, our scaling yields α + β ≃ 1 for total ocean and atmosphere carbon and 0 < α + β < 1 for most of the other system variables.
Unveiling non-stationary coupling between Amazon and ocean during recent extreme events

Science.gov (United States)

Ramos, Antônio M. de T.; Zou, Yong; de Oliveira, Gilvan Sampaio; Kurths, Jürgen; Macau, Elbert E. N.

2018-02-01

The interplay between extreme events in the Amazon's precipitation and the anomaly in the temperature of the surrounding oceans is not fully understood, especially its causal relations. In this paper, we investigate the climatic interaction between these regions from 1999 until 2012 using modern tools of complex system science. We identify the time scale of the coupling quantitatively and unveil the non-stationary influence of the ocean's temperature. The findings show consistently the distinctions between the coupling in the recent major extreme events in Amazonia, such as the two droughts that happened in 2005 and 2010 and the three floods during 1999, 2009 and 2012. Interestingly, the results also reveal the influence over the anomalous precipitation of Southwest Amazon has become increasingly lagged. The analysis can shed light on the underlying dynamics of the climate network system and consequently can improve predictions of extreme rainfall events.
Simulating the evolution of the Amundsen Sea Sector with a coupled ice-ocean model

Science.gov (United States)

Seroussi, H. L.; Nakayama, Y.; Menemenlis, D.; Larour, E. Y.; Morlighem, M.; Rignot, E. J.

2017-12-01

Ice shelves and floating glacier termini play an important role in the stability of ice sheets and interact strongly with the ocean. They account for much of the buttressing against the flow of inland glaciers that drain the Antarctic ice sheet. Changes in their geometry due to ice-front retreat, thinning or even collapse profoundly affect the flow of their tributary glaciers, which in turn affects the volume of grounded ice carried by these tributary glaciers into the ocean, and the extent of resulting sea level rise. Recent simulations of glaciers in Antarctica show that the largest climatic impact on ice dynamics is the rate of ice shelf melting, which rapidly affects glaciers' speed over several hundreds of kilometers upstream of the grounding line. These melting rates, however, as well as their spatial and temporal evolution remain largely unknown. In the absence of direct long-term observations, coupled ice-ocean models are the best available approach to address this question. In a previous study, we simulated the coupled ice-ocean system near Thwaites Glacier using a new two-way coupled system between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology general circulation model (MITgcm) and the Ice Sheet System Model (ISSM). Our results highlighted the impact of ocean conditions on glacier evolution and demonstrated the importance of simulating the coupled ice-ocean system to produce accurate melting rates under the ice shelf and at the grounding line. In this study, we focus on the entire Amundsen Sea sector, a region that experienced glacier acceleration, thinning and grounding line retreat over the past three decades. We investigate the feedbacks between changes in the ice and ocean, and the dynamic response of the glacier to changes in the ocean circulation. The simulations suggest that this region is likely to undergo substantial changes in the coming decades. This work was performed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a
Climate Prediction Center (CPC)Oceanic Nino Index

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Oceanic Nino Index (ONI) is one of the primary indices used to monitor the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The ONI is calculated by averaging sea surface...
The Earth System Prediction Suite: Toward a Coordinated U.S. Modeling Capability

Science.gov (United States)

Theurich, Gerhard; DeLuca, C.; Campbell, T.; Liu, F.; Saint, K.; Vertenstein, M.; Chen, J.; Oehmke, R.; Doyle, J.; Whitcomb, T.;

2016-01-01

The Earth System Prediction Suite (ESPS) is a collection of flagship U.S. weather and climate models and model components that are being instrumented to conform to interoperability conventions, documented to follow metadata standards, and made available either under open source terms or to credentialed users.The ESPS represents a culmination of efforts to create a common Earth system model architecture, and the advent of increasingly coordinated model development activities in the U.S. ESPS component interfaces are based on the Earth System Modeling Framework (ESMF), community-developed software for building and coupling models, and the National Unified Operational Prediction Capability (NUOPC) Layer, a set of ESMF-based component templates and interoperability conventions. This shared infrastructure simplifies the process of model coupling by guaranteeing that components conform to a set of technical and semantic behaviors. The ESPS encourages distributed, multi-agency development of coupled modeling systems, controlled experimentation and testing, and exploration of novel model configurations, such as those motivated by research involving managed and interactive ensembles. ESPS codes include the Navy Global Environmental Model (NavGEM), HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM), and Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS); the NOAA Environmental Modeling System (NEMS) and the Modular Ocean Model (MOM); the Community Earth System Model (CESM); and the NASA ModelE climate model and GEOS-5 atmospheric general circulation model.

Causes and consequences of mid–21st-century rapid ice loss events simulated by the Rossby centre regional atmosphere-ocean model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jean-Philippe Paquin

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Recent observations and modelling studies suggest that the Arctic climate is undergoing important transition. One manifestation of this change is seen in the rapid sea-ice cover decrease as experienced in 2007 and 2012. Although most numerical climate models cannot adequately reproduce the recent changes, some models produce similar Rapid Ice Loss Events (RILEs during the mid–21st-century. This study presents an analysis of four specific RILEs clustered around 2040 in three transient climate projections performed with the coupled Rossby Centre regional Atmosphere-Ocean model (RCAO. The analysis shows that long-term thinning causes increased vulnerability of the Arctic Ocean sea-ice cover. In the Atlantic sector, pre-conditioning (thinning of sea ice combined with anomalous atmospheric and oceanic heat transport causes large ice loss, while in the Pacific sector of the Arctic Ocean sea-ice albedo feedback appears important, particularly along the retreating sea-ice margin. Although maximum sea-ice loss occurs in the autumn, response in surface air temperature occurs in early winter, caused by strong increase in ocean-atmosphere surface energy fluxes, mainly the turbulent fluxes. Synchronicity of the events around 2040 in the projections is caused by a strong large-scale atmospheric circulation anomaly at the Atlantic lateral boundary of the regional model. The limited impact on land is caused by vertical propagation of the surface heat anomaly rather than horizontal, caused by the absence of low-level temperature inversion over the ocean.
A Statistical Evaluation of Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Models: Complexity vs. Simplicity

OpenAIRE

Robert K. Kaufmann; David I. Stern

2004-01-01

The principal tools used to model future climate change are General Circulation Models which are deterministic high resolution bottom-up models of the global atmosphere-ocean system that require large amounts of supercomputer time to generate results. But are these models a cost-effective way of predicting future climate change at the global level? In this paper we use modern econometric techniques to evaluate the statistical adequacy of three general circulation models (GCMs) by testing thre...
Topex/Poseidon: A United States/France mission. Oceanography from space: The oceans and climate

Science.gov (United States)

1992-01-01

The TOPEX/POSEIDON space mission, sponsored by NASA and France's space agency, the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), will give new observations of the Earth from space to gain a quantitative understanding of the role of ocean currents in climate change. Rising atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other 'greenhouse gases' produced as a result of human activities could generate a global warming, followed by an associated rise in sea level. The satellite will use radar altimetry to measure sea-surface height and will be tracked by three independent systems to yield accurate topographic maps over the dimensions of entire ocean basins. The satellite data, together with the Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere (TOGA) program and the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) measurements, will be analyzed by an international scientific team. By merging the satellite observations with TOGA and WOCE findings, the scientists will establish the extensive data base needed for the quantitative description and computer modeling of ocean circulation. The ocean models will eventually be coupled with atmospheric models to lay the foundation for predictions of global climate change.
On the relationship between the early spring Indian Ocean's sea surface temperature (SST) and the Tibetan Plateau atmospheric heat source in summer

Science.gov (United States)

Ji, Chenxu; Zhang, Yuanzhi; Cheng, Qiuming; Li, Yu; Jiang, Tingchen; San Liang, X.

2018-05-01

In this study, we evaluated the effects of springtime Indian Ocean's sea surface temperature (SST) on the Tibetan Plateau's role as atmospheric heat source (AHS) in summer. The SST data of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and the Hadley Centre Sea Ice and Sea Surface Temperature data set (HadISST) and the reanalysis data of the National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) and National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) for 33 years (from 1979 to 2011) were used to analyze the relationship between the Indian Ocean SST and the Tibetan Plateau's AHS in summer, using the approaches that include correlation analysis, and lead-lag analysis. Our results show that some certain strong oceanic SSTs affect the summer plateau heat, specially finding that the early spring SSTs of the Indian Ocean significantly affect the plateau's ability to serve as a heat source in summer. Moreover, the anomalous atmospheric circulation and transport of water vapor are related to the Plateau heat variation.
The atmospheric boundary layer response to the dynamic new Arctic Ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, D. L.; Ganeshan, M.

2016-12-01

The increasing ice-free area in the Arctic Ocean has transformed its climate system to one with more dynamic boundary layer clouds and seasonal sea ice. During the fall freeze season, the surface sensible heat flux (SSHF) is a crucial mechanism for the loss of excessive ocean heat to the atmosphere, and it has been speculated to play an important role in the recent cloud cover increase and boundary layer (BL) instability observed in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas. Based on multi-year Japanese cruise ship observations from the ice-strengthened R/V Mirai, we are able to characterize the late summer and early fall ocean-BL interactions in this region. Although the BL is found to be well-mixed more than 90% of the time, the SSHF can explain only 10% of the mixed layer height variability. It is the cloud-generated convective turbulence that apparently dominates BL mixing in this ice-free region, which is similar to previous in-situ observations (SHEBA, ASCOS) over sea ice. The SSHF, however, may contribute to BL instability during conditions of uplift (low-pressure), and the presence of the highly stable stratus cloud regime. The efficiency of sensible heat exchange is low during cold air advection (associated with the stratocumulus cloud regime) despite an enhanced ocean-atmosphere temperature difference (ΔT). In general, surface-generated mixing is favored during episodes of high surface wind speeds as opposed to pronounced ΔT. Our analysis suggests a weak local response of the boundary layer stability to the loss of sea ice cover during late summer, which is masked by the strong influence of the large-scale circulation (and clouds). Apart from the fall season, we also studied the Arctic Ocean BL properties during the cold months (Nov-Apr) using multi-year satellite measurements (COSMIC RO). As the boundary layer is typically stable at this time, one might expect major differences in the nature of surface-atmosphere coupling compared to that observed during late
A HPC “Cyber Wind Facility” Incorporating Fully-Coupled CFD/CSD for Turbine-Platform-Wake Interactions with the Atmosphere and Ocean

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brasseur, James G. [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)

2017-05-09

The central aims of the DOE-supported “Cyber Wind Facility” project center on the recognition that wind turbines over land and ocean generate power from atmospheric winds that are inherently turbulent and strongly varying, both spatially over the rotor disk and in temporally as the rotating blades pass through atmospheric eddies embedded within the mean wind. The daytime unstable atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) is particularly variable in space time as solar heating generates buoyancy-driven motions that interact with strong mean shear in the ABL “surface layer,” the lowest 200 - 300 m where wind turbines reside in farms. With the “Cyber Wind Facility” (CWF) program we initiate a research and technology direction in which “cyber data” are generated from “computational experiments” within a “facility” akin to a wind tunnel, but with true space-time atmospheric turbulence that drive utility-scale wind turbines at full-scale Reynolds numbers. With DOE support we generated the key “modules” within a computational framework to create a first generation Cyber Wind Facility (CWF) for single wind turbines in the daytime ABL---both over land where the ABL globally unstable and over water with closer-to-neutral atmospheric conditions but with time response strongly affected by wave-induced forcing of the wind turbine platform (here a buoy configuration). The CWF program has significantly improved the accuracy of actuator line models, evaluated with the Cyber Wind Facility in full blade-boundary-layer-resolved mode. The application of the CWF made in this program showed the existence of important ramp-like response events that likely contribute to bearing fatigue failure on the main shaft and that the advanced ALM method developed here captures the primary nonsteady response characteristics. Long-time analysis uncovered distinctive key dynamics that explain primary mechanisms that underlie potentially deleterious load transients. We also showed
Estimation of the Atmosphere-Ocean Fluxes of Greenhouse Gases and Aerosols at the Finer Resolution of the Coastal Ocean

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Vieira, V.; Sahlée, E.; Juruš, Pavel; Clementi, E.; Pettersson, H.; Mateus, M.

2016-01-01

Roč. 18 (2016), EGU2016-1990-1 ISSN 1607-7962. [EGU General Assembly 2016. 17.04.2016-22.04.2016, Vienna] Institutional support: RVO:67985807 Keywords : greenhouse gases * carbon cycle * atmosphere- ocean interaction * atmosphere modelling * ocean modelling Subject RIV: DG - Athmosphere Sciences, Meteorology
Decadal atmosphere-ocean variations in the Pacific

Science.gov (United States)

Trenberth, Kevin E.; Hurrell, James W.

1994-03-01

Considerable evidence has emerged of a substantial decade-long change in the north Pacific atmosphere and ocean lasting from about 1976 to 1988. Observed significant changes in the atmospheric circulation throughout the troposphere revealed a deeper and eastward shifted Aleutian low pressure system in the winter half year which advected warmer and moister air along the west coast of North America and into Alaska and colder air over the north Pacific. Consequently, there were increases in temperatures and sea surface temperatures (SSTs) along the west coast of North America and Alaska but decreases in SSTs over the central north Pacific, as well as changes in coastal rainfall and streamflow, and decreases in sea ice in the Bering Sea. Associated changes occurred in the surface wind stress, and, by inference, in the Sverdrup transport in the north Pacific Ocean. Changes in the monthly mean flow were accompanied by a southward shift in the storm tracks and associated synoptic eddy activity and in the surface ocean sensible and latent heat fluxes. In addition to the changes in the physical environment, the deeper Aleutian low increased the nutrient supply as seen through increases in total chlorophyll in the water column, phytoplankton and zooplankton. These changes, along with the altered ocean currents and temperatures, changed the migration patterns and increased the stock of many fish species. A north Pacific (NP) index is defined to measure the decadal variations, and the temporal variability of the index is explored on daily, annual, interannual and decadal time scales. The dominant atmosphere-ocean relation in the north Pacific is one where atmospheric changes lead SSTs by one to two months. However, strong ties are revealed with events in the tropical Pacific, with changes in tropical Pacific SSTs leading SSTs in the north Pacific by three months. Changes in the storm tracks in the north Pacific help to reinforce and maintain the anomalous circulation in the
Climate Prediction Center (CPC) Monthly Precipitation Reconstruction of Ocean(PRECO)at Spatial Resolution of 2.5 degree.

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This global monthly precipitation analysis is called the Climate Prediction Center (CPC) Precipitation Reconstruction (PREC). This analysis consists of two...
Operational Ocean Modelling with the Harvard Ocean Prediction System

Science.gov (United States)

2008-11-01

tno.nl TNO-rapportnummer TNO-DV2008 A417 Opdrachtnummer Datum november 2008 Auteur (s) dr. F.P.A. Lam dr. ir. M.W. Schouten dr. L.A. te Raa...area of theory and implementation of numerical schemes and parameterizations, ocean models have grown from experimental tools to full-blown ocean...sound propagation through mesoscale features using 3-D coupled mode theory , Thesis, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, USA. 1992. [9] Robinson
Surface drift prediction in the Adriatic Sea using hyper-ensemble statistics on atmospheric, ocean and wave models: Uncertainties and probability distribution areas

Science.gov (United States)

Rixen, M.; Ferreira-Coelho, E.; Signell, R.

2008-01-01

Despite numerous and regular improvements in underlying models, surface drift prediction in the ocean remains a challenging task because of our yet limited understanding of all processes involved. Hence, deterministic approaches to the problem are often limited by empirical assumptions on underlying physics. Multi-model hyper-ensemble forecasts, which exploit the power of an optimal local combination of available information including ocean, atmospheric and wave models, may show superior forecasting skills when compared to individual models because they allow for local correction and/or bias removal. In this work, we explore in greater detail the potential and limitations of the hyper-ensemble method in the Adriatic Sea, using a comprehensive surface drifter database. The performance of the hyper-ensembles and the individual models are discussed by analyzing associated uncertainties and probability distribution maps. Results suggest that the stochastic method may reduce position errors significantly for 12 to 72??h forecasts and hence compete with pure deterministic approaches. ?? 2007 NATO Undersea Research Centre (NURC).
Impact of including surface currents on simulation of Indian Ocean variability with the POAMA coupled model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhao, Mei; Wang, Guomin; Hendon, Harry H.; Alves, Oscar [Bureau of Meteorology, Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research, Melbourne (Australia)

2011-04-15

Impacts on the coupled variability of the Indo-Pacific by including the effects of surface currents on surface stress are explored in four extended integrations of an experimental version of the Bureau of Meteorology's coupled seasonal forecast model POAMA. The first pair of simulations differs only in their treatment of momentum coupling: one version includes the effects of surface currents on the surface stress computation and the other does not. The version that includes the effect of surface currents has less mean-state bias in the equatorial Pacific cold tongue but produces relatively weak coupled variability in the Tropics, especially that related to the Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) and El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The version without the effects of surface currents has greater bias in the Pacific cold tongue but stronger IOD and ENSO variability. In order to diagnose the role of changes in local coupling from changes in remote forcing by ENSO for causing changes in IOD variability, a second set of simulations is conducted where effects of surface currents are included only in the Indian Ocean and only in the Pacific Ocean. IOD variability is found to be equally reduced by inclusion of the local effects of surface currents in the Indian Ocean and by the reduction of ENSO variability as a result of including effects of surface currents in the Pacific. Some implications of these results for predictability of the IOD and its dependence on ENSO, and for ocean subsurface data assimilation are discussed. (orig.)
Entropy budget of the earth,atmosphere and ocean system

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

GAN Zijun; YAN Youfangand; QI Yiquan

2004-01-01

The energy budget in the system of the earth, atmosphere and ocean conforms to the first law of thermodynamics, namely the law of conservation of energy, and it is balanced when the system is in a steady-state condition. However, the entropy budget following the second law of thermodynamics is unbalanced. In this paper, we deduce the expressions of entropy flux and re-estimate the earth, atmosphere and ocean annual mean entropy budget with the updated climatologically global mean energy budget and the climatologically air-sea flux data. The calculated results show that the earth system obtains a net influx of negative entropy (-1179.3 mWm-2K-1) from its surroundings, and the atmosphere and the ocean systems obtain a net input of negative entropy at about -537.4 mWm-2K-1 and -555.6 mWm-2K-1, respectively. Calculations of the entropy budget can provide some guidance for further understanding the spatial-temporal change of the local entropy flux, and the entropy production resulting from all kinds of irreversible processes inside these systems.
Satellite observations of middle atmosphere-thermosphere vertical coupling by gravity waves

Science.gov (United States)

Trinh, Quang Thai; Ern, Manfred; Doornbos, Eelco; Preusse, Peter; Riese, Martin

2018-03-01

Atmospheric gravity waves (GWs) are essential for the dynamics of the middle atmosphere. Recent studies have shown that these waves are also important for the thermosphere/ionosphere (T/I) system. Via vertical coupling, GWs can significantly influence the mean state of the T/I system. However, the penetration of GWs into the T/I system is not fully understood in modeling as well as observations. In the current study, we analyze the correlation between GW momentum fluxes observed in the middle atmosphere (30-90 km) and GW-induced perturbations in the T/I. In the middle atmosphere, GW momentum fluxes are derived from temperature observations of the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) satellite instrument. In the T/I, GW-induced perturbations are derived from neutral density measured by instruments on the Gravity field and Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) and CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP) satellites. We find generally positive correlations between horizontal distributions at low altitudes (i.e., below 90 km) and horizontal distributions of GW-induced density fluctuations in the T/I (at 200 km and above). Two coupling mechanisms are likely responsible for these positive correlations: (1) fast GWs generated in the troposphere and lower stratosphere can propagate directly to the T/I and (2) primary GWs with their origins in the lower atmosphere dissipate while propagating upwards and generate secondary GWs, which then penetrate up to the T/I and maintain the spatial patterns of GW distributions in the lower atmosphere. The mountain-wave related hotspot over the Andes and Antarctic Peninsula is found clearly in observations of all instruments used in our analysis. Latitude-longitude variations in the summer midlatitudes are also found in observations of all instruments. These variations and strong positive correlations in the summer midlatitudes suggest that GWs with origins related to convection also propagate up to the T
Impacts of atmospheric anthropogenic nitrogen on the open ocean

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Duce, R.A.; LaRoche, J.; Altieri, K.; Arrigo, K.R.; Baker, A.R.; Capone, D.G.; Cornell, S.; Dentener, F.; Galloway, J.; Ganeshram, R.S.; Geider, R.J.; Jickells, T.; Kuypers, M.M.; Langlois, R.; Liss, P.S.; Liu, S.; Middelburg, J.J.; Moore, C.M.; Nickovic, S.; Oschlies, A.; Pedersen, T.; Prospero, J.; Schlitzer, R.; Seitzinger, S.; Sorensen, L.L.; Uematsu, M.; Ulloa, O.; Voss, M.; Ward, B.; Zamora, L.

2008-01-01

Increasing quantities of atmospheric anthropogenic fixed nitrogen entering the open ocean could account for up to about a third of the ocean's external (nonrecycled) nitrogen supply and up to 3% of the annual new marine biological production, 0.3 petagram of carbon per year. This input could account
New constraints on terrestrial and oceanic sources of atmospheric methanol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. B. Millet

2008-12-01

Full Text Available We use a global 3-D chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem to interpret new aircraft, surface, and oceanic observations of methanol in terms of the constraints that they place on the atmospheric methanol budget. Recent measurements of methanol concentrations in the ocean mixed layer (OML imply that in situ biological production must be the main methanol source in the OML, dominating over uptake from the atmosphere. It follows that oceanic emission and uptake must be viewed as independent terms in the atmospheric methanol budget. We deduce that the marine biosphere is a large primary source (85 Tg a⁻¹ of methanol to the atmosphere and is also a large sink (101 Tg a⁻¹, comparable in magnitude to atmospheric oxidation by OH (88 Tg a⁻¹. The resulting atmospheric lifetime of methanol in the model is 4.7 days. Aircraft measurements in the North American boundary layer imply that terrestrial plants are a much weaker source than presently thought, likely reflecting an overestimate of broadleaf tree emissions, and this is also generally consistent with surface measurements. We deduce a terrestrial plant source of 80 Tg a⁻¹, comparable in magnitude to the ocean source. The aircraft measurements show a strong correlation with CO (R²=0.51−0.61 over North America during summer. We reproduce this correlation and slope in the model with the reduced plant source, which also confirms that the anthropogenic source of methanol must be small. Our reduced plant source also provides a better simulation of methanol observations over tropical South America.
Evolution of Earth-like Extrasolar Planetary Atmospheres: Assessing the Atmospheres and Biospheres of Early Earth Analog Planets with a Coupled Atmosphere Biogeochemical Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Gebauer, S; Grenfell, J L; Stock, J W; Lehmann, R; Godolt, M; von Paris, P; Rauer, H

2017-01-01

Understanding the evolution of Earth and potentially habitable Earth-like worlds is essential to fathom our origin in the Universe. The search for Earth-like planets in the habitable zone and investigation of their atmospheres with climate and photochemical models is a central focus in exoplanetary science. Taking the evolution of Earth as a reference for Earth-like planets, a central scientific goal is to understand what the interactions were between atmosphere, geology, and biology on early Earth. The Great Oxidation Event in Earth's history was certainly caused by their interplay, but the origin and controlling processes of this occurrence are not well understood, the study of which will require interdisciplinary, coupled models. In this work, we present results from our newly developed Coupled Atmosphere Biogeochemistry model in which atmospheric O 2 concentrations are fixed to values inferred by geological evidence. Applying a unique tool (Pathway Analysis Program), ours is the first quantitative analysis of catalytic cycles that governed O 2 in early Earth's atmosphere near the Great Oxidation Event. Complicated oxidation pathways play a key role in destroying O 2 , whereas in the upper atmosphere, most O 2 is formed abiotically via CO 2 photolysis. The O 2 bistability found by Goldblatt et al. ( 2006 ) is not observed in our calculations likely due to our detailed CH 4 oxidation scheme. We calculate increased CH 4 with increasing O 2 during the Great Oxidation Event. For a given atmospheric surface flux, different atmospheric states are possible; however, the net primary productivity of the biosphere that produces O 2 is unique. Mixing, CH 4 fluxes, ocean solubility, and mantle/crust properties strongly affect net primary productivity and surface O 2 fluxes. Regarding exoplanets, different "states" of O 2 could exist for similar biomass output. Strong geological activity could lead to false negatives for life (since our analysis suggests that reducing gases
Skill Assessment of a Spectral Ocean-Atmosphere Radiative Model

Science.gov (United States)

Gregg, Watson, W.; Casey, Nancy W.

2009-01-01

Ocean phytoplankton, detrital material, and water absorb and scatter light spectrally. The Ocean- Atmosphere Spectral Irradiance Model (OASIM) is intended to provide surface irradiance over the oceans with sufficient spectral resolution to support ocean ecology, biogeochemistry, and heat exchange investigations, and of sufficient duration to support inter-annual and decadal investigations. OASIM total surface irradiance (integrated 200 nm to 4 microns) was compared to in situ data and three publicly available global data products at monthly 1-degree resolution. OASIM spectrally-integrated surface irradiance had root mean square (RMS) difference= 20.1 W/sq m (about 11%), bias=1.6 W/sq m (about 0.8%), regression slope= 1.01 and correlation coefficient= 0.89, when compared to 2322 in situ observations. OASIM had the lowest bias of any of the global data products evaluated (ISCCP-FD, NCEP, and ISLSCP 11), and the best slope (nearest to unity). It had the second best RMS, and the third best correlation coefficient. OASIM total surface irradiance compared well with ISCCP-FD (RMS= 20.7 W/sq m; bias=-11.4 W/sq m, r=0.98) and ISLSCP II (RMS =25.2 W/sq m; bias= -13.8 W/sq m; r=0.97), but less well with NCEP (RMS =43.0 W/sq m ;bias=-22.6 W/sq m; x=0.91). Comparisons of OASIM photosynthetically available radiation (PAR) with PAR derived from SeaWiFS showed low bias (-1.8 mol photons /sq m/d, or about 5%), RMS (4.25 mol photons /sq m/d ' or about 12%), near unity slope (1.03) and high correlation coefficient (0.97). Coupled with previous estimates of clear sky spectral irradiance in OASIM (6.6% RMS at 1 nm resolution), these results suggest that OASIM provides reasonable estimates of surface broadband and spectral irradiance in the oceans, and can support studies on ocean ecosystems, carbon cycling, and heat exchange.
Ocean Fertilization for Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide from the Atmosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Boyd, Philip W.

The ocean is a major sink for both preindustrial and anthropogenic carbon dioxide. Both physically and biogeochemically driven pumps, termed the solubility and biological pump, respectively Fig.5.1) are responsible for the majority of carbon sequestration in the ocean's interior [1]. The solubility pump relies on ocean circulation - specifically the impact of cooling of the upper ocean at high latitudes both enhances the solubility of carbon dioxide and the density of the waters which sink to great depth (the so-called deepwater formation) and thereby sequester carbon in the form of dissolved inorganic carbon (Fig.5.1). The biological pump is driven by the availability of preformed plant macronutrients such as nitrate or phosphate which are taken up by phytoplankton during photosynthetic carbon fixation. A small but significant proportion of this fixed carbon sinks into the ocean's interior in the form of settling particles, and in order to maintain equilibrium carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is transferred across the air-sea interface into the ocean (the so-called carbon drawdown) thereby decreasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (Fig.5.1).Fig.5.1
Modelling the mid-Pliocene Warm Period climate with the IPSL coupled model and its atmospheric component LMDZ5A

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Contoux

2012-06-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the experimental design and model results of the climate simulations of the mid-Pliocene Warm Period (mPWP, ca. 3.3–3 Ma using the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace model (IPSLCM5A, in the framework of the Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project (PlioMIP. We use the IPSL atmosphere ocean general circulation model (AOGCM, and its atmospheric component alone (AGCM, to simulate the climate of the mPWP. Boundary conditions such as sea surface temperatures (SSTs, topography, ice-sheet extent and vegetation are derived from the ones imposed by the Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project (PlioMIP, described in Haywood et al. (2010, 2011. We first describe the IPSL model main features, and then give a full description of the boundary conditions used for atmospheric model and coupled model experiments. The climatic outputs of the mPWP simulations are detailed and compared to the corresponding control simulations. The simulated warming relative to the control simulation is 1.94 °C in the atmospheric and 2.07 °C in the coupled model experiments. In both experiments, warming is larger at high latitudes. Mechanisms governing the simulated precipitation patterns are different in the coupled model than in the atmospheric model alone, because of the reduced gradients in imposed SSTs, which impacts the Hadley and Walker circulations. In addition, a sensitivity test to the change of land-sea mask in the atmospheric model, representing a sea-level change from present-day to 25 m higher during the mid-Pliocene, is described. We find that surface temperature differences can be large (several degrees Celsius but are restricted to the areas that were changed from ocean to land or vice versa. In terms of precipitation, impact on polar regions is minor although the change in land-sea mask is significant in these areas.

The impact on atmospheric CO2 of iron fertilization induced changes in the ocean's biological pump

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, X.; Gruber, N.; Frenzel, H.; Doney, S. C.; McWilliams, J. C.

2008-03-01

Using numerical simulations, we quantify the impact of changes in the ocean's biological pump on the air-sea balance of CO2 by fertilizing a small surface patch in the high-nutrient, low-chlorophyll region of the eastern tropical Pacific with iron. Decade-long fertilization experiments are conducted in a basin-scale, eddy-permitting coupled physical/biogeochemical/ecological model. In contrast to previous studies, we find that most of the dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) removed from the euphotic zone by the enhanced biological export is replaced by uptake of CO2 from the atmosphere. Atmospheric uptake efficiencies, the ratio of the perturbation in air-sea CO2 flux to the perturbation in export flux across 100 m, integrated over 10 years, are 0.75 to 0.93 in our patch size-scale experiments. The atmospheric uptake efficiency is insensitive to the duration of the experiment. The primary factor controlling the atmospheric uptake efficiency is the vertical distribution of the enhanced biological production and export. Iron fertilization at the surface tends to induce production anomalies primarily near the surface, leading to high efficiencies. In contrast, mechanisms that induce deep production anomalies (e.g. altered light availability) tend to have a low uptake efficiency, since most of the removed DIC is replaced by lateral and vertical transport and mixing. Despite high atmospheric uptake efficiencies, patch-scale iron fertilization of the ocean's biological pump tends to remove little CO2 from the atmosphere over the decadal timescale considered here.
Addressing model error through atmospheric stochastic physical parametrizations: impact on the coupled ECMWF seasonal forecasting system

Science.gov (United States)

Weisheimer, Antje; Corti, Susanna; Palmer, Tim; Vitart, Frederic

2014-01-01

The finite resolution of general circulation models of the coupled atmosphere–ocean system and the effects of sub-grid-scale variability present a major source of uncertainty in model simulations on all time scales. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts has been at the forefront of developing new approaches to account for these uncertainties. In particular, the stochastically perturbed physical tendency scheme and the stochastically perturbed backscatter algorithm for the atmosphere are now used routinely for global numerical weather prediction. The European Centre also performs long-range predictions of the coupled atmosphere–ocean climate system in operational forecast mode, and the latest seasonal forecasting system—System 4—has the stochastically perturbed tendency and backscatter schemes implemented in a similar way to that for the medium-range weather forecasts. Here, we present results of the impact of these schemes in System 4 by contrasting the operational performance on seasonal time scales during the retrospective forecast period 1981–2010 with comparable simulations that do not account for the representation of model uncertainty. We find that the stochastic tendency perturbation schemes helped to reduce excessively strong convective activity especially over the Maritime Continent and the tropical Western Pacific, leading to reduced biases of the outgoing longwave radiation (OLR), cloud cover, precipitation and near-surface winds. Positive impact was also found for the statistics of the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO), showing an increase in the frequencies and amplitudes of MJO events. Further, the errors of El Niño southern oscillation forecasts become smaller, whereas increases in ensemble spread lead to a better calibrated system if the stochastic tendency is activated. The backscatter scheme has overall neutral impact. Finally, evidence for noise-activated regime transitions has been found in a cluster analysis of mid
Predictability of Subsurface Temperature and the AMOC

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Y.; Schubert, S. D.

2013-12-01

GEOS 5 coupled model is extensively used for experimental decadal climate prediction. Understanding the limits of decadal ocean predictability is critical for making progress in these efforts. Using this model, we study the subsurface temperature initial value predictability, the variability of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) and its impacts on the global climate. Our approach is to utilize the idealized data assimilation technology developed at the GMAO. The technique 'replay' allows us to assess, for example, the impact of the surface wind stresses and/or precipitation on the ocean in a very well controlled environment. By running the coupled model in replay mode we can in fact constrain the model using any existing reanalysis data set. We replay the model constraining (nudging) it to the MERRA reanalysis in various fields from 1948-2012. The fields, u,v,T,q,ps, are adjusted towards the 6-hourly analyzed fields in atmosphere. The simulated AMOC variability is studied with a 400-year-long segment of replay integration. The 84 cases of 10-year hindcasts are initialized from 4 different replay cycles. Here, the variability and predictability are examined further by a measure to quantify how much the subsurface temperature and AMOC variability has been influenced by atmospheric forcing and by ocean internal variability. The simulated impact of the AMOC on the multi-decadal variability of the SST, sea surface height (SSH) and sea ice extent is also studied.
A distributed atmosphere-sea ice-ocean observatory in the central Arctic Ocean: concept and first results

Science.gov (United States)

Hoppmann, Mario; Nicolaus, Marcel; Rabe, Benjamin; Wenzhöfer, Frank; Katlein, Christian; Scholz, Daniel; Valcic, Lovro

2017-04-01

To understand the current evolution of the Arctic Ocean towards a less extensive, thinner and younger sea ice cover is one of the biggest challenges in climate research. Especially the lack of simultaneous in-situ observations of sea ice, ocean and atmospheric properties leads to significant knowledge gaps in their complex interactions, and how the associated processes impact the polar marine ecosystem. Here we present a concept for the implementation of a long-term strategy to monitor the most essential climate- and ecosystem parameters in the central Arctic Ocean, year round and synchronously. The basis of this strategy is the development and enhancement of a number of innovative autonomous observational platforms, such as rugged weather stations, ice mass balance buoys, ice-tethered bio-optical buoys and upper ocean profilers. The deployment of those complementing platforms in a distributed network enables the simultaneous collection of physical and biogeochemical in-situ data on basin scales and year round, including the largely undersampled winter periods. A key advantage over other observatory systems is that the data is sent via satellite in near-real time, contributing to numerical weather predictions through the Global Telecommunication System (GTS) and to the International Arctic Buoy Programme (IABP). The first instruments were installed on ice floes in the Eurasian Basin in spring 2015 and 2016, yielding exceptional records of essential climate- and ecosystem-relevant parameters in one of the most inaccessible regions of this planet. Over the next 4 years, and including the observational periods of the Year of Polar Prediction (YOPP, 2017-2019) and the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of the Arctic Climate (MOSAiC, 2020), the distributed observatory will be maintained by deployment of additional instruments in the central Arctic each year, benefitting from international logistical efforts.
Geoengineering impact of open ocean dissolution of olivine on atmospheric CO2, surface ocean pH and marine biology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Köhler, Peter; Abrams, Jesse F; Völker, Christoph; Hauck, Judith; Wolf-Gladrow, Dieter A

2013-01-01

Ongoing global warming induced by anthropogenic emissions has opened the debate as to whether geoengineering is a ‘quick fix’ option. Here we analyse the intended and unintended effects of one specific geoengineering approach, which is enhanced weathering via the open ocean dissolution of the silicate-containing mineral olivine. This approach would not only reduce atmospheric CO 2 and oppose surface ocean acidification, but would also impact on marine biology. If dissolved in the surface ocean, olivine sequesters 0.28 g carbon per g of olivine dissolved, similar to land-based enhanced weathering. Silicic acid input, a byproduct of the olivine dissolution, alters marine biology because silicate is in certain areas the limiting nutrient for diatoms. As a consequence, our model predicts a shift in phytoplankton species composition towards diatoms, altering the biological carbon pumps. Enhanced olivine dissolution, both on land and in the ocean, therefore needs to be considered as ocean fertilization. From dissolution kinetics we calculate that only olivine particles with a grain size of the order of 1 μm sink slowly enough to enable a nearly complete dissolution. The energy consumption for grinding to this small size might reduce the carbon sequestration efficiency by ∼30%. (letter)
Report Viewgraphs for IC project: Fully-coupled climate simulations with an eddy-permitting ocean component

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Veneziani, Carmela [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2017-02-06

Two sets of simulations were performed within this allocation: 1) a 12-year fully-coupled experiment in preindustrial conditions, using the CICE4 version of the sea-ice model; 2) a set of multi-decadal ocean-ice-only experiments, forced with CORE-I atmospheric fields and using the CICE5 version of the sea-ice model. Results from simulation 1) are presented in Figures 1-3, and specific results from a simulation in 2) with tracer releases are presented in Figure 4.
International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS) Release 3.0 - Monthly Summary Groups (MSG)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This dataset, the International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS), is the most widely-used freely available collection of surface marine observations,...
The ocean-atmosphere response to wind-induced thermocline changes in the tropical South Western Indian Ocean

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Manola, Iris; Selten, F. M.; De Ruijter, W. P M; Hazeleger, W.

2014-01-01

In the Indian Ocean basin the sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are most sensitive to changes in the oceanic depth of the thermocline in the region of the Seychelles Dome. Observational studies have suggested that the strong SST variations in this region influence the atmospheric evolution around the
Global Modeling Study of the Bioavailable Atmospheric Iron Supply to the Global Ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Myriokefalitakis, S.; Krol, M. C.; van Noije, T.; Le Sager, P.

2017-12-01

Atmospheric deposition of trace constituents acts as a nutrient source to the open ocean and affect marine ecosystem. Dust is known as a major source of nutrients to the global ocean, but only a fraction of these nutrients is released in a bioavailable form that can be assimilated by the marine biota. Iron (Fe) is a key micronutrient that significantly modulates gross primary production in the High-Nutrient-Low-Chlorophyll (HNLC) oceans, where macronutrients like nitrate are abundant, but primary production is limited by Fe scarcity. The global atmospheric Fe cycle is here parameterized in the state-of-the-art global Earth System Model EC-Earth. The model takes into account the primary emissions of both insoluble and soluble Fe forms, associated with mineral dust and combustion aerosols. The impact of atmospheric acidity and organic ligands on mineral dissolution processes, is parameterized based on updated experimental and theoretical findings. Model results are also evaluated against available observations. Overall, the link between the labile Fe atmospheric deposition and atmospheric composition changes is here demonstrated and quantified. This work has been financed by the Marie-Curie H2020-MSCA-IF-2015 grant (ID 705652) ODEON (Online DEposition over OceaNs; modeling the effect of air pollution on ocean bio-geochemistry in an Earth System Model).
Validation and Inter-comparison Against Observations of GODAE Ocean View Ocean Prediction Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, J.; Davidson, F. J. M.; Smith, G. C.; Lu, Y.; Hernandez, F.; Regnier, C.; Drevillon, M.; Ryan, A.; Martin, M.; Spindler, T. D.; Brassington, G. B.; Oke, P. R.

2016-02-01

For weather forecasts, validation of forecast performance is done at the end user level as well as by the meteorological forecast centers. In the development of Ocean Prediction Capacity, the same level of care for ocean forecast performance and validation is needed. Herein we present results from a validation against observations of 6 Global Ocean Forecast Systems under the GODAE OceanView International Collaboration Network. These systems include the Global Ocean Ice Forecast System (GIOPS) developed by the Government of Canada, two systems PSY3 and PSY4 from the French Mercator-Ocean Ocean Forecasting Group, the FOAM system from UK met office, HYCOM-RTOFS from NOAA/NCEP/NWA of USA, and the Australian Bluelink-OceanMAPS system from the CSIRO, the Australian Meteorological Bureau and the Australian Navy.The observation data used in the comparison are sea surface temperature, sub-surface temperature, sub-surface salinity, sea level anomaly, and sea ice total concentration data. Results of the inter-comparison demonstrate forecast performance limits, strengths and weaknesses of each of the six systems. This work establishes validation protocols and routines by which all new prediction systems developed under the CONCEPTS Collaborative Network will be benchmarked prior to approval for operations. This includes anticipated delivery of CONCEPTS regional prediction systems over the next two years including a pan Canadian 1/12th degree resolution ice ocean prediction system and limited area 1/36th degree resolution prediction systems. The validation approach of comparing forecasts to observations at the time and location of the observation is called Class 4 metrics. It has been adopted by major international ocean prediction centers, and will be recommended to JCOMM-WMO as routine validation approach for operational oceanography worldwide.
Atmospheric radiocarbon as a Southern Ocean wind proxy over the last 1000 years

Science.gov (United States)

Rodgers, K. B.; Mikaloff Fletcher, S.; Galbraith, E.; Sarmiento, J. L.; Gnanadesikan, A.; Slater, R. D.; Naegler, T.

2009-04-01

Measurements of radiocarbon in tree rings over the last 1000 years indicate that there was a pre-industrial latitudinal gradient of atmospheric radiocarbon of 3.9-4.5 per mail and that this gradient had temporal variability of order 6 per mil. Here we test the idea that the mean gradient as well as variability in he gradient is dominated by the strength of the winds over the Southern Ocean. This is done using an ocean model and an atmospheric transport model. The ocean model is used to derive fluxes of 12CO2 and 14CO2 at the sea surface, and these fluxes are used as a lower boundary condition for the transport model. For the mean state, strong winds in the Southern Ocean drive significant upwelling of radiocarbon-depleted Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW), leading to a net flux of 14CO2 relative to 12CO2 into the ocean. This serves to maintain a hemispheric gradient in pre-anthropogenic atmospheric delta-c14. For perturbations, increased/decreased Southern Ocean winds drive increased/decreased uptake of 14CO2 relative to 12CO2, thus increasing/decreasing the hemispheric gradient in atmospheric delta-c14. The tree ring data is interpreted to reveal a decrease in the strength of the Southern Ocean winds at the transition between the Little Ice Age and the Medieval Warm Period.
Estimating the Mean Circulation and Water Exchange of the Gulf of Suez-Red Sea via a Validated One-Way Atmospheric-Hydrodynamic Coupled Model

Science.gov (United States)

Eladawy, Ahmed; Shaltout, Mohamed; Sousa, Magda Catarina; Dias, João Miguel; Nadaoka, Kazuo

2018-05-01

The Gulf of Suez, Northern Islands protected area, and Hurghada zone are experiencing mega developments in all sectors including tourism, industry, and logistics. The need for moderately accurate near-shore hydrodynamic models is increasing to support the sustainable development of this oceanic area. This can be accomplished by following a nesting approach including the downscaling of global atmospheric and oceanic models into local models using higher resolution datasets. This work aims to present the development of a one-way coupling between atmospheric and hydrodynamic models for the Gulf of Suez (GOS) to understand the local oceanic characteristics and processes. The Regional Climate Model system (RegCM4) is used to simulate moderate resolution atmospheric features and its results are used to force a local dedicated application of Delft3D model. The results indicate that the predicted water level, water temperature, and evaporation accurately follow in situ measurements, remotely sensed data, and re-analysis data. The results suggest that the annual sea surface temperature is averaged at 23 °C, while the annual average of evaporation rates equals 8.02 mm/day. The study suggests that the water level displays a marked seasonal and spatial variation. Moreover, the water balance in the Gulf of Suez was controlled by the difference between inflows and outflows through the Straits of Gubal and by the net precipitation. In addition, the water balance indicated a net loss of approximately 3.9 × 10-3 m of water during 2013. Moreover, the exchange through the Straits of Gubal showed a two-way exchange with a net inflow of 0.0007 Sv, where the outflow dominated in the surface layer along the western coast and the inflow dominated in the lower layers along the middle of the Straits. To conclude, the one-way coupling modeling technique proved to be a reliable tool for studying local features of the GOS region.
Remote SST Forcing and Local Land-Atmosphere Moisture Coupling as Drivers of Amazon Temperature and Carbon Cycle Variability

Science.gov (United States)

Levine, P. A.; Xu, M.; Chen, Y.; Randerson, J. T.; Hoffman, F. M.

2017-12-01

results from both SST and SM anomalies. As with T, SM anomalies affect NEP at a much longer lag time than SST anomalies. These results highlight the role of land-atmosphere coupling in driving climate variability within the Amazon, and suggest that land atmospheric coupling may amplify and delay carbon cycle responses to ocean-atmosphere teleconnections.
The impact on atmospheric CO2 of iron fertilization induced changes in the ocean's biological pump

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. C. McWilliams

2008-03-01

Full Text Available Using numerical simulations, we quantify the impact of changes in the ocean's biological pump on the air-sea balance of CO2 by fertilizing a small surface patch in the high-nutrient, low-chlorophyll region of the eastern tropical Pacific with iron. Decade-long fertilization experiments are conducted in a basin-scale, eddy-permitting coupled physical/biogeochemical/ecological model. In contrast to previous studies, we find that most of the dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC removed from the euphotic zone by the enhanced biological export is replaced by uptake of CO2 from the atmosphere. Atmospheric uptake efficiencies, the ratio of the perturbation in air-sea CO2 flux to the perturbation in export flux across 100 m, integrated over 10 years, are 0.75 to 0.93 in our patch size-scale experiments. The atmospheric uptake efficiency is insensitive to the duration of the experiment. The primary factor controlling the atmospheric uptake efficiency is the vertical distribution of the enhanced biological production and export. Iron fertilization at the surface tends to induce production anomalies primarily near the surface, leading to high efficiencies. In contrast, mechanisms that induce deep production anomalies (e.g. altered light availability tend to have a low uptake efficiency, since most of the removed DIC is replaced by lateral and vertical transport and mixing. Despite high atmospheric uptake efficiencies, patch-scale iron fertilization of the ocean's biological pump tends to remove little CO2 from the atmosphere over the decadal timescale considered here.
Impact of an observational time window on coupled data assimilation: simulation with a simple climate model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. Zhao

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Climate signals are the results of interactions of multiple timescale media such as the atmosphere and ocean in the coupled earth system. Coupled data assimilation (CDA pursues balanced and coherent climate analysis and prediction initialization by incorporating observations from multiple media into a coupled model. In practice, an observational time window (OTW is usually used to collect measured data for an assimilation cycle to increase observational samples that are sequentially assimilated with their original error scales. Given different timescales of characteristic variability in different media, what are the optimal OTWs for the coupled media so that climate signals can be most accurately recovered by CDA? With a simple coupled model that simulates typical scale interactions in the climate system and twin CDA experiments, we address this issue here. Results show that in each coupled medium, an optimal OTW can provide maximal observational information that best fits the characteristic variability of the medium during the data blending process. Maintaining correct scale interactions, the resulting CDA improves the analysis of climate signals greatly. These simple model results provide a guideline for when the real observations are assimilated into a coupled general circulation model for improving climate analysis and prediction initialization by accurately recovering important characteristic variability such as sub-diurnal in the atmosphere and diurnal in the ocean.
The role of nutricline depth in regulating the ocean carbon cycle.

Science.gov (United States)

Cermeño, Pedro; Dutkiewicz, Stephanie; Harris, Roger P; Follows, Mick; Schofield, Oscar; Falkowski, Paul G

2008-12-23

Carbon uptake by marine phytoplankton, and its export as organic matter to the ocean interior (i.e., the "biological pump"), lowers the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO(2)) in the upper ocean and facilitates the diffusive drawdown of atmospheric CO(2). Conversely, precipitation of calcium carbonate by marine planktonic calcifiers such as coccolithophorids increases pCO(2) and promotes its outgassing (i.e., the "alkalinity pump"). Over the past approximately 100 million years, these two carbon fluxes have been modulated by the relative abundance of diatoms and coccolithophores, resulting in biological feedback on atmospheric CO(2) and Earth's climate; yet, the processes determining the relative distribution of these two phytoplankton taxa remain poorly understood. We analyzed phytoplankton community composition in the Atlantic Ocean and show that the distribution of diatoms and coccolithophorids is correlated with the nutricline depth, a proxy of nutrient supply to the upper mixed layer of the ocean. Using this analysis in conjunction with a coupled atmosphere-ocean intermediate complexity model, we predict a dramatic reduction in the nutrient supply to the euphotic layer in the coming century as a result of increased thermal stratification. Our findings indicate that, by altering phytoplankton community composition, this causal relationship may lead to a decreased efficiency of the biological pump in sequestering atmospheric CO(2), implying a positive feedback in the climate system. These results provide a mechanistic basis for understanding the connection between upper ocean dynamics, the calcium carbonate-to-organic C production ratio and atmospheric pCO(2) variations on time scales ranging from seasonal cycles to geological transitions.
Southern Ocean Predicted Seafloor Topography Poster - MGG9

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This 36 by 48 inch full color poster is MGG Report 9. In many areas of the global ocean, the depth of the seafloor is not well known because survey lines by ships...
Interactions of the tropical oceans. Rev.ed.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Latif, M.; Barnett, T.P.

1994-01-01

We have investigated the interactions of the tropical oceans on interannual time scales by conducting a series of uncoupled atmospheric and oceanic general circulation experiments and hybrid coupled model simulations. Our results illustrate the key role of the El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon in generating interannual variability in all three tropical ocean basins. Sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the tropical Pacific force via a changed atmospheric circulation SST anomalies of the same sign in the Indian Ocean and SST anomalies of the opposite sign in the Atlantic. However, although air-sea interactions in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans are much weaker than those in the Pacific, they contribute significantly to the variability in these two regions. The role of these air-sea interactions is mainly that of an amplifyer by which the ENSO induced signals are enhanced in ocean and atmosphere. This process is particularly important in the tropical Atlantic region. We investigated also whether ENSO is part of a zonally propagating ''wave'' which travels around the globe with a time scale of several years. Consistent with observations, the upper ocean heat content in the various numerical simulations seems to propagate slowly around the globe. SST anomalies in the Pacific Ocean introduce a global atmospheric response which in turn forces variations in the other tropical oceans. Since the different oceans exhibit different response characteristics to low-frequency wind changes, the individual tropical ocean responses can add up coincidentally to look like a global wave, and that appears to be the situation. In particular, no evidence is found that the Indian Ocean can significantly affect the ENSO cycle in the Pacific. Finally, the potential for climate forecasts in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans appears to be enhanced if one includes, in a coupled way, remote influences from the Pacific. (orig.)
The ocean quasi-homogeneous layer model and global cycle of carbon dioxide in system of atmosphere-ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Glushkov, Alexander; Glushkov, Alexander; Loboda, Nataliya; Khokhlov, Valery; Serbov, Nikoly; Svinarenko, Andrey

The purpose of this paper is carrying out the detailed model of the CO2 global turnover in system of "atmosphere-ocean" with using the ocean quasi-homogeneous layer model. Practically all carried out models are functioning in the average annual regime and accounting for the carbon distribution in bio-sphere in most general form (Glushkov et al, 2003). We construct a modified model for cycle of the carbon dioxide, which allows to reproduce a season dynamics of carbon turnover in ocean with account of zone ocean structure (up quasi-homogeneous layer, thermocline and deepest layer). It is taken into account dependence of the CO2 transfer through the bounder between atmosphere and ocean upon temperature of water and air, wind velocity, buffer mechanism of the CO2 dissolution. The same program is realized for atmosphere part of whole system. It is obtained a tempo-ral and space distribution for concentration of non-organic carbon in ocean, partial press of dissolute CO2 and value of exchange on the border between atmosphere and ocean. It is estimated a role of the wind intermixing of the up ocean layer. The increasing of this effect leads to increasing the plankton mass and further particles, which are transferred by wind, contribute to more quick immersion of microscopic shells and organic material. It is fulfilled investigation of sen-sibility of the master differential equations system solutions from the model parameters. The master differential equa-tions system, describing a dynamics of the CO2 cycle, is numerically integrated by the four order Runge-Cutt method under given initial values of valuables till output of solution on periodic regime. At first it is indicated on possible real-zation of the chaos scenario in system. On our data, the difference of the average annual values for the non-organic car-bon concentration in the up quasi-homogeneous layer between equator and extreme southern zone is 0.15 mol/m3, be-tween the equator and extreme northern zone is 0
Impulse exchange at the surface of the ocean and the fractal dimension of drifter trajectories

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. M. Summers

2002-01-01

Full Text Available An impulse-based model is developed to represent a coupling between turbulent flow in the atmosphere and turbulent flow in the ocean. In particular, it is argued that the atmosphere flowing horizontally over the ocean surface generates a velocity fluctuation field in the latter's near-surface flow. The mechanism for this can be understood kinematically in terms of an exchange of tangentially-oriented fluid impulse at the air-sea interface. We represent this exchange numerically through the creation of Lagrangian elements of impulse density. An indication of the efficacy of such a model would lie in its ability to predict the observed fractal dimension of lateral trajectories of submerged floats set adrift in the ocean. To this end, we examine the geometry of lateral tracer-paths determined from the present model.

Exploring the southern ocean response to climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Martinson, Douglas G.; Rind, David; Parkinson, Claire

1993-01-01

The purpose of this project was to couple a regional (Southern Ocean) ocean/sea ice model to the existing Goddard Institute for Space Science (GISS) atmospheric general circulation model (GCM). This modification recognizes: the relative isolation of the Southern Ocean; the need to account, prognostically, for the significant air/sea/ice interaction through all involved components; and the advantage of translating the atmospheric lower boundary (typically the rapidly changing ocean surface) to a level that is consistent with the physical response times governing the system evolution (that is, to the base of the fast responding ocean surface layer). The deeper ocean beneath this layer varies on time scales several orders of magnitude slower than the atmosphere and surface ocean, and therefore the boundary between the upper and deep ocean represents a more reasonable fixed boundary condition.
Glacial ocean circulation and stratification explained by reduced atmospheric temperature

OpenAIRE

Jansen, Malte F.

2016-01-01

To understand climatic swings between glacial and interglacial climates we need to explain the observed fluctuations in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), which in turn are most likely driven by changes in the deep ocean circulation. This study presents a model for differences in the deep ocean circulation between glacial and interglacial climates consistent with both our physical understanding and various proxy observations. The results suggest that observed changes in ocean circulation and s...
Oceanic and atmospheric conditions associated with the pentad rainfall over the southeastern peninsular India during the North-East Indian Monsoon season

Science.gov (United States)

Shanmugasundaram, Jothiganesh; Lee, Eungul

2018-03-01

India through stronger cyclonic circulations, which were confirmed by the moisture transport vectors and positive vorticity. The identified ocean and atmosphere processes, associated with the wet NEIMR conditions, could be a valuable scientific input for enhancing the rainfall predictability, which has a huge socioeconomic value to agriculture and water resource management sectors in the southeastern peninsular India.
Green Ocean Amazon 2014/15 – Scaling Amazon Carbon Water Couplings Field Campaign Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dubey, Manvendra [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Parket, Harrison [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Myers, Katherine [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Rahn, Thom [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Christoffersson, B. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Wunch, Debra [California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States); Wennberg, Paul [California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)

2016-08-01

Forests soak up 25% of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted by anthropogenic fossil energy use (10 Gt C y-1), moderating its atmospheric accumulation. How this terrestrial CO2 uptake will evolve with climate change in the 21st Century is largely unknown. Rainforests are the most active ecosystems, with the Amazon basin storing 120 Gt C as biomass and exchanging 18 Gt C y-1 of CO2 via photosynthesis and respiration and fixing carbon at 2-3 kg C m-2 y-1. Furthermore, the intense hydrologic and carbon cycles are tightly coupled in the Amazon where about half of the water is recycled by evapotranspiration and the other half imported from the ocean by Northeasterly trade winds. Climate models predict a drying in the Amazon with reduced carbon uptake while observationally guided assessments indicate sustained uptake. We set out to resolve this huge discrepancy in the size and sign of the future Amazon carbon cycle by performing the first simultaneous regional-scale high-frequency measurements of atmospheric CO2, H2O, HOD, CH4, N2O, and CO at the T3 site in Manacupuru, Brazil, as part of DOE's GoAmazon 2014/15 project. Our data will be used to inform and develop DOE's Community Land Model (CLM) on the tropical carbon-water couplings at the appropriate grid scale (10-50 km). Our measurements will also validate the CO2 data from Japan's Greenhouse gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) and NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO)-2 satellite (launched in July, 2014). Our data addresses these science questions: 1. How does ecosystem heterogeneity and climate variability influence the rainforest carbon cycle? 2. How well do current tropical ecosystem models simulate the observed regional carbon cycle? 3. Does nitrogen deposition (from the Manaus, Brazil, plume) enhance rainforest carbon uptake?
NOAA/NCEP Global Forecast System (GFS) Atmospheric Model

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Global Forecast System (GFS) numerical weather...
A fully coupled Mediterranean regional climate system model: design and evaluation of the ocean component for the 1980–2012 period

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Florence Sevault

2014-11-01

Full Text Available A fully coupled regional climate system model (CNRM-RCSM4 dedicated to the Mediterranean region is described and evaluated using a multidecadal hindcast simulation (1980–2012 driven by global atmosphere and ocean reanalysis. CNRM-RCSM4 includes the regional representation of the atmosphere (ALADIN-Climate model, land surface (ISBA model, rivers (TRIP model and the ocean (NEMOMED8 model, with a daily coupling by the OASIS coupler. This model aims to reproduce the regional climate system with as few constraints as possible: there is no surface salinity, temperature relaxation, or flux correction; the Black Sea budget is parameterised and river runoffs (except for the Nile are fully coupled. The atmospheric component of CNRM-RCSM4 is evaluated in a companion paper; here, we focus on the air–sea fluxes, river discharges, surface ocean characteristics, deep water formation phenomena and the Mediterranean thermohaline circulation. Long-term stability, mean seasonal cycle, interannual variability and decadal trends are evaluated using basin-scale climatologies and in-situ measurements when available. We demonstrate that the simulation shows overall good behaviour in agreement with state-of-the-art Mediterranean RCSMs. An overestimation of the shortwave radiation and latent heat loss as well as a cold Sea Surface Temperature (SST bias and a slight trend in the bottom layers are the primary current deficiencies. Further, CNRM-RCSM4 shows high skill in reproducing the interannual to decadal variability for air–sea fluxes, river runoffs, sea surface temperature and salinity as well as open-sea deep convection, including a realistic simulation of the Eastern Mediterranean Transient. We conclude that CNRM-RCSM4 is a mature modelling tool allowing the climate variability of the Mediterranean regional climate system to be studied and understood. It is used in hindcast and scenario modes in the HyMeX and Med-CORDEX programs.
Out of Thin Air: Microbial Utilization of Atmospheric Gaseous Organics in the Surface Ocean

KAUST Repository

Arrieta, J M; Duarte, Carlos M.; Sala, M. Montserrat; Dachs, Jordi

2016-01-01

Volatile and semi-volatile gas-phase organic carbon (GOC) is a largely neglected component of the global carbon cycle, with poorly resolved pools and fluxes of natural and anthropogenic GOC in the biosphere. Substantial amounts of atmospheric GOC are exchanged with the surface ocean, and subsequent utilization of specific GOC compounds by surface ocean microbial communities has been demonstrated. Yet, the final fate of the bulk of the atmospheric GOC entering the surface ocean is unknown. Our data show experimental evidence of efficient use of atmospheric GOC by marine prokaryotes at different locations in the NE Subtropical Atlantic, the Arctic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. We estimate that between 2 and 27% of the prokaryotic carbon demand was supported by GOC with a major fraction of GOC inputs being consumed within the mixed layer. The role of the atmosphere as a key vector of organic carbon subsidizing marine microbial metabolism is a novel link yet to be incorporated into the microbial ecology of the surface ocean as well as into the global carbon budget.
Out of Thin Air: Microbial Utilization of Atmospheric Gaseous Organics in the Surface Ocean.

Science.gov (United States)

Arrieta, Jesús M; Duarte, Carlos M; Sala, M Montserrat; Dachs, Jordi

2015-01-01

Volatile and semi-volatile gas-phase organic carbon (GOC) is a largely neglected component of the global carbon cycle, with poorly resolved pools and fluxes of natural and anthropogenic GOC in the biosphere. Substantial amounts of atmospheric GOC are exchanged with the surface ocean, and subsequent utilization of specific GOC compounds by surface ocean microbial communities has been demonstrated. Yet, the final fate of the bulk of the atmospheric GOC entering the surface ocean is unknown. Our data show experimental evidence of efficient use of atmospheric GOC by marine prokaryotes at different locations in the NE Subtropical Atlantic, the Arctic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. We estimate that between 2 and 27% of the prokaryotic carbon demand was supported by GOC with a major fraction of GOC inputs being consumed within the mixed layer. The role of the atmosphere as a key vector of organic carbon subsidizing marine microbial metabolism is a novel link yet to be incorporated into the microbial ecology of the surface ocean as well as into the global carbon budget.
Out of thin air: Microbial utilization of atmospheric gaseous organics in the surface ocean

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jesus M Arrieta

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Volatile and semi-volatile gas-phase organic carbon (GOC is a largely neglected component of the global carbon cycle, with poorly resolved pools and fluxes of natural and anthropogenic GOC in the biosphere. Substantial amounts of atmospheric GOC are exchanged with the surface ocean, and subsequent utilization of specific GOC compounds by surface ocean microbial communities has been demonstrated. Yet, the final fate of the bulk of the atmospheric GOC entering the surface ocean is unknown. Our data show experimental evidence of efficient use of atmospheric GOC by marine prokaryotes at different locations in the NE Subtropical Atlantic, the Arctic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. We estimate that between 2 to 27% of the prokaryotic carbon demand was supported by GOC with a major fraction of GOC inputs being consumed within the mixed layer. The role of the atmosphere as a key vector of organic carbon subsidising marine microbial metabolism is a novel link yet to be incorporated into the microbial ecology of the surface ocean as well as into the global carbon budget.
Out of Thin Air: Microbial Utilization of Atmospheric Gaseous Organics in the Surface Ocean

KAUST Repository

Arrieta, Jesus

2016-01-20

Volatile and semi-volatile gas-phase organic carbon (GOC) is a largely neglected component of the global carbon cycle, with poorly resolved pools and fluxes of natural and anthropogenic GOC in the biosphere. Substantial amounts of atmospheric GOC are exchanged with the surface ocean, and subsequent utilization of specific GOC compounds by surface ocean microbial communities has been demonstrated. Yet, the final fate of the bulk of the atmospheric GOC entering the surface ocean is unknown. Our data show experimental evidence of efficient use of atmospheric GOC by marine prokaryotes at different locations in the NE Subtropical Atlantic, the Arctic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. We estimate that between 2 and 27% of the prokaryotic carbon demand was supported by GOC with a major fraction of GOC inputs being consumed within the mixed layer. The role of the atmosphere as a key vector of organic carbon subsidizing marine microbial metabolism is a novel link yet to be incorporated into the microbial ecology of the surface ocean as well as into the global carbon budget.
Role of Ocean Initial Conditions to Diminish Dry Bias in the Seasonal Prediction of Indian Summer Monsoon Rainfall: A Case Study Using Climate Forecast System

Science.gov (United States)

Koul, Vimal; Parekh, Anant; Srinivas, G.; Kakatkar, Rashmi; Chowdary, Jasti S.; Gnanaseelan, C.

2018-03-01

Coupled models tend to underestimate Indian summer monsoon (ISM) rainfall over most of the Indian subcontinent. Present study demonstrates that a part of dry bias is arising from the discrepancies in Oceanic Initial Conditions (OICs). Two hindcast experiments are carried out using Climate Forecast System (CFSv2) for summer monsoons of 2012-2014 in which two different OICs are utilized. With respect to first experiment (CTRL), second experiment (AcSAL) differs by two aspects: usage of high-resolution atmospheric forcing and assimilation of only ARGO observed temperature and salinity profiles for OICs. Assessment of OICs indicates that the quality of OICs is enhanced due to assimilation of actual salinity profiles. Analysis reveals that AcSAL experiment showed 10% reduction in the dry bias over the Indian land region during the ISM compared to CTRL. This improvement is consistently apparent in each month and is highest for June. The better representation of upper ocean thermal structure of tropical oceans at initial stage supports realistic upper ocean stability and mixing. Which in fact reduced the dominant cold bias over the ocean, feedback to air-sea interactions and land sea thermal contrast resulting better representation of monsoon circulation and moisture transport. This reduced bias of tropospheric moisture and temperature over the Indian land mass and also produced better tropospheric temperature gradient over land as well as ocean. These feedback processes reduced the dry bias in the ISM rainfall. Study concludes that initializing the coupled models with realistic OICs can reduce the underestimation of ISM rainfall prediction.
ESPC Coupled Global Prediction System

Science.gov (United States)

2015-09-30

through an improvement to the sea ice albedo . Fig. 3: 2-m Temperature bias (deg C) of 120-h forecasts for the month of May 2014 for the Arctic...forecast system (NAVGEM) and ocean- sea ice forecast system (HYCOM/CICE) have never been coupled at high resolution. The coupled processes will be...winds and currents across the interface. The sea - ice component of this project requires modification of CICE versions 4 and 5 to run in the coupled
Coupled atmosphere-wildland fire modelling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jacques Henri Balbi

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Simulating the interaction between fire and atmosphere is critical to the estimation of the rate of spread of the fire. Wildfire’s convection (i.e., entire plume can modify the local meteorology throughout the atmospheric boundary layer and consequently affect the fire propagation speed and behaviour. In this study, we use for the first time the Méso-NH meso-scale numerical model coupled to the point functional ForeFire simplified physical front-tracking wildfire model to investigate the differences introduced by the atmospheric feedback in propagation speed and behaviour. Both numerical models have been developed as research tools for operational models and are currently used to forecast localized extreme events. These models have been selected because they can be run coupled and support decisions in wildfire management in France and Europe. The main originalities of this combination reside in the fact that Méso-NH is run in a Large Eddy Simulation (LES configuration and that the rate of spread model used in ForeFire provides a physical formulation to take into account the effect of wind and slope. Simulations of typical experimental configurations show that the numerical atmospheric model is able to reproduce plausible convective effects of the heat produced by the fire. Numerical results are comparable to estimated values for fire-induced winds and present behaviour similar to other existing numerical approaches.
Comprehensive Ocean - Atmosphere Data Set (COADS) LMRF Arctic Subset

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Comprehensive Ocean - Atmosphere Data Set (COADS) LMRF Arctic subset contains marine surface weather reports for the region north of 65 degrees N from ships,...
Turbidity, SOLAR RADIATION - ATMOSPHERIC and other data from FRANKLIN from 1992-11-25 to 1993-02-03 (NODC Accession 9500002)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Conductivity, Temperature and Depth (CTD) and other SEASOAR data were collected as part of Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere and Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Response...
Simulated effect of calcification feedback on atmospheric CO2 and ocean acidification

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Han; Cao, Long

2016-01-01

Ocean uptake of anthropogenic CO2 reduces pH and saturation state of calcium carbonate materials of seawater, which could reduce the calcification rate of some marine organisms, triggering a negative feedback on the growth of atmospheric CO2. We quantify the effect of this CO2-calcification feedback by conducting a series of Earth system model simulations that incorporate different parameterization schemes describing the dependence of calcification rate on saturation state of CaCO3. In a scenario with SRES A2 CO2 emission until 2100 and zero emission afterwards, by year 3500, in the simulation without CO2-calcification feedback, model projects an accumulated ocean CO2 uptake of 1462 PgC, atmospheric CO2 of 612 ppm, and surface pH of 7.9. Inclusion of CO2-calcification feedback increases ocean CO2 uptake by 9 to 285 PgC, reduces atmospheric CO2 by 4 to 70 ppm, and mitigates the reduction in surface pH by 0.003 to 0.06, depending on the form of parameterization scheme used. It is also found that the effect of CO2-calcification feedback on ocean carbon uptake is comparable and could be much larger than the effect from CO2-induced warming. Our results highlight the potentially important role CO2-calcification feedback plays in ocean carbon cycle and projections of future atmospheric CO2 concentrations. PMID:26838480
Earth orientation and its excitations by atmosphere, oceans, and geomagnetic jerks

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Vondrák J.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In addition to torques exerted by the Moon, Sun, and planets, changes of the Earth orientation parameters (EOP are known to be caused also by excitations by the atmosphere and oceans. Recently appeared studies, hinting that geomagnetic jerks (GMJ, rapid changes of geomagnetic field might be associated with sudden changes of phase and amplitude of EOP (Holme and de Viron 2005, 2013, Gibert and Le Mouёl 2008, Malkin 2013. We (Ron et al. 2015 used additional excitations applied at the epochs of GMJ to derive its influence on motion of the spin axis of the Earth in space (precession-nutation. We demonstrated that this effect, if combined with the influence of the atmosphere and oceans, improves substantially the agreement with celestial pole offsets observed by Very Long-Baseline Interferometry. Here we concentrate our efforts to study possible influence of GMJ on temporal changes of all five Earth orientation parameters defining the complete Earth orientation in space. Numerical integration of Brzeziński's broad-band Liouville equations (Brzeziński 1994 with atmospheric and oceanic excitations, combined with expected GMJ effects, is used to derive EOP and compare them with their observed values. We demonstrate that the agreement between all five Earth orientation parameters integrated by this method and those observed by space geodesy is improved substantially if the influence of additional excitations at GMJ epochs is added to excitations by the atmosphere and oceans.
Earth Orientation and Its Excitations by Atmosphere, Oceans, and Geomagnetic Jerks

Science.gov (United States)

Vondrák, J.; Ron, C.

2015-12-01

In addition to torques exerted by the Moon, Sun, and planets, changes of the Earth orientation parameters (EOP) are known to be caused also by excitations by the atmosphere and oceans. Recently appeared studies, hinting that geomagnetic jerks (GMJ, rapid changes of geomagnetic field) might be associated with sudden changes of phase and amplitude of EOP (Holme and de Viron 2005, 2013, Gibert and Le Mouël 2008, Malkin 2013). We (Ron et al. 2015) used additional excitations applied at the epochs of GMJ to derive its influence on motion of the spin axis of the Earth in space (precession-nutation). We demonstrated that this effect, if combined with the influence of the atmosphere and oceans, improves substantially the agreement with celestial pole offsets observed by Very Long-Baseline Interferometry. Here we concentrate our efforts to study possible influence of GMJ on temporal changes of all five Earth orientation parameters defining the complete Earth orientation in space. Numerical integration of Brzeziński's broad-band Liouville equations (Brzeziński 1994) with atmospheric and oceanic excitations, combined with expected GMJ effects, is used to derive EOP and compare them with their observed values. We demonstrate that the agreement between all five Earth orientation parameters integrated by this method and those observed by space geodesy is improved substantially if the influence of additional excitations at GMJ epochs is added to excitations by the atmosphere and oceans.
Ocean-Atmosphere Interaction in Climate Changes

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, W. Timothy

1999-01-01

temperature anomalies with the cyclonic wind anomalies toward the coast. The results led to a new study which identifies decadal ocean variations in the Northeast Pacific. Three studies of oceanic responses to wind forcing caused by the seasonal change of monsoons, the passage of a typhoon, and the 1997 El Nino, were successfully conducted. Besides wind forcing, we continue to examine new techniques for estimating thermal and hydrologic fluxes, through the inverse ocean mixed-layer model, through divergence of atmospheric water transport, and by direct retrieval from radiances observed by microwave radiometers. Greenhouse warming has been linked to water vapor measured by two spaceborne sensors in two studies. In the first study, strong baroclinicity and deep convection were found to transport water vapor to the upper atmosphere and increase greenhouse trapping over the storm tracks of the North Pacific and Atlantic. In another study, the annual cycle of greenhouse warming were related to sea surface temperature (SST) and integrated water vapor, and the latitudinal dependence of the magnitudes and phases of the annual cycles were compared.
How ocean lateral mixing changes Southern Ocean variability in coupled climate models

Science.gov (United States)

Pradal, M. A. S.; Gnanadesikan, A.; Thomas, J. L.

2016-02-01

The lateral mixing of tracers represents a major uncertainty in the formulation of coupled climate models. The mixing of tracers along density surfaces in the interior and horizontally within the mixed layer is often parameterized using a mixing coefficient ARedi. The models used in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 exhibit more than an order of magnitude range in the values of this coefficient used within the Southern Ocean. The impacts of such uncertainty on Southern Ocean variability have remained unclear, even as recent work has shown that this variability differs between different models. In this poster, we change the lateral mixing coefficient within GFDL ESM2Mc, a coarse-resolution Earth System model that nonetheless has a reasonable circulation within the Southern Ocean. As the coefficient varies from 400 to 2400 m2/s the amplitude of the variability varies significantly. The low-mixing case shows strong decadal variability with an annual mean RMS temperature variability exceeding 1C in the Circumpolar Current. The highest-mixing case shows a very similar spatial pattern of variability, but with amplitudes only about 60% as large. The suppression of mixing is larger in the Atlantic Sector of the Southern Ocean relatively to the Pacific sector. We examine the salinity budgets of convective regions, paying particular attention to the extent to which high mixing prevents the buildup of low-saline waters that are capable of shutting off deep convection entirely.

Land-atmosphere-ocean interactions in the southeastern Atlantic: interannual variability

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Xiaoming; Vizy, Edward K.; Cook, Kerry H.

2018-02-01

Land-atmosphere-ocean interactions in the southeastern South Atlantic and their connections to interannual variability are examined using a regional climate model coupled with an intermediate-level ocean model. In austral summer, zonal displacements of the South Atlantic subtropical high (SASH) can induce variations of mixed-layer currents in the Benguela upwelling region through surface wind stress curl anomalies near the Namibian coast, and an eastward shifted SASH is related to the first Pacific-South American mode. When the SASH is meridionally displaced, mixed layer vertically-integrated Ekman transport anomalies are mainly a response to the change of alongshore surface wind stress. The latitudinal shift of the SASH tends to dampen the anomalous alongshore wind by modulating the land-sea thermal contrast, while opposed by oceanic diffusion. Although the position of the SASH is closely linked to the phase of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the southern annular mode (SAM) in austral summer, an overall relationship between Benguela upwelling strength and ENSO or SAM is absent. During austral winter, variations of the mixed layer Ekman transport in the Benguela upwelling region are connected to the strength of the SASH through its impact on both coastal wind stress curl and alongshore surface wind stress. Compared with austral summer, low-level cloud cover change plays a more important role. Although wintertime sea surface temperature fluctuations in the equatorial Atlantic are strong and may act to influence variability over the northern Benguela area, the surface heat budget analysis suggests that local air-sea interactions dominate.
Climate change feedbacks on future oceanic acidification

OpenAIRE

McNeil, Ben I.; Matear, Richard J.

2011-01-01

Oceanic anthropogenic CO2 uptake will decrease both the pH and the aragonite saturation state (Ωarag) of seawater leading to an oceanic acidification. However, the factors controlling future changes in pH and Ωarag are independent and will respond differently to oceanic climate change feedbacks such as ocean warming, circulation and biological changes. We examine the sensitivity of these two CO2-related parameters to climate change feedbacks within a coupled atmosphere-ocean model. The ocean ...
Interhemispheric gradient of atmospheric radiocarbon reveals natural variability of Southern Ocean winds

Science.gov (United States)

Rodgers, K. B.; Mikaloff-Fletcher, S. E.; Bianchi, D.; Beaulieu, C.; Galbraith, E. D.; Gnanadesikan, A.; Hogg, A. G.; Iudicone, D.; Lintner, B. R.; Naegler, T.; Reimer, P. J.; Sarmiento, J. L.; Slater, R. D.

2011-10-01

Tree ring Δ14C data (Reimer et al., 2004; McCormac et al., 2004) indicate that atmospheric Δ14C varied on multi-decadal to centennial timescales, in both hemispheres, over the period between AD 950 and 1830. The Northern and Southern Hemispheric Δ14C records display similar variability, but from the data alone is it not clear whether these variations are driven by the production of 14C in the stratosphere (Stuiver and Quay, 1980) or by perturbations to exchanges between carbon reservoirs (Siegenthaler et al., 1980). As the sea-air flux of 14CO2 has a clear maximum in the open ocean regions of the Southern Ocean, relatively modest perturbations to the winds over this region drive significant perturbations to the interhemispheric gradient. In this study, model simulations are used to show that Southern Ocean winds are likely a main driver of the observed variability in the interhemispheric gradient over AD 950-1830, and further, that this variability may be larger than the Southern Ocean wind trends that have been reported for recent decades (notably 1980-2004). This interpretation also implies that there may have been a significant weakening of the winds over the Southern Ocean within a few decades of AD 1375, associated with the transition between the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age. The driving forces that could have produced such a shift in the winds at the Medieval Climate Anomaly to Little Ice Age transition remain unknown. Our process-focused suite of perturbation experiments with models raises the possibility that the current generation of coupled climate and earth system models may underestimate the natural background multi-decadal- to centennial-timescale variations in the winds over the Southern Ocean.
Interhemispheric gradient of atmospheric radiocarbon reveals natural variability of Southern Ocean winds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. B. Rodgers

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Tree ring Δ¹⁴C data (Reimer et al., 2004; McCormac et al., 2004 indicate that atmospheric Δ¹⁴C varied on multi-decadal to centennial timescales, in both hemispheres, over the period between AD 950 and 1830. The Northern and Southern Hemispheric Δ¹⁴C records display similar variability, but from the data alone is it not clear whether these variations are driven by the production of ¹⁴C in the stratosphere (Stuiver and Quay, 1980 or by perturbations to exchanges between carbon reservoirs (Siegenthaler et al., 1980. As the sea-air flux of ¹⁴CO₂ has a clear maximum in the open ocean regions of the Southern Ocean, relatively modest perturbations to the winds over this region drive significant perturbations to the interhemispheric gradient. In this study, model simulations are used to show that Southern Ocean winds are likely a main driver of the observed variability in the interhemispheric gradient over AD 950–1830, and further, that this variability may be larger than the Southern Ocean wind trends that have been reported for recent decades (notably 1980–2004. This interpretation also implies that there may have been a significant weakening of the winds over the Southern Ocean within a few decades of AD 1375, associated with the transition between the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age. The driving forces that could have produced such a shift in the winds at the Medieval Climate Anomaly to Little Ice Age transition remain unknown. Our process-focused suite of perturbation experiments with models raises the possibility that the current generation of coupled climate and earth system models may underestimate the natural background multi-decadal- to centennial-timescale variations in the winds over the Southern Ocean.
Geographical Distribution and Sources of Nutrients in Atmospheric Aerosol Over the Pacific Ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Uematsu, M.

2016-12-01

The Pacific Ocean, the world's largest (occupying about 30% of the Earth's total surface area) has several distinguishing biogeochemical features. In the western Pacific, dust particles originating from arid and semi-arid regions in Asia and Australia are transported to the north and south, respectively. Biomass burning emissions from Southeast Asia are exported to the tropical Pacific, and anthropogenic substances flowing out of Asia and Eurasia spread both regionally and globally. Over high primary productive areas such as the subarctic North Pacific, the equatorial Pacific and the Southern Ocean, biogenic gasses are released to the atmosphere and transported to other areas. These processes may affect cloud and rainfall patterns, air quality, and the radiative balance of downwind regions. The deposition of atmospheric aerosols containing iron and other essential nutrients is important for biogeochemical cycles in the oceans because this source of nutrients helps sustain primary production and affects food-web structure; these effects in turn influence the chemical properties of marine atmosphere. From an atmospheric chemistry standpoint, sea-salt aerosols produced by strong winds and marine biogenic gases emitted from highly productive waters affect the physicochemical characteristics of marine aerosols. As phytoplankton populations are patchy and atmospheric processes sporadic, the interactions between atmospheric chemical constituents and marine biota vary for different regions as well as seasonally and over longer timescales. To address these and other emerging issues, and more generally to better understand the important biogeochemical processes and interactions occurring over the open oceans, more long-term recurrent research cruises with standardized atmospheric shipboard measurements will be needed in the future.
Impact of ocean model resolution on CCSM climate simulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kirtman, Ben P.; Rousset, Clement; Siqueira, Leo [University of Miami, Rosenstiel School for Marine and Atmospheric Science, Coral Gables, FL (United States); Bitz, Cecilia [University of Washington, Department of Atmospheric Science, Seattle, WA (United States); Bryan, Frank; Dennis, John; Hearn, Nathan; Loft, Richard; Tomas, Robert; Vertenstein, Mariana [National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States); Collins, William [University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA (United States); Kinter, James L.; Stan, Cristiana [Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies, Calverton, MD (United States); George Mason University, Fairfax, VA (United States)

2012-09-15

The current literature provides compelling evidence suggesting that an eddy-resolving (as opposed to eddy-permitting or eddy-parameterized) ocean component model will significantly impact the simulation of the large-scale climate, although this has not been fully tested to date in multi-decadal global coupled climate simulations. The purpose of this paper is to examine how resolved ocean fronts and eddies impact the simulation of large-scale climate. The model used for this study is the NCAR Community Climate System Model version 3.5 (CCSM3.5) - the forerunner to CCSM4. Two experiments are reported here. The control experiment is a 155-year present-day climate simulation using a 0.5 atmosphere component (zonal resolution 0.625 meridional resolution 0.5 ; land surface component at the same resolution) coupled to ocean and sea-ice components with zonal resolution of 1.2 and meridional resolution varying from 0.27 at the equator to 0.54 in the mid-latitudes. The second simulation uses the same atmospheric and land-surface models coupled to eddy-resolving 0.1 ocean and sea-ice component models. The simulations are compared in terms of how the representation of smaller scale features in the time mean ocean circulation and ocean eddies impact the mean and variable climate. In terms of the global mean surface temperature, the enhanced ocean resolution leads to a ubiquitous surface warming with a global mean surface temperature increase of about 0.2 C relative to the control. The warming is largest in the Arctic and regions of strong ocean fronts and ocean eddy activity (i.e., Southern Ocean, western boundary currents). The Arctic warming is associated with significant losses of sea-ice in the high-resolution simulation. The sea surface temperature gradients in the North Atlantic, in particular, are better resolved in the high-resolution model leading to significantly sharper temperature gradients and associated large-scale shifts in the rainfall. In the extra-tropics, the
OceanSITES RAMA daily in-situ data

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — OceanSITES daily in-situ data. OceanSITES Global Tropical Moored Buoy Array Research Moored Array for African-Asian-Australian Monsoon Analysis and Prediction (RAMA)...
Using an atmospheric boundary layer model to force global ocean models

Science.gov (United States)

Abel, Rafael; Böning, Claus

2014-05-01

Current practices in the atmospheric forcing of ocean model simulations can lead to unphysical behaviours. The problem lies in the bulk formulation of the turbulent air-sea fluxes in the conjunction with a prescribed, and unresponsive, atmospheric state (as given by reanalysis products). This can have impacts both on mesoscale processes as well as on the dynamics of the large-scale circulation. First, a possible local mismatch between the given atmospheric state and evolving sea surface temperature (SST) signatures can occur, especially for mesoscale features such as frontal areas, eddies, or near the sea ice edge. Any ocean front shift or evolution of mesoscale anomalies results in excessive, unrealistic surface fluxes due to the lack of atmospheric adaptation. Second, a subtle distortion in the sensitive balance of feedback processes being critical for the thermohaline circulation. Since the bulk formulations assume an infinite atmospheric heat capacity, resulting SST anomalies are strongly damped even on basin-scales (e.g. from trends in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation). In consequence, an important negative feedback is eliminated, rendering the system excessively susceptible to small anomalies (or errors) in the freshwater fluxes. Previous studies (Seager et al., 1995, J. Clim.) have suggested a partial forcing issue remedy that aimed for a physically more realistic determination of air-sea fluxes by allowing some (thermodynamic) adaptation of the atmospheric boundary layer to SST changes. In this study a modernized formulation of this approach (Deremble et al., 2013, Mon. Weather Rev.; 'CheapAML') is implemented in a global ocean-ice model with moderate resolution (0.5°; ORCA05). In a set of experiments we explore the solution behaviour of this forcing approach (where only the winds are prescribed, while atmospheric temperature and humidity are computed), contrasting it with the solution obtained from the classical bulk formulation with a non
Atmospheric correction using near-infrared bands for satellite ocean color data processing in the turbid western Pacific region.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Menghua; Shi, Wei; Jiang, Lide

2012-01-16

A regional near-infrared (NIR) ocean normalized water-leaving radiance (nL(w)(λ)) model is proposed for atmospheric correction for ocean color data processing in the western Pacific region, including the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, and East China Sea. Our motivation for this work is to derive ocean color products in the highly turbid western Pacific region using the Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI) onboard South Korean Communication, Ocean, and Meteorological Satellite (COMS). GOCI has eight spectral bands from 412 to 865 nm but does not have shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands that are needed for satellite ocean color remote sensing in the turbid ocean region. Based on a regional empirical relationship between the NIR nL(w)(λ) and diffuse attenuation coefficient at 490 nm (K(d)(490)), which is derived from the long-term measurements with the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite, an iterative scheme with the NIR-based atmospheric correction algorithm has been developed. Results from MODIS-Aqua measurements show that ocean color products in the region derived from the new proposed NIR-corrected atmospheric correction algorithm match well with those from the SWIR atmospheric correction algorithm. Thus, the proposed new atmospheric correction method provides an alternative for ocean color data processing for GOCI (and other ocean color satellite sensors without SWIR bands) in the turbid ocean regions of the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, and East China Sea, although the SWIR-based atmospheric correction approach is still much preferred. The proposed atmospheric correction methodology can also be applied to other turbid coastal regions.
The LGM surface climate and atmospheric circulation over East Asia and the North Pacific in the PMIP2 coupled model simulations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. Yanase

2007-07-01

Full Text Available The surface conditions and atmospheric circulation over East Asia and the North Pacific during the last glacial maximum have been investigated using outputs from several coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model in the PMIP2 database. During the boreal summer, the weakening of the high pressure system over the North Pacific and less precipitation over East Asia are found in most models. The latter can be attributed to reduced moisture transport. During the boreal winter, an intensification of the Aleutian low and southward shift of the westerly jet stream in the upper troposphere are found in most models.

Some of the results in the present study seem to be consistent with the paleoclimatic reconstructions in the previous studies: pollen and lake-status records suggest dry climate over East Asia during the last glacial maximum, and part of the dust record has a signal that the East Asian winter monsoon was more strong and the westerly jet stream in the upper troposphere was further south during the last glacial maximum than at the present day. This result confirms that a coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model is a promising tool to understand not only the global climate but also the regional climate in the past.
Revealing skill of the MiKlip decadal prediction system by three-dimensional probabilistic evaluation

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Sophie Stolzenberger

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Decadal climate predictions and their verification are part of ongoing research. This article studies different methods applied to decadal hindcasts of three-dimensional atmospheric variables to evaluate the MiKlip (Mittelfristige Klimaprognosen prediction system. Variables such as upper air temperature are tight to the core of the prediction system and hence help to reveal its power and deficiencies. The verification uses both, necessary and sufficient probabilistic measures. We analyze annual and multi-year averages of air temperature and geopotential height and the parametrized quantity net water flux at the ocean surface, the so-called freshwater flux, also known as E‑P (evaporation minus precipitation, as an important variable for atmosphere-ocean coupling. The model data stem from various versions of the MiKlip prediction system and constitute different sets of ensemble hindcasts covering 1979–2012. The results reveal that the freshwater flux is far more sensitive to model deficiencies than the basic dynamical variables and the predictability decays much earlier with prediction lead time. Initializing the atmospheric component is more important for the predictability than the difference in resolution between two model versions. The combined initialization of atmosphere and ocean has the effect of increasing the predictability in the inner tropics from 1 to 2 years compared to the ocean only initialization. For prediction year 7–10, the hindcasts are still closer to each other than to the uninitialized historical runs indicating that the prediction system is still influenced by the initial conditions. The skill for prediction year 7–10 is, however, only marginally larger than the skill of the uninitialized ensemble. The three-dimensional skill analysis reveals a clear indication of a mid-tropospheric temperature error developing in the tropical Pacific area.
Turbidity, SOLAR RADIATION - ATMOSPHERIC and other data from JOHN V. VICKERS from 1992-11-18 to 1993-02-22 (NODC Accession 9500060)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Conductivity, Temperature and Depth (CTD) and other data set was collected as part of Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere and Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Response...
Seasonal Climate Predictability in a Coupled OAGCM Using a Different Approach for Ensemble Forecasts.

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Jing-Jia; Masson, Sebastien; Behera, Swadhin; Shingu, Satoru; Yamagata, Toshio

2005-11-01

Predictabilities of tropical climate signals are investigated using a relatively high resolution Scale Interaction Experiment Frontier Research Center for Global Change (FRCGC) coupled GCM (SINTEX-F). Five ensemble forecast members are generated by perturbing the model’s coupling physics, which accounts for the uncertainties of both initial conditions and model physics. Because of the model’s good performance in simulating the climatology and ENSO in the tropical Pacific, a simple coupled SST-nudging scheme generates realistic thermocline and surface wind variations in the equatorial Pacific. Several westerly and easterly wind bursts in the western Pacific are also captured.Hindcast results for the period 1982 2001 show a high predictability of ENSO. All past El Niño and La Niña events, including the strongest 1997/98 warm episode, are successfully predicted with the anomaly correlation coefficient (ACC) skill scores above 0.7 at the 12-month lead time. The predicted signals of some particular events, however, become weak with a delay in the phase at mid and long lead times. This is found to be related to the intraseasonal wind bursts that are unpredicted beyond a few months of lead time. The model forecasts also show a “spring prediction barrier” similar to that in observations. Spatial SST anomalies, teleconnection, and global drought/flood during three different phases of ENSO are successfully predicted at 9 12-month lead times.In the tropical North Atlantic and southwestern Indian Ocean, where ENSO has predominant influences, the model shows skillful predictions at the 7 12-month lead times. The distinct signal of the Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) event in 1994 is predicted at the 6-month lead time. SST anomalies near the western coast of Australia are also predicted beyond the 12-month lead time because of pronounced decadal signals there.
Observational description of the atmospheric and oceanic boundary layers over the Atlantic Ocean

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcelo Dourado

2001-01-01

Full Text Available Time evolution of atmospheric and oceanic boundary layers are described for an upwelling region in the Atlantic Ocean located in Cabo Frio, Brazil (23°00'S, 42°08'W. The observations were obtained during a field campaign carried out by the "Instituto de Estudos do Mar Almirante Paulo Moreira", on board of the oceanographic ship Antares of the Brazilian Navy, between July 7 and 10 of 1992. The analysis shown here was based on 19 simultaneous vertical soundings of atmosphere and ocean, carried out consecutively every 4 hours. The period of observation was characterized by a passage of a cold front that penetrated in Cabo Frio on July 6. During the cold front passage the vertical extension of atmospheric (and oceanic mixed layer varied from 200 m (and 13 m to 1000 m (and 59 m. These changes occurred in the first day of observation and were followed by an increase of 1.2°C in the oceanic mixed layer temperature and by a decrease of 6 K and 6 g/kg in the virtual potential temperature and specific humidity of the atmospheric mixed layer. The short time scale variations in the ocean can be explained in terms of the substitution of cold upwelling water by warm downwelling water regime, as the surface winds shift from pre-frontal NE to post-frontal SSW during the cold front passage in Cabo Frio. The large vertical extent of the atmospheric mixed layer can be explained in terms of an intensification of the thermal mixing induced by the warming of the oceanic upper layers combined with the cooling of the lower atmospheric layers during the cold front passage. An intensification of the mechanical mixing, observed during the cold front passage, may also be contributing to the observed variations in the vertical extent of both layers.A evolução temporal das camadas limites atmosféricas e oceânicas são descritas para a região de ressurgência do Oceano Atlântico localizada em Cabo Frio. As observações foram obtidas durante a campanha de medidas
Rapid nitrous oxide cycling in the suboxic ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Babbin, Andrew R.; Bianchi, Daniele; Jayakumar, Amal; Ward, Bess B.

2015-06-01

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a powerful greenhouse gas and a major cause of stratospheric ozone depletion, yet its sources and sinks remain poorly quantified in the oceans. We used isotope tracers to directly measure N2O reduction rates in the eastern tropical North Pacific. Because of incomplete denitrification, N2O cycling rates are an order of magnitude higher than predicted by current models in suboxic regions, and the spatial distribution suggests strong dependence on both organic carbon and dissolved oxygen concentrations. Furthermore, N2O turnover is 20 times higher than the net atmospheric efflux. The rapid rate of this cycling coupled to an expected expansion of suboxic ocean waters implies future increases in N2O emissions.
The Coastal Ocean Prediction Systems program: Understanding and managing our coastal ocean

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1990-01-01

The proposed COPS (Coastal Ocean Prediction Systems) program is concerned with combining numerical models with observations (through data assimilation) to improve our predictive knowledge of the coastal ocean. It is oriented toward applied research and development and depends upon the continued pursuit of basic research in programs like COOP (Coastal Ocean Processes); i.e., to a significant degree it is involved with ''technology transfer'' from basic knowledge to operational and management applications. This predictive knowledge is intended to address a variety of societal problems: (1) ship routing, (2) trajectories for search and rescue operations, (3) oil spill trajectory simulations, (4) pollution assessments, (5) fisheries management guidance, (6) simulation of the coastal ocean's response to climate variability, (7) calculation of sediment transport, (8) calculation of forces on structures, and so forth. The initial concern is with physical models and observations in order to provide a capability for the estimation of physical forces and transports in the coastal ocean. For all these applications, there are common needs for physical field estimates: waves, tides, currents, temperature, and salinity, including mixed layers, thermoclines, fronts, jets, etc. However, the intent is to work with biologists, chemists, and geologists in developing integrated multidisciplinary prediction systems as it becomes feasible to do so. From another perspective, by combining observations with models through data assimilation, a modern approach to monitoring is provided through whole-field estimation
Fiber-coupling efficiency of Gaussian-Schell model beams through an ocean to fiber optical communication link

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Beibei; Shi, Haifeng; Zhang, Yixin

2018-06-01

We theoretically study the fiber-coupling efficiency of Gaussian-Schell model beams propagating through oceanic turbulence. The expression of the fiber-coupling efficiency is derived based on the spatial power spectrum of oceanic turbulence and the cross-spectral density function. Our work shows that the salinity fluctuation has a greater impact on the fiber-coupling efficiency than temperature fluctuation does. We can select longer λ in the "ocean window" and higher spatial coherence of light source to improve the fiber-coupling efficiency of the communication link. We also can achieve the maximum fiber-coupling efficiency by choosing design parameter according specific oceanic turbulence condition. Our results are able to help the design of optical communication link for oceanic turbulence to fiber sensor.
Multi-year predictability in a coupled general circulation model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Power, Scott; Colman, Rob [Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre, Melbourne, VIC (Australia)

2006-02-01

Multi-year to decadal variability in a 100-year integration of a BMRC coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model (CGCM) is examined. The fractional contribution made by the decadal component generally increases with depth and latitude away from surface waters in the equatorial Indo-Pacific Ocean. The relative importance of decadal variability is enhanced in off-equatorial ''wings'' in the subtropical eastern Pacific. The model and observations exhibit ''ENSO-like'' decadal patterns. Analytic results are derived, which show that the patterns can, in theory, occur in the absence of any predictability beyond ENSO time-scales. In practice, however, modification to this stochastic view is needed to account for robust differences between ENSO-like decadal patterns and their interannual counterparts. An analysis of variability in the CGCM, a wind-forced shallow water model, and a simple mixed layer model together with existing and new theoretical results are used to improve upon this stochastic paradigm and to provide a new theory for the origin of decadal ENSO-like patterns like the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation and Pacific Decadal Oscillation. In this theory, ENSO-driven wind-stress variability forces internal equatorially-trapped Kelvin waves that propagate towards the eastern boundary. Kelvin waves can excite reflected internal westward propagating equatorially-trapped Rossby waves (RWs) and coastally-trapped waves (CTWs). CTWs have no impact on the off-equatorial sub-surface ocean outside the coastal wave guide, whereas the RWs do. If the frequency of the incident wave is too high, then only CTWs are excited. At lower frequencies, both CTWs and RWs can be excited. The lower the frequency, the greater the fraction of energy transmitted to RWs. This lowers the characteristic frequency of variability off the equator relative to its equatorial counterpart. Both the eastern boundary interactions and the accumulation of
A 1260-year control integration with the coupled ECHAM1/LSG general circulation model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Storch, J.S. von [Hamburg Univ. (Germany). Meteorologisches Inst.; Kharin, V [Canadian Climate Centre, Victoria, BC (Canada); Cubasch, U [Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum (DKRZ), Hamburg (Germany); Hegerl, G C [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Meteorologie, Hamburg (Germany); Schriever, D [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Meteorologie, Hamburg (Germany); Storch, H von [GKSS-Forschungszentrum Geesthacht GmbH (Germany). Inst. fuer Hydrophysik; Zorita, E [GKSS-Forschungszentrum Geesthacht GmbH (Germany). Inst. fuer Hydrophysik

1996-05-01

A 1260-year integration generated by the ECHAM1/LSG coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model is analyzed in this paper. The analysis focuses on the time evolution of the model atmosphere and the model ocean, and on the variations of the final quasi-stationary atmosphere-ocean system. The evolution of the coupled system is affected by the globally integrated fluxes of heat and fresh water, the coupling shock induced by different types of fluxes prior to and after the coupling, and the insufficient spin-up of the deep ocean prior to the coupling. It is suggested that the flux correction with its unsatisfactory formulation over sea ice areas does not play the crucial role in causing the initial drift of the system. The main question concerning the atmospheric variations is whether the spatial structures of variations on short time scales are similar to those on long time scales. The answer to this question is yes. The questions concerning the oceanic variations are what are their dominant modes and to what extent are variations of different parts of the oceanic circulation related to each other. It is shown that the dominant oceanic variations are located in the North Pacific and at the southern flank of the mean position of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and in the areas where deep water from three oceans meets the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. A correlation analysis indicates further that an anomalous outflow from (inflow into) the deep Atlantic is related to an anomalous outflow from (inflow into) the deep Indian Ocean and an anomalous eastward (westward) flow along the Antarctic coast. (orig.)
International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS) R3.0 netCDF version

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This collection contains observations of global ocean meteorological and oceanographic variables, such as sea surface and air temperatures, wind, pressure, humidity,...

Numerical Modeling of Ocean Circulation

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Robert N.

2007-01-01

The modelling of ocean circulation is important not only for its own sake, but also in terms of the prediction of weather patterns and the effects of climate change. This book introduces the basic computational techniques necessary for all models of the ocean and atmosphere, and the conditions they must satisfy. It describes the workings of ocean models, the problems that must be solved in their construction, and how to evaluate computational results. Major emphasis is placed on examining ocean models critically, and determining what they do well and what they do poorly. Numerical analysis is introduced as needed, and exercises are included to illustrate major points. Developed from notes for a course taught in physical oceanography at the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University, this book is ideal for graduate students of oceanography, geophysics, climatology and atmospheric science, and researchers in oceanography and atmospheric science. Features examples and critical examination of ocean modelling and results Demonstrates the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches Includes exercises to illustrate major points and supplement mathematical and physical details
Processes analysis of ocean-atmosphere interaction in Colombian marine areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Melo, Jeimmy; Pabon Caicedo, Jose Daniel

2002-01-01

This document shows the importance to understanding the processes of interaction ocean-atmosphere by means of the knowledge of the behavior of the physical and biological processes in the Colombian marine areas. For such aim, it was studied the production of the pigment concentration (chlorophyll-a) by means the state of the sea surface temperature and the atmospheric dynamics for year 2001
A model of the primordial lunar atmosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Saxena, Prabal; Elkins-Tanton, Lindy; Petro, Noah; Mandell, Avi

2017-09-01

We create the first quantitative model for the early lunar atmosphere, coupled with a magma ocean crystallization model. Immediately after formation, the moon's surface was subject to a radiative environment that included contributions from the early Sun, a post-impact Earth that radiated like a mid-type M dwarf star, and a cooling global magma ocean. This radiative environment resulted in a largely Earth-side atmosphere on the Moon, ranging from ∼104 to ∼102 pascals, composed of heavy volatiles (Na and SiO). This atmosphere persisted through lid formation and was additionally characterized by supersonic winds that transported significant quantities of moderate volatiles and likely generated magma ocean waves. The existence of this atmosphere may have influenced the distribution of some moderate volatiles and created temperature asymmetries which influenced ocean flow and cooling. Such asymmetries may characterize young, tidally locked rocky bodies with global magma oceans and subject to intense irradiation.
Hydrogen isotopic fractionation during crystallization of the terrestrial magma ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Pahlevan, K.; Karato, S. I.

2016-12-01

Models of the Moon-forming giant impact extensively melt and partially vaporize the silicate Earth and deliver a substantial mass of metal to the Earth's core. The subsequent evolution of the terrestrial magma ocean and overlying vapor atmosphere over the ensuing 105-6 years has been largely constrained by theoretical models with remnant signatures from this epoch proving somewhat elusive. We have calculated equilibrium hydrogen isotopic fractionation between the magma ocean and overlying steam atmosphere to determine the extent to which H isotopes trace the evolution during this epoch. By analogy with the modern silicate Earth, the magma ocean-steam atmosphere system is often assumed to be chemically oxidized (log fO2 QFM) with the dominant atmospheric vapor species taken to be water vapor. However, the terrestrial magma ocean - having held metallic droplets in suspension - may also exhibit a much more reducing character (log fO2 IW) such that equilibration with the overlying atmosphere renders molecular hydrogen the dominant H-bearing vapor species. This variable - the redox state of the magma ocean - has not been explicitly included in prior models of the coupled evolution of the magma ocean-steam atmosphere system. We find that the redox state of the magma ocean influences not only the vapor speciation and liquid-vapor partitioning of hydrogen but also the equilibrium isotopic fractionation during the crystallization epoch. The liquid-vapor isotopic fractionation of H is substantial under reducing conditions and can generate measurable D/H signatures in the crystallization products but is largely muted in an oxidizing magma ocean and steam atmosphere. We couple equilibrium isotopic fractionation with magma ocean crystallization calculations to forward model the behavior of hydrogen isotopes during this epoch and find that the distribution of H isotopes in the silicate Earth immediately following crystallization represents an oxybarometer for the terrestrial
Biological and physical controls in the Southern Ocean on past millennial-scale atmospheric CO2 changes.

Science.gov (United States)

Gottschalk, Julia; Skinner, Luke C; Lippold, Jörg; Vogel, Hendrik; Frank, Norbert; Jaccard, Samuel L; Waelbroeck, Claire

2016-05-17

Millennial-scale climate changes during the last glacial period and deglaciation were accompanied by rapid changes in atmospheric CO2 that remain unexplained. While the role of the Southern Ocean as a 'control valve' on ocean-atmosphere CO2 exchange has been emphasized, the exact nature of this role, in particular the relative contributions of physical (for example, ocean dynamics and air-sea gas exchange) versus biological processes (for example, export productivity), remains poorly constrained. Here we combine reconstructions of bottom-water [O2], export production and (14)C ventilation ages in the sub-Antarctic Atlantic, and show that atmospheric CO2 pulses during the last glacial- and deglacial periods were consistently accompanied by decreases in the biological export of carbon and increases in deep-ocean ventilation via southern-sourced water masses. These findings demonstrate how the Southern Ocean's 'organic carbon pump' has exerted a tight control on atmospheric CO2, and thus global climate, specifically via a synergy of both physical and biological processes.
Sea-to-air flux of dimethyl sulfide in the South and North Pacific Ocean as measured by proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry coupled with the gradient flux technique

Science.gov (United States)

Omori, Yuko; Tanimoto, Hiroshi; Inomata, Satoshi; Ikeda, Kohei; Iwata, Toru; Kameyama, Sohiko; Uematsu, Mitsuo; Gamo, Toshitaka; Ogawa, Hiroshi; Furuya, Ken

2017-07-01

Exchange of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) between the surface ocean and the lower atmosphere was examined by using proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry coupled with the gradient flux (PTR-MS/GF) system. We deployed the PTR-MS/GF system and observed vertical gradients of atmospheric DMS just above the sea surface in the subtropical and transitional South Pacific Ocean and the subarctic North Pacific Ocean. In total, we obtained 370 in situ profiles, and of these we used 46 data sets to calculate the sea-to-air flux of DMS. The DMS flux determined was in the range from 1.9 to 31 μmol m-2 d-1 and increased with wind speed and biological activity, in reasonable accordance with previous observations in the open ocean. The gas transfer velocity of DMS derived from the PTR-MS/GF measurements was similar to either that of DMS determined by the eddy covariance technique or that of insoluble gases derived from the dual tracer experiments, depending on the observation sites located in different geographic regions. When atmospheric conditions were strongly stable during the daytime in the subtropical ocean, the PTR-MS/GF observations captured a daytime versus nighttime difference in DMS mixing ratios in the surface air overlying the ocean surface. The difference was mainly due to the sea-to-air DMS emissions and stable atmospheric conditions, thus affecting the gradient of DMS. This indicates that the DMS gradient is strongly controlled by diurnal variations in the vertical structure of the lower atmosphere above the ocean surface.
River-flow predictions for the South African mid-summer using a coupled general circulation model

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Olivier, C

2013-09-01

Full Text Available African Society for Atmospheric Sciences (SASAS) 2013 http://sasas.ukzn.ac.za/homepage.aspx 1 Tel: +27 12 367 6008 Fax: +27 12 367 6189 Email: cobus.olivier@weathersa.co.za RIVER-FLOW PREDICTIONS FOR THE SOUTH AFRICAN MID-SUMMER USING A COUPLED... for Atmospheric Sciences (SASAS) 2013 http://sasas.ukzn.ac.za/homepage.aspx 2 drops to 127 nationally and 65 stations for the area of interest. A recent coupled modeling system developed at the South African Weather Service (SAWS), that utilizes...
The Influence of Air-Sea Fluxes on Atmospheric Aerosols During the Summer Monsoon Over the Tropical Indian Ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Zavarsky, Alex; Booge, Dennis; Fiehn, Alina; Krüger, Kirstin; Atlas, Elliot; Marandino, Christa

2018-01-01

During the summer monsoon, the western tropical Indian Ocean is predicted to be a hot spot for dimethylsulfide emissions, the major marine sulfur source to the atmosphere, and an important aerosol precursor. Other aerosol relevant fluxes, such as isoprene and sea spray, should also be enhanced, due to the steady strong winds during the monsoon. Marine air masses dominate the area during the summer monsoon, excluding the influence of continentally derived pollutants. During the SO234-2/235 cruise in the western tropical Indian Ocean from July to August 2014, directly measured eddy covariance DMS fluxes confirm that the area is a large source of sulfur to the atmosphere (cruise average 9.1 μmol m-2 d-1). The directly measured fluxes, as well as computed isoprene and sea spray fluxes, were combined with FLEXPART backward and forward trajectories to track the emissions in space and time. The fluxes show a significant positive correlation with aerosol data from the Terra and Suomi-NPP satellites, indicating a local influence of marine emissions on atmospheric aerosol numbers.
Predicting Earth orientation changes from global forecasts of atmosphere-hydrosphere dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Dobslaw, Henryk; Dill, Robert

2018-02-01

Effective Angular Momentum (EAM) functions obtained from global numerical simulations of atmosphere, ocean, and land surface dynamics are routinely processed by the Earth System Modelling group at Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum. EAM functions are available since January 1976 with up to 3 h temporal resolution. Additionally, 6 days-long EAM forecasts are routinely published every day. Based on hindcast experiments with 305 individual predictions distributed over 15 months, we demonstrate that EAM forecasts improve the prediction accuracy of the Earth Orientation Parameters at all forecast horizons between 1 and 6 days. At day 6, prediction accuracy improves down to 1.76 mas for the terrestrial pole offset, and 2.6 mas for Δ UT1, which correspond to an accuracy increase of about 41% over predictions published in Bulletin A by the International Earth Rotation and Reference System Service.
Investigation of land ice-ocean interaction with a fully coupled ice-ocean model: 1. Model description and behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Goldberg, D. N.; Little, C. M.; Sergienko, O. V.; Gnanadesikan, A.; Hallberg, R.; Oppenheimer, M.

2012-06-01

Antarctic ice shelves interact closely with the ocean cavities beneath them, with ice shelf geometry influencing ocean cavity circulation, and heat from the ocean driving changes in the ice shelves, as well as the grounded ice streams that feed them. We present a new coupled model of an ice stream-ice shelf-ocean system that is used to study this interaction. The model is capable of representing a moving grounding line and dynamically responding ocean circulation within the ice shelf cavity. Idealized experiments designed to investigate the response of the coupled system to instantaneous increases in ocean temperature show ice-ocean system responses on multiple timescales. Melt rates and ice shelf basal slopes near the grounding line adjust in 1-2 years, and downstream advection of the resulting ice shelf thinning takes place on decadal timescales. Retreat of the grounding line and adjustment of grounded ice takes place on a much longer timescale, and the system takes several centuries to reach a new steady state. During this slow retreat, and in the absence of either an upward-or downward-sloping bed or long-term trends in ocean heat content, the ice shelf and melt rates maintain a characteristic pattern relative to the grounding line.
Ocean Observations of Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Chambers, Don

2016-01-01

The ocean influences climate by storing and transporting large amounts of heat, freshwater, and carbon, and exchanging these properties with the atmosphere. About 93% of the excess heat energy stored by the earth over the last 50 years is found in the ocean. More than three quarters of the total exchange of water between the atmosphere and the earth's surface through evaporation and precipitation takes place over the oceans. The ocean contains 50 times more carbon than the atmosphere and is at present acting to slow the rate of climate change by absorbing one quarter of human emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel burning, cement production, deforestation and other land use change.Here I summarize the observational evidence of change in the ocean, with an emphasis on basin- and global-scale changes relevant to climate. These include: changes in subsurface ocean temperature and heat content, evidence for regional changes in ocean salinity and their link to changes in evaporation and precipitation over the oceans, evidence of variability and change of ocean current patterns relevant to climate, observations of sea level change and predictions over the next century, and biogeochemical changes in the ocean, including ocean acidification.
A numerical investigation of the atmosphere-ocean thermal contrast over the coastal upwelling region of Cabo Frio, Brazil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dourado, M. [Departamento de Meteorologia, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Pelotas RS (Brazil)]. E-mail: marcelo_dourado@ufpel.edu.br; Pereira de Oliveira, A. [Departamento de Ciencias Atmosfericas, Instituto de Astronomia, Geofisica e Ciencias Atmosfericas, Universidade de Sao Paulo, (Brazil)

2008-01-15

An one-dimensional atmospheric second order closure model, coupled to an oceanic mixed layer model, is used to investigate the short term variation of the atmospheric and oceanic boundary layers in the coastal upwelling area of Cabo Frio, Brazil (23 degrees Celsius S, 42 degrees Celsius 08' W). The numerical simulations were carried out to evaluate the impact caused by the thermal contrast between atmosphere and ocean on the vertical extent and other properties of both atmospheric and oceanic boundary layers. The numerical simulations were designed taking as reference the observations carried out during the passage of a cold front that disrupted the upwelling regime in Cabo Frio in July of 1992. The simulations indicated that in 10 hours the mechanical mixing, sustained by a constant background flow of 10 m s-1, increases the atmospheric boundary layer in 214 m when the atmosphere is initially 2 K warmer than the ocean (positive thermal contrast observed during upwelling regime). For an atmosphere initially -2 K colder than the ocean (negative thermal contrast observed during passage of the cold front), the incipient thermal convection intensifies the mechanical mixing increasing the vertical extent of the atmospheric boundary layer in 360 m. The vertical evolution of the atmospheric boundary layer is consistent with the observations carried out in Cabo Frio during upwelling condition. When the upwelling is disrupted, the discrepancy between the simulated and observed atmospheric boundary layer heights in Cabo Frio during July of 1992 increases considerably. During the period of 10 hours, the simulated oceanic mixed layer deepens 2 m and 5.4 m for positive and negative thermal contrasts of 2 K and -2 K, respectively. In the latter case, the larger vertical extent of the oceanic mixed layer is due to the presence of thermal convection in the atmospheric boundary layer, which in turn is associated to the absence of upwelling caused by the passage of cold fronts
Toward Process-resolving Synthesis and Prediction of Arctic Climate Change Using the Regional Arctic System Model

Science.gov (United States)

Maslowski, W.

2017-12-01

The Regional Arctic System Model (RASM) has been developed to better understand the operation of Arctic System at process scale and to improve prediction of its change at a spectrum of time scales. RASM is a pan-Arctic, fully coupled ice-ocean-atmosphere-land model with marine biogeochemistry extension to the ocean and sea ice models. The main goal of our research is to advance a system-level understanding of critical processes and feedbacks in the Arctic and their links with the Earth System. The secondary, an equally important objective, is to identify model needs for new or additional observations to better understand such processes and to help constrain models. Finally, RASM has been used to produce sea ice forecasts for September 2016 and 2017, in contribution to the Sea Ice Outlook of the Sea Ice Prediction Network. Future RASM forecasts, are likely to include increased resolution for model components and ecosystem predictions. Such research is in direct support of the US environmental assessment and prediction needs, including those of the U.S. Navy, Department of Defense, and the recent IARPC Arctic Research Plan 2017-2021. In addition to an overview of RASM technical details, selected model results are presented from a hierarchy of climate models together with available observations in the region to better understand potential oceanic contributions to polar amplification. RASM simulations are analyzed to evaluate model skill in representing seasonal climatology as well as interannual and multi-decadal climate variability and predictions. Selected physical processes and resulting feedbacks are discussed to emphasize the need for fully coupled climate model simulations, high model resolution and sensitivity of simulated sea ice states to scale dependent model parameterizations controlling ice dynamics, thermodynamics and coupling with the atmosphere and ocean.
Sea surface temperature predictions using a multi-ocean analysis ensemble scheme

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Ying; Zhu, Jieshun; Li, Zhongxian; Chen, Haishan; Zeng, Gang

2017-08-01

This study examined the global sea surface temperature (SST) predictions by a so-called multiple-ocean analysis ensemble (MAE) initialization method which was applied in the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Climate Forecast System Version 2 (CFSv2). Different from most operational climate prediction practices which are initialized by a specific ocean analysis system, the MAE method is based on multiple ocean analyses. In the paper, the MAE method was first justified by analyzing the ocean temperature variability in four ocean analyses which all are/were applied for operational climate predictions either at the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts or at NCEP. It was found that these systems exhibit substantial uncertainties in estimating the ocean states, especially at the deep layers. Further, a set of MAE hindcasts was conducted based on the four ocean analyses with CFSv2, starting from each April during 1982-2007. The MAE hindcasts were verified against a subset of hindcasts from the NCEP CFS Reanalysis and Reforecast (CFSRR) Project. Comparisons suggested that MAE shows better SST predictions than CFSRR over most regions where ocean dynamics plays a vital role in SST evolutions, such as the El Niño and Atlantic Niño regions. Furthermore, significant improvements were also found in summer precipitation predictions over the equatorial eastern Pacific and Atlantic oceans, for which the local SST prediction improvements should be responsible. The prediction improvements by MAE imply a problem for most current climate predictions which are based on a specific ocean analysis system. That is, their predictions would drift towards states biased by errors inherent in their ocean initialization system, and thus have large prediction errors. In contrast, MAE arguably has an advantage by sampling such structural uncertainties, and could efficiently cancel these errors out in their predictions.
Coupled processes and the tropical climatology : part III : instabilities of the fully coupled climatology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dijkstra, H.A.; Neelin, J.D.

1998-01-01

Coupled processes between the equatorial ocean and atmosphere control the spatial structure of the annual mean state in the Pacific region,in particular the warm-pool/cold- tongue structure.At the same time,coupled processes are known to be responsible for the variability about this mean state,in
NOAA Climate Data Record (CDR) of Ocean Near Surface Atmospheric Properties, Version 2

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The NOAA Ocean Surface Bundle (OSB) Climate Data Record (CDR) consist of three parts: sea surface temperature; near-surface wind speed, air temperature, and specific...
Tropical Cyclone Induced Air-Sea Interactions Over Oceanic Fronts

Science.gov (United States)

Shay, L. K.

2012-12-01

Recent severe tropical cyclones underscore the inherent importance of warm background ocean fronts and their interactions with the atmospheric boundary layer. Central to the question of heat and moisture fluxes, the amount of heat available to the tropical cyclone is predicated by the initial mixed layer depth and strength of the stratification that essentially set the level of entrainment mixing at the base of the mixed layer. In oceanic regimes where the ocean mixed layers are thin, shear-induced mixing tends to cool the upper ocean to form cold wakes which reduces the air-sea fluxes. This is an example of negative feedback. By contrast, in regimes where the ocean mixed layers are deep (usually along the western part of the gyres), warm water advection by the nearly steady currents reduces the levels of turbulent mixing by shear instabilities. As these strong near-inertial shears are arrested, more heat and moisture transfers are available through the enthalpy fluxes (typically 1 to 1.5 kW m-2) into the hurricane boundary layer. When tropical cyclones move into favorable or neutral atmospheric conditions, tropical cyclones have a tendency to rapidly intensify as observed over the Gulf of Mexico during Isidore and Lili in 2002, Katrina, Rita and Wilma in 2005, Dean and Felix in 2007 in the Caribbean Sea, and Earl in 2010 just north of the Caribbean Islands. To predict these tropical cyclone deepening (as well as weakening) cycles, coupled models must have ocean models with realistic ocean conditions and accurate air-sea and vertical mixing parameterizations. Thus, to constrain these models, having complete 3-D ocean profiles juxtaposed with atmospheric profiler measurements prior, during and subsequent to passage is an absolute necessity framed within regional scale satellite derived fields.
Predicting the Response of Molluscs to the Impact of Ocean Acidification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John M. Wright

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Elevations in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2 are anticipated to acidify oceans because of fundamental changes in ocean chemistry created by CO2 absorption from the atmosphere. Over the next century, these elevated concentrations of atmospheric CO2 are expected to result in a reduction of the surface ocean waters from 8.1 to 7.7 units as well as a reduction in carbonate ion (CO32− concentration. The potential impact that this change in ocean chemistry will have on marine and estuarine organisms and ecosystems is a growing concern for scientists worldwide. While species-specific responses to ocean acidification are widespread across a number of marine taxa, molluscs are one animal phylum with many species which are particularly vulnerable across a number of life-history stages. Molluscs make up the second largest animal phylum on earth with 30,000 species and are a major producer of CaCO3. Molluscs also provide essential ecosystem services including habitat structure and food for benthic organisms (i.e., mussel and oyster beds, purification of water through filtration and are economically valuable. Even sub lethal impacts on molluscs due to climate changed oceans will have serious consequences for global protein sources and marine ecosystems.
Predicting the Response of Molluscs to the Impact of Ocean Acidification

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Laura M.; Ross, Pauline M.; O’Connor, Wayne A.; Pörtner, Hans O.; Scanes, Elliot; Wright, John M.

2013-01-01

Elevations in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) are anticipated to acidify oceans because of fundamental changes in ocean chemistry created by CO2 absorption from the atmosphere. Over the next century, these elevated concentrations of atmospheric CO2 are expected to result in a reduction of the surface ocean waters from 8.1 to 7.7 units as well as a reduction in carbonate ion (CO32−) concentration. The potential impact that this change in ocean chemistry will have on marine and estuarine organisms and ecosystems is a growing concern for scientists worldwide. While species-specific responses to ocean acidification are widespread across a number of marine taxa, molluscs are one animal phylum with many species which are particularly vulnerable across a number of life-history stages. Molluscs make up the second largest animal phylum on earth with 30,000 species and are a major producer of CaCO3. Molluscs also provide essential ecosystem services including habitat structure and food for benthic organisms (i.e., mussel and oyster beds), purification of water through filtration and are economically valuable. Even sub lethal impacts on molluscs due to climate changed oceans will have serious consequences for global protein sources and marine ecosystems. PMID:24832802
Atmospheric noble gases in Mid-Ocean Ridge Basalts: Identification of atmospheric contamination processes

Science.gov (United States)

Roubinet, Claire; Moreira, Manuel A.

2018-02-01

Noble gases in oceanic basalts always show the presence in variable proportions of a component having elemental and isotopic compositions that are similar to those of the atmosphere and distinct from the mantle composition. Although this component could be mantle-derived (e.g. subduction of air or seawater-derived noble gases trapped in altered oceanic crust and sediments), it is most often suggested that this air component is added after sample collection and probably during storage at ambient air, although the mechanism remains unknown. In an attempt to reduce this atmospheric component observed in MORBs, four experimental protocols have been followed in this study. These protocols are based on the hypothesis that air can be removed from the samples, as it appears to be sheltered in distinct vesicles compared to those filled with mantle gases. All of the protocols involve a glove box filled with nitrogen, and in certain cases, the samples are stored under primary vacuum (lower than 10-2 mbar) to pump air out or, alternatively, under high pressure of N2 to expel atmospheric noble gases. In all protocols, three components are observed: atmospheric, fractionated atmospheric and magmatic. The fractionated air component seems to be derived from the non-vitreous part of the pillow-lava, which has cooled more slowly. This component is enriched in Ne relative to Ar, reflecting a diffusive process. This contaminant has already been observed in other studies and thus seems to be relatively common. Although it is less visible, unfractionated air has also been detected in some crushing steps, which tends to indicate that despite the experiments, air is still present in the vesicles. This result is surprising, since studies have demonstrated that atmospheric contamination could be limited if samples were stored under nitrogen quickly after their recovery from the seafloor. Thus, the failure of the protocols could be explained by the insufficient duration of these protocols or

Simulating Storm Surge Impacts with a Coupled Atmosphere-Inundation Model with Varying Meteorological Forcing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandra N. Ramos Valle

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Storm surge events have the potential to cause devastating damage to coastal communities. The magnitude of their impacts highlights the need for increased accuracy and real-time forecasting and predictability of storm surge. In this study, we assess two meteorological forcing configurations to hindcast the storm surge of Hurricane Sandy, and ultimately support the improvement of storm surge forecasts. The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF model is coupled to the ADvanced CIRCulation Model (ADCIRC to determine water elevations. We perform four coupled simulations and compare storm surge estimates resulting from the use of a parametric vortex model and a full-physics atmospheric model. One simulation is forced with track-based meteorological data calculated from WRF, while three simulations are forced with the full wind and pressure field outputs from WRF simulations of varying resolutions. Experiments were compared to an ADCIRC simulation forced by National Hurricane Center best track data, as well as to station observations. Our results indicated that given accurate meteorological best track data, a parametric vortex model can accurately forecast maximum water elevations, improving upon the use of a full-physics coupled atmospheric-surge model. In the absence of a best track, atmospheric forcing in the form of full wind and pressure field from a high-resolution atmospheric model simulation prove reliable for storm surge forecasting.
Evolving Oxygen Landscape of the Early Atmosphere and Oceans

Science.gov (United States)

Lyons, T. W.; Reinhard, C. T.; Planavsky, N. J.

2013-12-01

The past decade has witnessed remarkable advances in our understanding of oxygen on the early Earth, and a new framework, the topic of this presentation, is now in place to address the controls on spatiotemporal distributions of oxygen and their potential relationships to deep-Earth processes. Recent challenges to the Archean biomarker record have put an added burden on inorganic geochemistry to fingerprint and quantify the early production, accumulation, and variation of biospheric oxygen. Fortunately, a wide variety of techniques now point convincingly to photosynthetic oxygen production and dynamic accumulation well before the canonical Great Oxidation Event (GOE). Recent modeling of sulfur recycling over this interval allows for transient oxygen accumulation in the atmosphere without the disappearance of non-mass-dependent (NMD) sulfur isotope anomalies from the stratigraphic record and further allows for persistent accumulation in the atmosphere well before the permanent disappearance of NMD signals. This recent work suggests that the initial rise of oxygen may have occurred in fits and starts rather than a single step, and that once permanently present in the atmosphere, oxygen likely rose to high levels and then plummeted, in phase with the Paleoproterozoic Lomagundi positive carbon isotope excursion. More than a billion years of oxygen-free conditions in the deep ocean followed and set a challenging course for life, including limited abundances and diversity of eukaryotic organisms. Despite this widespread anoxia, sulfidic (euxinic) conditions were likely limited to productive ocean margins. Nevertheless, euxinia was sufficiently widespread to impact redox-dependent nutrient relationships, particularly the availability of bioessential trace metals critical in the nitrogen cycle, which spawned feedbacks that likely maintained oxygen at very low levels in the ocean and atmosphere and delayed the arrival of animals. Then, in the mid, pre-glacial Neoproterozoic
Stable "Waterbelt" climates controlled by tropical ocean heat transport: A nonlinear coupled climate mechanism of relevance to Snowball Earth

Science.gov (United States)

Rose, Brian E. J.

2015-02-01

Ongoing controversy about Neoproterozoic Snowball Earth events motivates a theoretical study of stability and hysteresis properties of very cold climates. A coupled atmosphere-ocean-sea ice general circulation model (GCM) has four stable equilibria ranging from 0% to 100% ice cover, including a "Waterbelt" state with tropical sea ice. All four states are found at present-day insolation and greenhouse gas levels and with two idealized ocean basin configurations. The Waterbelt is stabilized against albedo feedback by intense but narrow wind-driven ocean overturning cells that deliver roughly 100 W m-2 heating to the ice edges. This requires three-way feedback between winds, ocean circulation, and ice extent in which circulation is shifted equatorward, following the baroclinicity at the ice margins. The thermocline is much shallower and outcrops in the tropics. Sea ice is snow-covered everywhere and has a minuscule seasonal cycle. The Waterbelt state spans a 46 W m-2 range in solar constant, has a significant hysteresis, and permits near-freezing equatorial surface temperatures. Additional context is provided by a slab ocean GCM and a diffusive energy balance model, both with prescribed ocean heat transport (OHT). Unlike the fully coupled model, these support no more than one stable ice margin, the position of which is slaved to regions of rapid poleward decrease in OHT convergence. Wide ranges of different climates (including the stable Waterbelt) are found by varying the magnitude and spatial structure of OHT in both models. Some thermodynamic arguments for the sensitivity of climate, and ice extent to OHT are presented.
The Southern Oscillation in a coupled GCM: Implications for climate sensitivity and climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meehl, G.A.

1990-01-01

Results are presented from a global coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation climate model developed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. The atmospheric part of the coupled model is a global spectral (R15, 4.5 degree latitude by 7.5 degree longitude, 9 layers in the vertical) general circulation model. The ocean is coarse-grid (5 degree latitude by 5 degree longitude, 4 layers in the vertical) global general circulation model. The coupled model includes a simple thermodynamic sea-ice model. Due mainly to inherent limitations in the ocean model, the coupled model simulates sea surface temperatures that are too low in the tropics and too high in the extratropics in the mean. In spite of these limitations, the coupled model simulates active interannual variability of the global climate system involving signals in the tropical Pacific that resemble, in some respects, the observed Southern Oscillation. These signals in the tropics are associated with teleconnections to the extratropics of both hemispheres. The implications of this model-simulated interannual variability of the coupled system relating to climate sensitivity and climate change due to an increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide are discussed
The Southern Oscillation in a coupled GCM: Implications for climate sensitivity and climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meehl, G.A.

1991-01-01

Results are presented from a global coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation climate model developed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. The atmospheric part of the coupled model is a global spectral (R15, 4.5 degree latitude by 7.5 degree longitude, 9 layers in the vertical) general circulation model. The ocean is coarse-grid (5 degree latitude by 5 degree longitude, 4 layers in the vertical) global general circulation model. The coupled model includes a simple thermodynamic sea-ice model. Due mainly to inherent limitations in the ocean model, the coupled model simulates sea surface temperatures that are too low in the tropics and too high in the extratropics in the mean. In spite of these limitations, the coupled model simulates active interannual variability of the global climate system involving signals in the tropical Pacific that resemble, in some respects, the observed Southern Oscillation. These signals in the tropics are associated with teleconnections to the extratropics of both hemispheres. The implications of this model-simulated interannual variability of the coupled system relating to climate sensitivity and climate change due to an increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide are discussed. 25 refs.; 9 figs
Mediterranea Forecasting System: a focus on wave-current coupling

Science.gov (United States)

Clementi, Emanuela; Delrosso, Damiano; Pistoia, Jenny; Drudi, Massimiliano; Fratianni, Claudia; Grandi, Alessandro; Pinardi, Nadia; Oddo, Paolo; Tonani, Marina

2016-04-01

The Mediterranean Forecasting System (MFS) is a numerical ocean prediction system that produces analyses, reanalyses and short term forecasts for the entire Mediterranean Sea and its Atlantic Ocean adjacent areas. MFS became operational in the late 90's and has been developed and continuously improved in the framework of a series of EU and National funded programs and is now part of the Copernicus Marine Service. The MFS is composed by the hydrodynamic model NEMO (Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean) 2-way coupled with the third generation wave model WW3 (WaveWatchIII) implemented in the Mediterranean Sea with 1/16 horizontal resolution and forced by ECMWF atmospheric fields. The model solutions are corrected by the data assimilation system (3D variational scheme adapted to the oceanic assimilation problem) with a daily assimilation cycle, using a background error correlation matrix varying seasonally and in different sub-regions of the Mediterranean Sea. The focus of this work is to present the latest modelling system upgrades and the related achieved improvements. In order to evaluate the performance of the coupled system a set of experiments has been built by coupling the wave and circulation models that hourly exchange the following fields: the sea surface currents and air-sea temperature difference are transferred from NEMO model to WW3 model modifying respectively the mean momentum transfer of waves and the wind speed stability parameter; while the neutral drag coefficient computed by WW3 model is passed to NEMO that computes the turbulent component. In order to validate the modelling system, numerical results have been compared with in-situ and remote sensing data. This work suggests that a coupled model might be capable of a better description of wave-current interactions, in particular feedback from the ocean to the waves might assess an improvement on the prediction capability of wave characteristics, while suggests to proceed toward a fully
76 FR 64327 - Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research Draft Strategic Plan

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-18

...: 111003608-1608-01] Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research Draft Strategic Plan AGENCY: Office of Oceanic... notice announces that OAR's draft Strategic Plan (FY12- 18) is available for public review and comment... next six years. These goals and objectives will provide guidance and strategic direction for program...
Physical and meteorological delayed-mode full-resolution data from the Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) array in the Equatorial Pacific

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) array of moored buoys spans the tropical Pacific. Moorings within the array measure surface meteorological and upper-ocean...
The Abundance of Atmospheric CO{sub 2} in Ocean Exoplanets: a Novel CO{sub 2} Deposition Mechanism

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Levi, A.; Sasselov, D. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Podolak, M., E-mail: amitlevi.planetphys@gmail.com [Dept. of Geosciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978 (Israel)

2017-03-20

We consider super-Earth sized planets which have a water mass fraction large enough to form an external mantle composed of high-pressure water-ice polymorphs and also lack a substantial H/He atmosphere. We consider such planets in their habitable zone, so that their outermost condensed mantle is a global, deep, liquid ocean. For these ocean planets, we investigate potential internal reservoirs of CO{sub 2}, the amount of CO{sub 2} dissolved in the ocean for the various saturation conditions encountered, and the ocean-atmosphere exchange flux of CO{sub 2}. We find that, in a steady state, the abundance of CO{sub 2} in the atmosphere has two possible states. When wind-driven circulation is the dominant CO{sub 2} exchange mechanism, an atmosphere of tens of bars of CO{sub 2} results, where the exact value depends on the subtropical ocean surface temperature and the deep ocean temperature. When sea-ice formation, acting on these planets as a CO{sub 2} deposition mechanism, is the dominant exchange mechanism, an atmosphere of a few bars of CO{sub 2} is established. The exact value depends on the subpolar surface temperature. Our results suggest the possibility of a negative feedback mechanism, unique to water planets, where a reduction in the subpolar temperature drives more CO{sub 2} into the atmosphere to increase the greenhouse effect.
Quality-Controlled Underway Oceanographic and Meteorological Data from the Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Predictions Center (COAPS) - Shipboard Automated Meteorological and Oceanographic System (SAMOS)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Florida State University has been operating a data assembly center (DAC) to collect, quality evaluate, and distribute Shipboard Automated Meteorological and...
Complete synthetic seismograms based on a spherical self-gravitating Earth model with an atmosphere-ocean-mantle-core structure

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Rongjiang; Heimann, Sebastian; Zhang, Yong; Wang, Hansheng; Dahm, Torsten

2017-09-01

A hybrid method is proposed to calculate complete synthetic seismograms based on a spherically symmetric and self-gravitating Earth with a multilayered structure of atmosphere, ocean, mantle, liquid core and solid core. For large wavelengths, a numerical scheme is used to solve the geodynamic boundary-value problem without any approximation on the deformation and gravity coupling. With decreasing wavelength, the gravity effect on the deformation becomes negligible and the analytical propagator scheme can be used. Many useful approaches are used to overcome the numerical problems that may arise in both analytical and numerical schemes. Some of these approaches have been established in the seismological community and the others are developed for the first time. Based on the stable and efficient hybrid algorithm, an all-in-one code QSSP is implemented to cover the complete spectrum of seismological interests. The performance of the code is demonstrated by various tests including the curvature effect on teleseismic body and surface waves, the appearance of multiple reflected, teleseismic core phases, the gravity effect on long period surface waves and free oscillations, the simulation of near-field displacement seismograms with the static offset, the coupling of tsunami and infrasound waves, and free oscillations of the solid Earth, the atmosphere and the ocean. QSSP is open source software that can be used as a stand-alone FORTRAN code or may be applied in combination with a Python toolbox to calculate and handle Green's function databases for efficient coding of source inversion problems.
An Initial Assessment of the Impact of CYGNSS Ocean Surface Wind Assimilation on Navy Global and Mesoscale Numerical Weather Prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, N. L.; Tsu, J.; Swadley, S. D.

2017-12-01

analyses and forecasts with in-situ observations and analyses from other NWP centers (e.g. ECMWF and GFS). [i] NAVy Global Environmental Model [ii] COAMPS® is a registered trademark of the Naval Research Laboratory for the Navy's Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System. [iii] NRL Atmospheric Variational Data Assimilation System
Regional impacts of climate change and atmospheric CO2 on future ocean carbon uptake: a multi model linear feedback analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roy, Tilla; Bopp, Laurent; Gehlen, Marion; Cadule, Patricia; Schneider, Birgit; Frolicher, Thomas L.; Segschneider, Joachim; Tjiputra, Jerry; Heinze, Christoph; Joos, Fortunat

2011-01-01

The increase in atmospheric CO 2 over this century depends on the evolution of the oceanic air-sea CO 2 uptake, which will be driven by the combined response to rising atmospheric CO 2 itself and climate change. Here, the future oceanic CO 2 uptake is simulated using an ensemble of coupled climate-carbon cycle models. The models are driven by CO 2 emissions from historical data and the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) A2 high-emission scenario. A linear feedback analysis successfully separates the regional future (2010-2100) oceanic CO 2 uptake into a CO 2 -induced component, due to rising atmospheric CO 2 concentrations, and a climate-induced component, due to global warming. The models capture the observation based magnitude and distribution of anthropogenic CO 2 uptake. The distributions of the climate-induced component are broadly consistent between the models, with reduced CO 2 uptake in the sub polar Southern Ocean and the equatorial regions, owing to decreased CO 2 solubility; and reduced CO 2 uptake in the mid-latitudes, owing to decreased CO 2 solubility and increased vertical stratification. The magnitude of the climate-induced component is sensitive to local warming in the southern extra-tropics, to large freshwater fluxes in the extra-tropical North Atlantic Ocean, and to small changes in the CO 2 solubility in the equatorial regions. In key anthropogenic CO 2 uptake regions, the climate-induced component offsets the CO 2 - induced component at a constant proportion up until the end of this century. This amounts to approximately 50% in the northern extra-tropics and 25% in the southern extra-tropics and equatorial regions. Consequently, the detection of climate change impacts on anthropogenic CO 2 uptake may be difficult without monitoring additional tracers, such as oxygen. (authors)
Regional impacts of climate change and atmospheric CO2 on future ocean carbon uptake: a multi model linear feedback analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roy, Tilla; Bopp, Laurent; Gehlen, Marion; Cadule, Patricia

2011-01-01

The increase in atmospheric CO 2 over this century depends on the evolution of the oceanic air-sea CO 2 uptake, which will be driven by the combined response to rising atmospheric CO 2 itself and climate change. Here, the future oceanic CO 2 uptake is simulated using an ensemble of coupled climate-carbon cycle models. The models are driven by CO 2 emissions from historical data and the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) A2 high-emission scenario. A linear feedback analysis successfully separates the regional future (2010-2100) oceanic CO 2 uptake into a CO 2 -induced component, due to rising atmospheric CO 2 concentrations, and a climate-induced component, due to global warming. The models capture the observation based magnitude and distribution of anthropogenic CO 2 uptake. The distributions of the climate-induced component are broadly consistent between the models, with reduced CO 2 uptake in the sub-polar Southern Ocean and the equatorial regions, owing to decreased CO 2 solubility; and reduced CO 2 uptake in the mid latitudes, owing to decreased CO 2 solubility and increased vertical stratification. The magnitude of the climate-induced component is sensitive to local warming in the southern extra tropics, to large freshwater fluxes in the extra tropical North Atlantic Ocean, and to small changes in the CO 2 solubility in the equatorial regions. In key anthropogenic CO 2 uptake regions, the climate-induced component offsets the CO 2 - induced component at a constant proportion up until the end of this century. This amounts to approximately 50% in the northern extra tropics and 25% in the southern extra tropics and equatorial regions. Consequently, the detection of climate change impacts on anthropogenic CO 2 uptake may be difficult without monitoring additional tracers, such as oxygen. (authors)
Nitrogen and Triple Oxygen Isotopic Analyses of Atmospheric Particulate Nitrate over the Pacific Ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Kamezaki, Kazuki; Hattori, Shohei; Iwamoto, Yoko; Ishino, Sakiko; Furutani, Hiroshi; Miki, Yusuke; Miura, Kazuhiko; Uematsu, Mitsuo; Yoshida, Naohiro

2017-04-01

Nitrate plays a significant role in the biogeochemical cycle. Atmospheric nitrate (NO3- and HNO3) are produced by reaction precursor as NOx (NO and NO2) emitted by combustion, biomass burning, lightning, and soil emission, with atmospheric oxidants like ozone (O3), hydroxyl radical (OH), peroxy radical and halogen oxides. Recently, industrial activity lead to increases in the concentrations of nitrogen species (NOx and NHy) throughout the environment. Because of the increase of the amount of atmospheric nitrogen deposition, the oceanic biogeochemical cycle are changed (Galloway et al., 2004; Kim et al., 2011). However, the sources and formation pathways of atmospheric nitrate are still uncertain over the Pacific Ocean because the long-term observation is limited. Stable isotope analysis is useful tool to gain information of sources, sinks and formation pathways. The nitrogen stable isotopic composition (δ15N) of atmospheric particulate NO3- can be used to posses information of its nitrogen sources (Elliott et al., 2007). Triple oxygen isotopic compositions (Δ17O = δ17O - 0.52 ×δ18O) of atmospheric particulate NO3- can be used as tracer of the relative importance of mass-independent oxygen bearing species (e.g. O3, BrO; Δ17O ≠ 0 ‰) and mass-dependent oxygen bearing species (e.g. OH radical; Δ17O ≈ 0 ‰) through the formation processes from NOx to NO3- in the atmosphere (Michalski et al., 2003; Thiemens, 2006). Here, we present the isotopic compositions of atmospheric particulate NO3- samples collected over the Pacific Ocean from 40˚ S to 68˚ N. We observed significantly low δ15N values for atmospheric particulate NO3- on equatorial Pacific Ocean during both cruises. Although the data is limited, combination analysis of δ15N and Δ17O values for atmospheric particulate NO3- showed the possibility of the main nitrogen source of atmospheric particulate NO3- on equatorial Pacific Ocean is ammonia oxidation in troposphere. Furthermore, the Δ17O values
Simulation of a Large Wildfire in a Coupled Fire-Atmosphere Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jean-Baptiste Filippi

2018-06-01

Full Text Available The Aullene fire devastated more than 3000 ha of Mediterranean maquis and pine forest in July 2009. The simulation of combustion processes, as well as atmospheric dynamics represents a challenge for such scenarios because of the various involved scales, from the scale of the individual flames to the larger regional scale. A coupled approach between the Meso-NH (Meso-scale Non-Hydrostatic atmospheric model running in LES (Large Eddy Simulation mode and the ForeFire fire spread model is proposed for predicting fine- to large-scale effects of this extreme wildfire, showing that such simulation is possible in a reasonable time using current supercomputers. The coupling involves the surface wind to drive the fire, while heat from combustion and water vapor fluxes are injected into the atmosphere at each atmospheric time step. To be representative of the phenomenon, a sub-meter resolution was used for the simulation of the fire front, while atmospheric simulations were performed with nested grids from 2400-m to 50-m resolution. Simulations were run with or without feedback from the fire to the atmospheric model, or without coupling from the atmosphere to the fire. In the two-way mode, the burnt area was reproduced with a good degree of realism at the local scale, where an acceleration in the valley wind and over sloping terrain pushed the fire line to locations in accordance with fire passing point observations. At the regional scale, the simulated fire plume compares well with the satellite image. The study explores the strong fire-atmosphere interactions leading to intense convective updrafts extending above the boundary layer, significant downdrafts behind the fire line in the upper plume, and horizontal wind speeds feeding strong inflow into the base of the convective updrafts. The fire-induced dynamics is induced by strong near-surface sensible heat fluxes reaching maximum values of 240 kW m − 2 . The dynamical production of turbulent kinetic
Advancing Atmosphere-Ocean Remote Sensing with Spaceborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar

Science.gov (United States)

Hostetler, C. A.; Behrenfeld, M. J.; Chepfer, H.; Hu, Y.; Hair, J. W.; Trepte, C. R.; Winker, D. M.; Ferrare, R. A.; Burton, S. P.; Scarino, A. J.; Powell, K. A.; Michaud, J.

2016-12-01

More than 1600 publications employing observations from the CALIOP lidar on CALIPSO testify to the value of spaceborne lidar for aerosol and cloud remote sensing. Recent publications have shown the value of CALIOP data for retrievals of key ocean carbon cycle stocks. In this presentation we focus on the advantages of a more advanced technique, High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL), for aerosol, cloud, and ocean remote sensing. An atmosphere-ocean optimized HSRL achieves greater accuracy over the standard backscatter lidar technique for retrievals of aerosol and cloud extinction and backscatter profiles, provides additional capability to retrieve aerosol and cloud microphysical parameters, and enables vertically-resolved characterization of scattering and absorption properties of suspended and dissolved materials in the ocean. Numerous publications highlight the synergy of coincident CALIOP and passive A-train observations for studies of aerosol-cloud radiative effects and cloud-climate feedback. Less appreciated is the complementarity that would exist between an optimized spaceborne lidar and passive ocean color. An optimized HSRL flown in formation with the Plankton, Aerosol, and ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission would provide phytoplankton vertical distribution, which is needed for accurately estimating net primary productivity but absent in the PACE ocean color data. The HSRL would also provide data needed to improve atmospheric correction schemes in ocean color retrievals. Because lidar provides measurements both night and day, through tenuous clouds and aerosol layers, and in holes between clouds, the sampling achieved is highly complementary to passive radiometry, providing data in important high latitude regions where ocean color data are sparse or nonexistent. In this presentation we will discuss 1) relevant aerosol, cloud, and ocean retrievals from airborne HSRL field missions; 2) the advantages of an optimized spaceborne HSRL for aerosol, cloud, and ocean
Compiled records of carbon isotopes in atmospheric CO2 for historical simulations in CMIP6

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Graven

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The isotopic composition of carbon (Δ14C and δ13C in atmospheric CO2 and in oceanic and terrestrial carbon reservoirs is influenced by anthropogenic emissions and by natural carbon exchanges, which can respond to and drive changes in climate. Simulations of 14C and 13C in the ocean and terrestrial components of Earth system models (ESMs present opportunities for model evaluation and for investigation of carbon cycling, including anthropogenic CO2 emissions and uptake. The use of carbon isotopes in novel evaluation of the ESMs' component ocean and terrestrial biosphere models and in new analyses of historical changes may improve predictions of future changes in the carbon cycle and climate system. We compile existing data to produce records of Δ14C and δ13C in atmospheric CO2 for the historical period 1850–2015. The primary motivation for this compilation is to provide the atmospheric boundary condition for historical simulations in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6 (CMIP6 for models simulating carbon isotopes in the ocean or terrestrial biosphere. The data may also be useful for other carbon cycle modelling activities.
Compiled records of carbon isotopes in atmospheric CO2 for historical simulations in CMIP6

Science.gov (United States)

Graven, Heather; Allison, Colin E.; Etheridge, David M.; Hammer, Samuel; Keeling, Ralph F.; Levin, Ingeborg; Meijer, Harro A. J.; Rubino, Mauro; Tans, Pieter P.; Trudinger, Cathy M.; Vaughn, Bruce H.; White, James W. C.

2017-12-01

The isotopic composition of carbon (Δ14C and δ13C) in atmospheric CO2 and in oceanic and terrestrial carbon reservoirs is influenced by anthropogenic emissions and by natural carbon exchanges, which can respond to and drive changes in climate. Simulations of 14C and 13C in the ocean and terrestrial components of Earth system models (ESMs) present opportunities for model evaluation and for investigation of carbon cycling, including anthropogenic CO2 emissions and uptake. The use of carbon isotopes in novel evaluation of the ESMs' component ocean and terrestrial biosphere models and in new analyses of historical changes may improve predictions of future changes in the carbon cycle and climate system. We compile existing data to produce records of Δ14C and δ13C in atmospheric CO2 for the historical period 1850-2015. The primary motivation for this compilation is to provide the atmospheric boundary condition for historical simulations in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6 (CMIP6) for models simulating carbon isotopes in the ocean or terrestrial biosphere. The data may also be useful for other carbon cycle modelling activities.
How ocean color can steer Pacific tropical cyclones

Science.gov (United States)

Gnanadesikan, Anand; Emanuel, Kerry; Vecchi, Gabriel A.; Anderson, Whit G.; Hallberg, Robert

2010-09-01

Because ocean color alters the absorption of sunlight, it can produce changes in sea surface temperatures with further impacts on atmospheric circulation. These changes can project onto fields previously recognized to alter the distribution of tropical cyclones. If the North Pacific subtropical gyre contained no absorbing and scattering materials, the result would be to reduce subtropical cyclone activity in the subtropical Northwest Pacific by 2/3, while concentrating cyclone tracks along the equator. Predicting tropical cyclone activity using coupled models may thus require consideration of the details of how heat moves into the upper thermocline as well as biogeochemical cycling.

Sea level variability in the eastern tropical Pacific as observed by TOPEX and Tropical Ocean-Global Atmosphere Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Giese, Benjamin S.; Carton, James A.; Holl, Lydia J.

1994-01-01

Sea surface height measurements from the TOPEX altimeter and dynamic height from Tropical Ocean-Global Atmosphere Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean (TOGA TAO) moorings are used to explore sea level variability in the northeastern tropical Pacific Ocean. Afetr the annual harmonic is removed, there are two distinct bands of variability: one band is centered at 5 deg N to 7 deg N and extends from 165 deg W to 110 deg W, and the other band is centered at 10 deg N to 12 deg N and extends from 120 deg W to the coast of Central America. The correspondence between the two independent observation data sets at 5 deg N is excellent with correlations of about 90%. The variability at 5 deg-7 deg N is identified as instability waves formed just south of the North Equatorial Countercurrent during the months of July and March. Wave amplitudes are largest in the range of longitudes 160 deg-140 deg W, where they can exceed 10 cm. The waves disappear when the equatorial current system weakens, during the months of March and May. The variability at 11 deg N in 1993 has the form of anticyclone eddies. These eddies propagate westward at a speed of about 17 cm/s, consistent with the dispersion characteristics of free Rossby waves. The eddies are shown to have their origin near the coast of central America during northern fall and winter. Their formation seems to result from intense wind bursts across the Gulfs of Tehuantepec and Papagayo which generate strong anticyclonic ocean eddies. The disappearance of the eddies in the summer of 1993 coincidences with the seasonal intensification of equatorial currents. Thus the variability at 11 deg N has very little overlap in time with the variability at 5 deg N.
Oceanic Channel of the IOD-ENSO teleconnection over the Indo-Pacific Ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Dongliang; Wang, Jing; Zhao, Xia; Zhou, Hui; Xu, Tengfei; Xu, Peng

2017-04-01

The lag correlations of observations and model simulated data that participate the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase-5 (CMIP5) are used to study the precursory teleconnection between the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and the Pacific ENSO one year later through the Indonesian seas. The results suggest that Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) play an important role in the IOD-ENSO teleconnection. Numerical simulations using a hierarchy of ocean models and climate coupled models have shown that the interannual sea level depressions in the southeastern Indian Ocean during IOD force enhanced ITF to transport warm water of the Pacific warm pool to the Indian Ocean, producing cold subsurface temperature anomalies, which propagate to the eastern equatorial Pacific and induce significant coupled ocean-atmosphere evolution. The teleconnection is found to have decadal variability. Similar decadal variability has also been identified in the historical simulations of the CMIP5 models. The dynamics of the inter-basin teleconnection during the positive phases of the decadal variability are diagnosed to be the interannual variations of the ITF associated with the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). During the negative phases, the thermocline in the eastern equatorial Pacific is anomalously deeper so that the sea surface temperature anomalies in the cold tongue are not sensitive to the thermocline depth changes. The IOD-ENSO teleconnection is found not affected significantly by the anthropogenic forcing.
Exploring the Lyapunov instability properties of high-dimensional atmospheric and climate models

Science.gov (United States)

De Cruz, Lesley; Schubert, Sebastian; Demaeyer, Jonathan; Lucarini, Valerio; Vannitsem, Stéphane

2018-05-01

The stability properties of intermediate-order climate models are investigated by computing their Lyapunov exponents (LEs). The two models considered are PUMA (Portable University Model of the Atmosphere), a primitive-equation simple general circulation model, and MAOOAM (Modular class="text">Arbitrary-Order Ocean-Atmosphere Model), a quasi-geostrophic coupled ocean-class="text">atmosphere model on a β-plane. We wish to investigate the effect of the different levels of filtering on the instabilities and dynamics of the atmospheric flows. Moreover, we assess the impact of the oceanic coupling, the dissipation scheme, and the resolution on the spectra of LEs. The PUMA Lyapunov spectrum is computed for two different values of the meridional temperature gradient defining the Newtonian forcing to the temperature field. The increase in the gradient gives rise to a higher baroclinicity and stronger instabilities, corresponding to a larger dimension of the unstable manifold and a larger first LE. The Kaplan-Yorke dimension of the attractor increases as well. The convergence rate of the rate function for the large deviation law of the finite-time Lyapunov exponents (FTLEs) is fast for all exponents, which can be interpreted as resulting from the absence of a clear-cut atmospheric timescale separation in such a model. The MAOOAM spectra show that the dominant atmospheric instability is correctly represented even at low resolutions. However, the dynamics of the central manifold, which is mostly associated with the ocean dynamics, is not fully resolved because of its associated long timescales, even at intermediate orders. As expected, increasing the mechanical atmosphere-ocean coupling coefficient or introducing a turbulent diffusion parametrisation reduces the Kaplan-Yorke dimension and Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy. In all considered configurations, we are not yet in the regime in which one can robustly define large deviation laws describing the statistics of the FTLEs. This
Atmospheric concentrations of persistent organic pollutants over the Pacific Ocean near southern Taiwan and the northern Philippines.

Science.gov (United States)

Chao, How-Ran; Lin, Ding-Yan; Chen, Kuang-Yu; Gou, Yan-Yu; Chiou, Tsyr-Huei; Lee, Wen-Jhy; Chen, Shui-Jen; Wang, Lin-Chi

2014-09-01

This study investigates the atmospheric occurrence of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) over the Pacific Ocean near southern Taiwan and the northern Philippines. We determined sixty-six compounds, including polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DLPCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), as well as polychlorinated diphenyl ethers (PCDEs), polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PBDD/Fs), and polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), in air samples simultaneously collected from the offshore oceanic atmosphere (n=6) and over a rural area (n=2). We calculated the atmospheric World Health Organization 2005 toxic equivalency levels (WHO2005-TEQ), for the total dioxin-like POPs, including PCDD/Fs, DLPCBs, and PBDD/Fs, being 0.00612 pg WHO2005-TEQ/m(3) and 0.0138 pg WHO2005-TEQ/m(3) over the ocean and land, respectively. We found unexpected lower averaged atmospheric PBDE concentrations in the rural area (15.9 pg/m(3)) than over the ocean (31.1 pg/m(3)) due to higher levels of the BDE209 congener, although the difference was not statistically significant. We have compared and reported our field results with previously published datasets over the global oceans, which suggest PCBs and PBDEs are the dominant chemical contaminants in the global oceanic atmosphere among these halogenated POPs (e.g. PCBs and Σdi-hepta PBDEs could be found in the range of 0.09-48.7 and 8.07-94.0 pg/m(3), respectively, including our dataset). However, there are still very few investigations on the global atmospheric levels of PBDD/Fs, PCDEs and PBBs and our data sums to these earlier studies. Finally, we point out that the halogenated POPs originated from Taiwan or the continental East Asia which could easily reach remote ocean sites via atmospheric transport. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Concentrations and (delta)13C values of atmospheric CO2 from oceanic atmosphere through time: polluted and non-polluted areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Longinelli, Antonio; Selmo, Enrico; Lenaz, Renzo; Ori, Carlo

2005-01-01

CO 2 is one of the primary agents of global climate changes. The increase of atmospheric CO 2 concentration is essentially related to human-induced emissions and, particularly, to the burning of fossil fuel whose (delta) 13 C values are quite negative. Consequently, an increase of the CO 2 concentration in the atmosphere should be paralleled by a decrease of its (delta) 13 C. Continuous and/or spot measurements of CO 2 concentrations were repeatedly carried out during the last decade and in the same period of the year along hemispheric courses from Italy to Antarctica on a vessel of the Italian National Research Program in Antarctica. During these expeditions, discrete air samples were also collected in 4-l Pyrex flasks in order to carry out precise carbon isotope analyses on atmospheric CO 2 from different areas, including theoretically 'clean' open ocean areas, with the main purpose of comparing these open ocean results with the results obtained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/World Meteorological Organization (NOAA/WMO) at land-based stations. According to the data obtained for these two variables, a relatively large atmospheric pollution is apparent in the Mediterranean area where the CO 2 concentration has reached the value of 384 ppmv while quite negative (delta) 13 C values have been measured only occasionally. In this area, southerly winds probably help to reduce the effect of atmospheric pollution even though, despite a large variability of CO 2 concentrations, these values are consistently higher than those measured in open ocean areas by a few ppmv to about 10 ppmv. A marked, though non-continuous, pollution is apparent in the area of the Bab-el-Mandeb strait where (delta) 13 C values considerably more negative than in the Central and Southern Red Sea were measured. The concentration of atmospheric CO 2 over the Central Indian Ocean increased from about 361 ppmv at the end of 1996 to about 373 ppmv at the end of 2003 (mean growth
Global land-atmosphere coupling associated with cold climate processes

OpenAIRE

Dutra, Emanuel, 1983-

2011-01-01

Tese de doutoramento, Ciências Geofísicas e da Geoinformação (Meteorologia), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, 2011 This dissertation constitutes an assessment of the role of cold processes, associated with snow cover, in controlling the land-atmosphere coupling. The work was based on model simulations, including offline simulations with the land surface model HTESSEL, and coupled atmosphere simulations with the EC-EARTH climate model. A revised snow scheme was developed and t...
Estimation of the atmosphere-ocean fluxes of greenhouse gases and aerosols at the finer resolution of the coastal ocean.

Science.gov (United States)

Vieira, Vasco; Sahlée, Erik; Jurus, Pavel; Clementi, Emanuela; Pettersson, Heidi; Mateus, Marcos

2016-04-01

The balances and fluxes of greenhouse gases and aerosols between atmosphere and ocean are fundamental for Earth's heat budget. Hence, the scientific community needs to know and simulate them with accuracy in order to monitor climate change from Earth-Observation satellites and to produce reliable estimates of climate change using Earth-System Models (ESM). So far, ESM have represented earth's surface with coarser resolutions so that each cell of the marine domain is dominated by the open ocean. In such case it is enough to use simple algorithms considering the wind speed 10m above sea-surface (u10) as sole driver of the gas transfer velocity. The formulation by Wanninkhof (1992) is broadly accepted as the best. However, the ESM community is becoming increasingly aware of the need to model with finer resolutions. Then, it is no longer enough to only consider u10 when modelling gas transfer velocities across the coastal oceans' surfaces. More comprehensive formulations are required that adjust better to local conditions by also accounting for the effects of sea-surface agitation, wave breaking, atmospheric stability of the Surface Boundary Layer, current drag with the bottom, surfactants and rain. Accurate algorithms are also fundamental to monitor atmosphere and ocean greenhouse gas concentrations using satellite data and reverse modelling. Past satellite missions ERS, Envisat, Jason-2, Aqua, Terra and Metop, have already been remotely sensing the ocean's surface at much finer resolutions than ESM using instruments like MERIS, MODIS, AMR, AATSR, MIPAS, Poseidon-3, SCIAMACHY, SeaWiFS, and IASI. The planned new satellite missions Sentinel-3, OCO-2 and GOSAT will further increase the resolutions. We developed a framework to congregate competing formulations for the estimation of the solubility and transfer velocity of virtually any gas on the biosphere taking into consideration the atmosphere and ocean fundamental variables and their derived geophysical processes
Changing currents: a strategy for understanding and predicting the changing ocean circulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Bryden, Harry L; Robinson, Carol; Griffiths, Gwyn

2012-12-13

Within the context of UK marine science, we project a strategy for ocean circulation research over the next 20 years. We recommend a focus on three types of research: (i) sustained observations of the varying and evolving ocean circulation, (ii) careful analysis and interpretation of the observed climate changes for comparison with climate model projections, and (iii) the design and execution of focused field experiments to understand ocean processes that are not resolved in coupled climate models so as to be able to embed these processes realistically in the models. Within UK-sustained observations, we emphasize smart, cost-effective design of the observational network to extract maximum information from limited field resources. We encourage the incorporation of new sensors and new energy sources within the operational environment of UK-sustained observational programmes to bridge the gap that normally separates laboratory prototype from operational instrument. For interpreting the climate-change records obtained through a variety of national and international sustained observational programmes, creative and dedicated UK scientists should lead efforts to extract the meaningful signals and patterns of climate change and to interpret them so as to project future changes. For the process studies, individual scientists will need to work together in team environments to combine observational and process modelling results into effective improvements in the coupled climate models that will lead to more accurate climate predictions.
Climatology and variability in the ECHO coupled GCM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Latif, M.; Stockdale, T.; Wolff, J.; Burgers, G.; Maier-Reimer, E.; Junge, M.M.; Arpe, K.; Bengtsson, L.

1993-01-01

ECHO is a new global coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model (GCM), consisting of the Hamburg version of the European Centre atmospheric GCM (ECHAM) and the Hamburg Primitive Equation ocean GCM (HOPE). We performed a twenty year integration with ECHO. Climate drift is significant, but typical in the open oceans. Near the boundaries, however, SST errors are considerably larger. The coupled model simulates an irregular ENSO cycle in the tropical Pacific, with spatial patterns similar to those observed. The mechanism behind the model ENSO is related to the subsurface memory of the system, but stochastic forcing by the atmosphere seems to be also important. The variability, however, is somewhat weaker relative to observations. ECHO also simulates significant interannual variability in midlatitudes. Consistent with observations, variability over the North Pacific can be partly attributed to remote forcing from the tropics. In contract, the interannual variability over the North Atlantic appears to be generated locally. Indications for decadal-scale variability are also found over the North Atlantic. (orig.)
Regional decadal predictions of coupled climate-human systems

Science.gov (United States)

Curchitser, E. N.; Lawrence, P.; Felder, F.; Large, W.; Bacmeister, J. T.; Andrews, C.; Kopp, R. E.

2016-12-01

We present results from a project to develop a framework for investigating the interactions between human activity and the climate system using state-of-the-art multi-scale, climate and economic models. The model is applied to the highly industrialized and urbanized coastal region of the northeast US with an emphasis on New Jersey. The framework is developed around the NCAR Community Earth System Model (CESM). The CESM model capabilities are augmented with enhanced resolution of the atmosphere (25 km), land surface (I km) and ocean models (7 km) in our region of interest. To the climate model, we couple human activity models for the utility sector and a 300-equation econometric model with sectorial details of an input-output model for the New Jersey economy. We will present results to date showing the potential impact of climate change on electricity markets on its consequences on economic activity in the region.
Combined Atmospheric and Ocean Profiling from an Airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar

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Hair Johnathan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available First of its kind combined atmospheric and ocean profile data were collected by the recently upgraded NASA Langley Research Center’s (LaRC High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL-1 during the 17 July – 7 August 2014 Ship-Aircraft Bio-Optical Research Experiment (SABOR. This mission sampled over a region that covered the Gulf of Maine, open-ocean near Bermuda, and coastal waters from Virginia to Rhode Island. The HSRL-1 and the Research Scanning Polarimeter from NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies collected data onboard the NASA LaRC King Air aircraft and flight operations were closely coordinated with the Research Vessel Endeavor that made in situ ocean optical measurements. The lidar measurements provided profiles of atmospheric backscatter and particulate depolarization at 532nm, 1064nm, and extinction (532nm from approximately 9km altitude. In addition, for the first time HSRL seawater backscatter, depolarization, and diffuse attenuation data at 532nm were collected and compared to both the ship measurements and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (NASA MODIS-Aqua satellite ocean retrievals.
Long-Term Observations of Atmospheric CO2, O3 and BrO over the Transitioning Arctic Ocean Pack-ice: The O-Buoy Chemical Network

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Matrai, P.

2016-02-01

Autonomous, sea ice-tethered O-Buoys have been deployed (2009-2016) across the Arctic sea ice for long-term atmospheric measurements (http://www.o-buoy.org). O-Buoys (15) provide in-situ concentrations of three sentinel atmospheric chemicals, ozone, CO2 and BrO, as well as meteorological parameters and imagery, over the frozen ocean. O-Buoys were designed to transmit daily data over a period of 2 years while deployed in sea ice, as part of automated ice-drifting stations that include snow/ice measurement systems (e.g. Ice Mass Balance buoys) and oceanographic measurements (e.g. Ice Tethered Profilers). Seasonal changes in Arctic atmospheric chemistry are influenced by changes in the characteristics and presence of the sea ice vs. open water as well as air mass trajectories, especially during the winter-spring and summer-fall transitions when sea ice is melting and freezing, respectively. The O-Buoy Chemical Network provides the unique opportunity to observe these transition periods in real-time with high temporal resolution, and to compare them with those collected on land-based monitoring stations located. Due to the logistical challenges of measurements over the Arctic Ocean region, most long term, in-situ observations of atmospheric chemistry have been made at coastal or island sites around the periphery of the Arctic Ocean, leaving large spatial and temporal gaps that O-Buoys overcome. Advances in floatation, communications, power management, and sensor hardware have been made to overcome the challenges of diminished Arctic sea ice. O-Buoy data provide insights into enhanced seasonal, interannual and spatial variability in atmospheric composition, atmospheric boundary layer control on the amount of halogen activation, enhancement of the atmospheric CO2 signal over the more variable and porous pack ice, and to develop an integrated picture of the coupled ocean/ice/atmosphere system. As part of the Arctic Observing Network, we provide data to the community (www.aoncadis.org).
A comparison of observed extreme water levels at the German Bight elaborated through an extreme value analysis (EVA) with extremes derived from a regionally coupled ocean-atmospheric climate model (MPI-OM)

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Möller, Jens; Heinrich, Hartmut

2017-04-01

As a consequence of climate change atmospheric and oceanographic extremes and their potential impacts on coastal regions are of growing concern for governmental authorities responsible for the transportation infrastructure. Highest risks for shipping as well as for rail and road traffic originate from combined effects of extremes of storm surges and heavy rainfall which sometimes lead to insufficient dewatering of inland waterways. The German Ministry of Transport and digital Infrastructure therefore has tasked its Network of Experts to investigate the possible evolutions of extreme threats for low lands and especially for Kiel Canal, which is an important shortcut for shipping between the North and Baltic Seas. In this study we present results of a comparison of an Extreme Value Analysis (EVA) carried out on gauge observations and values derived from a coupled Regional Ocean-Atmosphere Climate Model (MPI-OM). High water levels at the coasts of the North and Baltic Seas are one of the most important hazards which increase the risk of flooding of the low-lying land and prevents such areas from an adequate dewatering. In this study changes in the intensity (magnitude of the extremes) and duration of extreme water levels (above a selected threshold) are investigated for several gauge stations with data partly reaching back to 1843. Different methods are used for the extreme value statistics, (1) a stationary general Pareto distribution (GPD) model as well as (2) an instationary statistical model for better reproduction of the impact of climate change. Most gauge stations show an increase of the mean water level of about 1-2 mm/year, with a stronger increase of the highest water levels and a decrease (or lower increase) of the lowest water levels. Also, the duration of possible dewatering time intervals for the Kiel-Canal was analysed. The results for the historical gauge station observations are compared to the statistics of modelled water levels from the coupled
Ocean acidification impacts bacteria-phytoplankton coupling at low-nutrient conditions

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Hornick, Thomas; Bach, Lennart T.; Crawfurd, Katharine J.; Spilling, Kristian; Achterberg, Eric P.; Woodhouse, Jason N.; Schulz, Kai G.; Brussaard, Corina P. D.; Riebesell, Ulf; Grossart, Hans-Peter

2017-01-01

The oceans absorb about a quarter of the annually produced anthropogenic atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), resulting in a decrease in surface water pH, a process termed ocean acidification (OA). Surprisingly little is known about how OA affects the physiology of heterotrophic bacteria or the coupling of heterotrophic bacteria to phytoplankton when nutrients are limited. Previous experiments were, for the most part, undertaken during productive phases or following nutrient additions designed to stimulate algal blooms. Therefore, we performed an in situ large-volume mesocosm ( ˜ 55 m3) experiment in the Baltic Sea by simulating different fugacities of CO2 (fCO2) extending from present to future conditions. The study was conducted in July-August after the nominal spring bloom, in order to maintain low-nutrient conditions throughout the experiment. This resulted in phytoplankton communities dominated by small-sized functional groups (picophytoplankton). There was no consistent fCO2-induced effect on bacterial protein production (BPP), cell-specific BPP (csBPP) or biovolumes (BVs) of either free-living (FL) or particle-associated (PA) heterotrophic bacteria, when considered as individual components (univariate analyses). Permutational Multivariate Analysis of Variance (PERMANOVA) revealed a significant effect of the fCO2 treatment on entire assemblages of dissolved and particulate nutrients, metabolic parameters and the bacteria-phytoplankton community. However, distance-based linear modelling only identified fCO2 as a factor explaining the variability observed amongst the microbial community composition, but not for explaining variability within the metabolic parameters. This suggests that fCO2 impacts on microbial metabolic parameters occurred indirectly through varying physicochemical parameters and microbial species composition. Cluster analyses examining the co-occurrence of different functional groups of bacteria and phytoplankton further revealed a separation of
Natural climate variability in a coupled model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zebiak, S.E.; Cane, M.A.

1990-01-01

Multi-century simulations with a simplified coupled ocean-atmosphere model are described. These simulations reveal an impressive range of variability on decadal and longer time scales, in addition to the dominant interannual el Nino/Southern Oscillation signal that the model originally was designed to simulate. Based on a very large sample of century-long simulations, it is nonetheless possible to identify distinct model parameter sensitivities that are described here in terms of selected indices. Preliminary experiments motivated by general circulation model results for increasing greenhouse gases suggest a definite sensitivity to model global warming. While these results are not definitive, they strongly suggest that coupled air-sea dynamics figure prominently in global change and must be included in models for reliable predictions
Initializing decadal climate predictions over the North Atlantic region

Science.gov (United States)

Matei, Daniela Mihaela; Pohlmann, Holger; Jungclaus, Johann; Müller, Wolfgang; Haak, Helmuth; Marotzke, Jochem

2010-05-01

Decadal climate prediction aims to predict the internally-generated decadal climate variability in addition to externally-forced climate change signal. In order to achieve this it is necessary to start the predictions from the current climate state. In this study we investigate the forecast skill of the North Atlantic decadal climate predictions using two different ocean initialization strategies. First we apply an assimilation of ocean synthesis data provided by the GECCO project (Köhl and Stammer, 2008) as initial conditions for the coupled model ECHAM5/MPI-OM. Hindcast experiments are then performed over the period 1952-2001. An alternative approach is one in which the subsurface ocean temperature and salinity are diagnosed from an ensemble of ocean model runs forced by the NCEP-NCAR atmospheric reanalyzes for the period 1948-2007, then nudge into the coupled model to produce initial conditions for the hindcast experiments. An anomaly coupling scheme is used in both approaches to avoid the hindcast drift and the associated initial shock. Differences between the two assimilation approaches are discussed by comparing them with the observational data in key regions and processes. We asses the skill of the initialized decadal hindcast experiments against the prediction skill of the non-initialized hindcasts simulation. We obtain an overview of the regions with the highest predictability from the regional distribution of the anomaly correlation coefficients and RMSE for the SAT. For the first year the hindcast skill is increased over almost all ocean regions in the NCEP-forced approach. This increase in the hindcast skill for the 1 year lead time is somewhat reduced in the GECCO approach. At lead time 5yr and 10yr, the skill enhancement is still found over the North Atlantic and North Pacific regions. We also consider the potential predictability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and Nordic Seas Overflow by comparing the predicted values to
Prediction on global warming-up. Chikyu ondanka wo yosokusuru

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Noda, A [Meteorological Research Institute, Tsukuba (Japan)

1993-05-01

This paper introduces models to predict global warming-up caused by greenhouse effect of the earth and increase in greenhouse effect gases, and the prediction results. As a result of CO2 doubling experiments using three-dimensional climate models in predicting the global warming-up, a model that predicted a sharp rise in annual average ground temperatures on the entire earth showed a larger increase in precipitation. According to the result of the CO2 doubling experiments using atmosphere-ocean coupling models, it was learned that the temperature rises higher in high latitude regions rather than rising uniformly over the earth on the whole. The fact that the temperature rise when CO2 has been doubled in a CO2 gradually increasing experiment is smaller than in the doubling experiment can be understood as a delaying effect of oceans generated from their thermal inertia. The former experiment showed a remarkable non-symmetry between the Southern and Northern hemispheres, reflecting the effect of the great oceanic circulation. Increase in cloud amount has an effect of either cooling or warming the earth, but the cooling effect surpasses the warming effect reportedly. Sulfuric acid aerosol in the troposphere is thought to influence the process of solar radiation transmitting through the atmosphere and have an effect to cool down the ground surface. 12 refs., 6 figs.
Spatio-temporal variability of aerosols in the tropics relationship with atmospheric and oceanic environments

Science.gov (United States)

Zuluaga-Arias, Manuel D.

2011-12-01

of surface temperature, atmospheric wind, geopotential height, outgoing longwave radiation, water vapor and precipitation together with the climatology of aerosols provide insight on how the variables interact. Different modes of variability, especially in intraseasonal time scales appear as strong modulators of the aerosol distribution. In particular, we investigate how two modes of variability related to the westward propagating synoptic African Easterly Waves of the Tropical Atlantic Ocean affect the horizontal and vertical structure of the environment. The statistical significance of these two modes is tested with the use of two different spectral techniques. The pattern of propagation of aerosol load shows good correspondence with the progression of the atmospheric and oceanic conditions suitable for dust mobilization over the Atlantic Ocean. We present extensions to previous studies related with dust variability over the Atlantic region by evaluating the performance of the long period satellite aerosol retrievals in determining modes of aerosol variability. Results of the covariability between aerosols-environment motivate the use of statistical regression models to test the significance of the forecasting skill of daily AOD time series. The regression models are calibrated using atmospheric variables as predictors from the reanalysis variables. The results show poor forecasting skill with significant error growing after the 3 rd day of the prediction. It is hypothesized that the simplicity of linear models results in an inability to provide a useful forecast.
Reconstructing the Nd oceanic cycle using a coupled dynamical – biogeochemical model

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T. Arsouze

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The decoupled behaviour observed between Nd isotopic composition (Nd IC, also referred as ε_Nd and Nd concentration cycles has led to the notion of a "Nd paradox". While ε_Nd behaves in a quasi-conservative way in the open ocean, leading to its broad use as a water-mass tracer, Nd concentration displays vertical profiles that increase with depth, together with a deep-water enrichment along the global thermohaline circulation. This non-conservative behaviour is typical of nutrients affected by scavenging in surface waters and remineralisation at depth. In addition, recent studies suggest the only way to reconcile both concentration and Nd IC oceanic budgets, is to invoke a "Boundary Exchange" process (BE, defined as the co-occurrence of transfer of elements from the margin to the sea with removal of elements from the sea by Boundary Scavenging as a source-sink term. However, these studies do not simulate the input/output fluxes of Nd to the ocean, and therefore prevents from crucial information that limits our understanding of Nd decoupling. To investigate this paradox on a global scale, this study uses for the first time a fully prognostic coupled dynamical/biogeochemical model with an explicit representation of Nd sources and sinks to simulate the Nd oceanic cycle. Sources considered include dissolved river fluxes, atmospheric dusts and margin sediment re-dissolution. Sinks are scavenging by settling particles. This model simulates the global features of the Nd oceanic cycle well, and produces a realistic distribution of Nd concentration (correct order of magnitude, increase with depth and along the conveyor belt, 65% of the simulated values fit in the ±10 pmol/kg envelop when compared to the data and isotopic composition (inter-basin gradient, characterization of the main water-masses, more than 70% of the simulated values fit in the ±3 ε_Nd envelop when compared to the data, though a slight overestimation of
Enabling Persistent Autonomy for Underwater Gliders with Ocean Model Predictions and Terrain Based Navigation

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Andrew eStuntz

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Effective study of ocean processes requires sampling over the duration of long (weeks to months oscillation patterns. Such sampling requires persistent, autonomous underwater vehicles, that have a similarly long deployment duration. The spatiotemporal dynamics of the ocean environment, coupled with limited communication capabilities, make navigation and localization difficult, especially in coastal regions where the majority of interesting phenomena occur. In this paper, we consider the combination of two methods for reducing navigation and localization error; a predictive approach based on ocean model predictions and a prior information approach derived from terrain-based navigation. The motivation for this work is not only for real-time state estimation, but also for accurately reconstructing the actual path that the vehicle traversed to contextualize the gathered data, with respect to the science question at hand. We present an application for the practical use of priors and predictions for large-scale ocean sampling. This combined approach builds upon previous works by the authors, and accurately localizes the traversed path of an underwater glider over long-duration, ocean deployments. The proposed method takes advantage of the reliable, short-term predictions of an ocean model, and the utility of priors used in terrain-based navigation over areas of significant bathymetric relief to bound uncertainty error in dead-reckoning navigation. This method improves upon our previously published works by 1 demonstrating the utility of our terrain-based navigation method with multiple field trials, and 2 presenting a hybrid algorithm that combines both approaches to bound navigational error and uncertainty for long-term deployments of underwater vehicles. We demonstrate the approach by examining data from actual field trials with autonomous underwater gliders, and demonstrate an ability to estimate geographical location of an underwater glider to 2

Estimation of the Ocean Skin Temperature using the NASA GEOS Atmospheric Data Assimilation System

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Koster, Randal D.; Akella, Santha; Todling, Ricardo; Suarez, Max

2016-01-01

This report documents the status of the development of a sea surface temperature (SST) analysis for the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) Version-5 atmospheric data assimilation system (ADAS). Its implementation is part of the steps being taken toward the development of an integrated earth system analysis. Currently, GEOS-ADAS SST is a bulk ocean temperature (from ocean boundary conditions), and is almost identical to the skin sea surface temperature. Here we describe changes to the atmosphere-ocean interface layer of the GEOS-atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) to include near surface diurnal warming and cool-skin effects. We also added SST relevant Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) observations to the GEOS-ADAS observing system. We provide a detailed description of our analysis of these observations, along with the modifications to the interface between the GEOS atmospheric general circulation model, gridpoint statistical interpolation-based atmospheric analysis and the community radiative transfer model. Our experiments (with and without these changes) show improved assimilation of satellite radiance observations. We obtained a closer fit to withheld, in-situ buoys measuring near-surface SST. Evaluation of forecast skill scores corroborate improvements seen in the observation fits. Along with a discussion of our results, we also include directions for future work.
Predicting Kenya Short Rains Using the Indian Ocean SST

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, X.; Albertson, J. D.; Steinschneider, S.

2017-12-01

The rainfall over the Eastern Africa is charaterized by the typical bimodal monsoon system. Literatures have shown that the monsoon system is closely connected with the large-scale atmospheric motion which is believed to be driven by sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA). Therefore, we may make use of the predictability of SSTA in estimating future Easter Africa monsoon. In this study, we tried predict the Kenya short rains (Oct, Nov and Dec rainfall) based on the Indian Ocean SSTA. The Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) regression is used to avoid over-fitting issues. Models for different lead times are trained using a 28-year training set (2006-1979) and are tested using a 10-year test set (2007-2016). Satisfying prediciton skills are achieved at relatively long lead times (i.e., 8 and 10 months) in terms of correlation coefficient and sign accuracy. Unlike some of the previous work, the prediction models are obtained from a data-driven method. Limited predictors are selected for each model and can be used in understanding the underlying physical connection. Still, further investigation is needed since the sampling variability issue cannot be excluded due to the limited sample size.
Monitoring and assessment of ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean-A scoping paper

Science.gov (United States)

Robbins, Lisa L.; Yates, Kimberly K.; Feely, Richard; Fabry, Victoria

2010-01-01

Carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere is absorbed at the ocean surface by reacting with seawater to form a weak, naturally occurring acid called carbonic acid. As atmospheric carbon dioxide increases, the concentration of carbonic acid in seawater also increases, causing a decrease in ocean pH and carbonate mineral saturation states, a process known as ocean acidification. The oceans have absorbed approximately 525 billion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, or about one-quarter to one-third of the anthropogenic carbon emissions released since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Global surveys of ocean chemistry have revealed that seawater pH has decreased by about 0.1 units (from a pH of 8.2 to 8.1) since the 1700s due to absorption of carbon dioxide (Raven and others, 2005). Modeling studies, based on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) CO2 emission scenarios, predict that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels could reach more than 500 parts per million (ppm) by the middle of this century and 800 ppm by the year 2100, causing an additional decrease in surface water pH of 0.3 pH units. Ocean acidification is a global threat and is already having profound and deleterious effects on the geology, biology, chemistry, and socioeconomic resources of coastal and marine habitats. The polar and sub-polar seas have been identified as the bellwethers for global ocean acidification.
Representing grounding line migration in synchronous coupling between a marine ice sheet model and a z-coordinate ocean model

Science.gov (United States)

Goldberg, D. N.; Snow, K.; Holland, P.; Jordan, J. R.; Campin, J.-M.; Heimbach, P.; Arthern, R.; Jenkins, A.

2018-05-01

Synchronous coupling is developed between an ice sheet model and a z-coordinate ocean model (the MITgcm). A previously-developed scheme to allow continuous vertical movement of the ice-ocean interface of a floating ice shelf ("vertical coupling") is built upon to allow continuous movement of the grounding line, or point of floatation of the ice sheet ("horizontal coupling"). Horizontal coupling is implemented through the maintenance of a thin layer of ocean ( ∼ 1 m) under grounded ice, which is inflated into the real ocean as the ice ungrounds. This is accomplished through a modification of the ocean model's nonlinear free surface evolution in a manner akin to a hydrological model in the presence of steep bathymetry. The coupled model is applied to a number of idealized geometries and shown to successfully represent ocean-forced marine ice sheet retreat while maintaining a continuous ocean circulation.
Improving estimations of greenhouse gas transfer velocities by atmosphere-ocean couplers in Earth-System and regional models

Science.gov (United States)

Vieira, V. M. N. C. S.; Sahlée, E.; Jurus, P.; Clementi, E.; Pettersson, H.; Mateus, M.

2015-09-01

Earth-System and regional models, forecasting climate change and its impacts, simulate atmosphere-ocean gas exchanges using classical yet too simple generalizations relying on wind speed as the sole mediator while neglecting factors as sea-surface agitation, atmospheric stability, current drag with the bottom, rain and surfactants. These were proved fundamental for accurate estimates, particularly in the coastal ocean, where a significant part of the atmosphere-ocean greenhouse gas exchanges occurs. We include several of these factors in a customizable algorithm proposed for the basis of novel couplers of the atmospheric and oceanographic model components. We tested performances with measured and simulated data from the European coastal ocean, having found our algorithm to forecast greenhouse gas exchanges largely different from the forecasted by the generalization currently in use. Our algorithm allows calculus vectorization and parallel processing, improving computational speed roughly 12× in a single cpu core, an essential feature for Earth-System models applications.
SST and OLR relationship during Indian summer monsoon: a coupled climate modelling perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Chaudhari, Hemantkumar S.; Hazra, Anupam; Pokhrel, Samir; Chakrabarty, Chandrima; Saha, Subodh Kumar; Sreenivas, P.

2018-04-01

The study mainly investigates sea surface temperature (SST) and outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) relationships in coupled climate model. To support the analysis, high-level cloud and OLR relationship is also investigated. High-level cloud and OLR relationship depicts significant negative correlation over the entire monsoon regime. Coupled climate model is able to produce the same. SST and OLR relationship in observation also depicts significant negative relationship, in particular, over the Equatorial Eastern Indian Ocean (EIO) region. Climate Forecast System version 2 (CFSv2) is able to portray the negative relationship over EIO region; however, it is underestimated as compared to observation. Significant negative correlations elucidate that local SSTs regulate the convection and further it initiates Bjerknes feedback in the central Indian Ocean. It connotes that SST anomalies during monsoon period tend to be determined by oceanic forcing. The heat content of the coastal Bay of Bengal shows highest response to EIO SST by a lag of 1 month. It suggests that the coastal region of the Bay of Bengal is marked by coastally trapped Kelvin waves, which might have come from EIO at a time lag of 1 month. Sea surface height anomalies, depth at 20 °C isotherms and depth at 26 isotherms also supports the above hypothesis. Composite analysis based on EIO index and coupled climate model sensitivity experiments also suggest that the coastal Bay of Bengal region is marked by coastally trapped Kelvin waves, which are propagated from EIO at a time lag of 1 month. Thus, SST and OLR relationship pinpoints that the Bay of Bengal OLR (convection) is governed by local ocean-atmospheric coupling, which is influenced by the delayed response from EIO brought forward through oceanic planetary waves at a lag of 1 month. These results have utmost predictive value for seasonal and extended range forecasting. Thus, OLR and SST relationship can constitute a pivotal role in investigating the
Impact of bio-physical feedbacks on the tropical climate in coupled and uncoupled GCMs

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Jong-Yeon; Kug, Jong-Seong; Seo, Hyodae; Bader, Jürgen

2014-10-01

The bio-physical feedback process between the marine ecosystem and the tropical climate system is investigated using both an ocean circulation model and a fully-coupled ocean-atmosphere circulation model, which interact with a biogeochemical model. We found that the presence of chlorophyll can have significant impact on the characteristics of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), including its amplitude and asymmetry, as well as on the mean state. That is, chlorophyll generally increases mean sea surface temperature (SST) due to the direct biological heating. However, SST in the eastern equatorial Pacific decreases due to the stronger indirect dynamical response to the biological effects outweighing the direct thermal response. It is demonstrated that this biologically-induced SST cooling is intensified and conveyed to other tropical-ocean basins when atmosphere-ocean coupling is taken into account. It is also found that the presence of chlorophyll affects the magnitude of ENSO by two different mechanisms; one is an amplifying effect by the mean chlorophyll, which is associated with shoaling of the mean thermocline depth, and the other is a damping effect derived from the interactively-varying chlorophyll coupled with the physical model. The atmosphere-ocean coupling reduces the biologically-induced ENSO amplifying effect through the weakening of atmospheric feedback. Lastly, there is also a biological impact on ENSO which enhances the positive skewness. This skewness change is presumably caused by the phase dependency of thermocline feedback which affects the ENSO magnitude.
Disentangling the Roles of Atmospheric and Oceanic Forcing on the Last Deglaciation of the Greenland Ice Sheet

Science.gov (United States)

Keisling, B. A.; Deconto, R. M.

2017-12-01

Today the Greenland Ice Sheet loses mass via both oceanic and atmospheric processes. However, the relative importance of these mass balance components is debated, especially their potential impact on ongoing and future mass imbalance. Discerning the impact of oceanic versus atmospheric forcing during past periods of mass loss provides potential insight into the future behavior of the ice sheet. Here we present an ensemble of Greenland Ice Sheet simulations of the last deglaciation, designed to assess separately the roles of the ocean and the atmosphere in driving mass loss over the last twenty thousand years. We use twenty-eight different ocean forcing scenarios along with a cutting-edge reconstruction of time-evolving atmospheric conditions based on climate model output and δ15N-based temperature reconstructions to generate a range of ice-sheet responses during the deglaciation. We then compare the simulated timing of ice-retreat in individual catchments with estimates based on both 10Be (exposure) and 14C (minimum-limiting) dates. These experiments allow us to identify the ocean forcing scenario that best match the data on a local-to-regional (i.e., 100-1000 km) scales, providing an assessment of the relative importance of ocean and atmospheric forcing components around the periphery of Greenland. We use these simulations to quantify the importance of the three major mass balance terms (calving, oceanic melting, and surface melting) and assess the uncertainty of the relative influence of these factors during the most recent periods of major ice loss. Our results show that mass balance components around different sectors of the ice sheet respond differently to forcing, with oceanic components driving the majority of retreat in south and east Greenland and atmospheric forcing dominating in west and north Greenland In addition, we target three areas at high spatial resolution ( 1 km) around Greenland currently undergoing substantial change (Jakobshavn, Petermann
The response of grounded ice to ocean temperature forcing in a coupled ice sheet-ice shelf-ocean cavity model

Science.gov (United States)

Goldberg, D. N.; Little, C. M.; Sergienko, O. V.; Gnanadesikan, A.

2010-12-01

Ice shelves provide a pathway for the heat content of the ocean to influence continental ice sheets. Changes in the rate or location of basal melting can alter their geometry and effect changes in stress conditions at the grounding line, leading to a grounded ice response. Recent observations of ice streams and ice shelves in the Amundsen Sea sector of West Antarctica have been consistent with this story. On the other hand, ice dynamics in the grounding zone control flux into the shelf and thus ice shelf geometry, which has a strong influence on the circulation in the cavity beneath the shelf. Thus the coupling between the two systems, ocean and ice sheet-ice shelf, can be quite strong. We examine the response of the ice sheet-ice shelf-ocean cavity system to changes in ocean temperature using a recently developed coupled model. The coupled model consists a 3-D ocean model (GFDL's Generalized Ocean Layered Dynamics model, or GOLD) to a two-dimensional ice sheet-ice shelf model (Goldberg et al, 2009), and allows for changing cavity geometry and a migrating grounding line. Steady states of the coupled system are found even under considerable forcing. The ice shelf morphology and basal melt rate patterns of the steady states exhibit detailed structure, and furthermore seem to be unique and robust. The relationship between temperature forcing and area-averaged melt rate is influenced by the response of ice shelf morphology to thermal forcing, and is found to be sublinear in the range of forcing considered. However, results suggest that area-averaged melt rate is not the best predictor of overall system response, as grounding line stability depends on local aspects of the basal melt field. Goldberg, D N, D M Holland and C G Schoof, 2009. Grounding line movement and ice shelf buttressing in marine ice sheets, Journal of Geophysical Research-Earth Surfaces, 114, F04026.
Moving Towards Dynamic Ocean Management: How Well Do Modeled Ocean Products Predict Species Distributions?

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Elizabeth A. Becker

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Species distribution models are now widely used in conservation and management to predict suitable habitat for protected marine species. The primary sources of dynamic habitat data have been in situ and remotely sensed oceanic variables (both are considered “measured data”, but now ocean models can provide historical estimates and forecast predictions of relevant habitat variables such as temperature, salinity, and mixed layer depth. To assess the performance of modeled ocean data in species distribution models, we present a case study for cetaceans that compares models based on output from a data assimilative implementation of the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS to those based on measured data. Specifically, we used seven years of cetacean line-transect survey data collected between 1991 and 2009 to develop predictive habitat-based models of cetacean density for 11 species in the California Current Ecosystem. Two different generalized additive models were compared: one built with a full suite of ROMS output and another built with a full suite of measured data. Model performance was assessed using the percentage of explained deviance, root mean squared error (RMSE, observed to predicted density ratios, and visual inspection of predicted and observed distributions. Predicted distribution patterns were similar for models using ROMS output and measured data, and showed good concordance between observed sightings and model predictions. Quantitative measures of predictive ability were also similar between model types, and RMSE values were almost identical. The overall demonstrated success of the ROMS-based models opens new opportunities for dynamic species management and biodiversity monitoring because ROMS output is available in near real time and can be forecast.
South African carbon observations: CO2 measurements for land, atmosphere and ocean

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Feig, Gregor T

2017-11-01

Full Text Available , Mudau AE, Monteiro PMS. South African carbon observations: CO2 measurements for land, atmosphere and ocean. S Afr J Sci. 2017;113(11/12), Art. #a0237, 4 pages. http://dx.doi. org/10.17159/sajs.2017/a0237 Carbon dioxide plays a central role in earth... References 1. Houghton RA. Balancing the global carbon budget. Annu Rev Earth Planet Sci. 2007;35:313–347. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev. earth.35.031306.140057 2. Denman KL. Climate change, ocean processes and ocean iron fertilization. Mar Ecol Prog Ser...
Three-Dimensional Coupled NLS Equations for Envelope Gravity Solitary Waves in Baroclinic Atmosphere and Modulational Instability

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Baojun Zhao

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Envelope gravity solitary waves are an important research hot spot in the field of solitary wave. And the weakly nonlinear model equations system is a part of the research of envelope gravity solitary waves. Because of the lack of technology and theory, previous studies tried hard to reduce the variable numbers and constructed the two-dimensional model in barotropic atmosphere and could only describe the propagation feature in a direction. But for the propagation of envelope gravity solitary waves in real ocean ridges and atmospheric mountains, the three-dimensional model is more appropriate. Meanwhile, the baroclinic problem of atmosphere is also an inevitable topic. In the paper, the three-dimensional coupled nonlinear Schrödinger (CNLS equations are presented to describe the evolution of envelope gravity solitary waves in baroclinic atmosphere, which are derived from the basic dynamic equations by employing perturbation and multiscale methods. The model overcomes two disadvantages: (1 baroclinic problem and (2 propagation path problem. Then, based on trial function method, we deduce the solution of the CNLS equations. Finally, modulational instability of wave trains is also discussed.
Volcanic signals in oceans

KAUST Repository

Stenchikov, Georgiy L.

2009-08-22

Sulfate aerosols resulting from strong volcanic explosions last for 2–3 years in the lower stratosphere. Therefore it was traditionally believed that volcanic impacts produce mainly short-term, transient climate perturbations. However, the ocean integrates volcanic radiative cooling and responds over a wide range of time scales. The associated processes, especially ocean heat uptake, play a key role in ongoing climate change. However, they are not well constrained by observations, and attempts to simulate them in current climate models used for climate predictions yield a range of uncertainty. Volcanic impacts on the ocean provide an independent means of assessing these processes. This study focuses on quantification of the seasonal to multidecadal time scale response of the ocean to explosive volcanism. It employs the coupled climate model CM2.1, developed recently at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\\'s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, to simulate the response to the 1991 Pinatubo and the 1815 Tambora eruptions, which were the largest in the 20th and 19th centuries, respectively. The simulated climate perturbations compare well with available observations for the Pinatubo period. The stronger Tambora forcing produces responses with higher signal-to-noise ratio. Volcanic cooling tends to strengthen the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. Sea ice extent appears to be sensitive to volcanic forcing, especially during the warm season. Because of the extremely long relaxation time of ocean subsurface temperature and sea level, the perturbations caused by the Tambora eruption could have lasted well into the 20th century.
Atmospheric trace elements in aerosols observed over the Southern Ocean and coastal East Antarctica

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guojie Xu

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Atmospheric aerosol samples were collected over the Southern Ocean (SO and coastal East Antarctica (CEA during the austral summer of 2010/11. Samples were analysed for trace elements, including Na, Mg, K, Al, Fe, Mn, Ni, Cd and Se, by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS. The mean atmospheric concentrations over the SO were 1100 ng m−3 for Na, 190 ng m−3 for Mg, 150 ng m−3 for Al, 14 ng m−3 for Fe, 0.46 ng m−3 for Mn and 0.25 ng m−3 for Se. Over CEA, the mean concentrations were 990 ng m−3 for Na, 180 ng m−3 for Mg, 190 ng m−3 for Al, 26 ng m−3 for Fe, 0.70 ng m−3 for Mn and 0.29 ng m−3 for Se. Particle size distributions, enrichment factors (EFs and correlation analysis indicate that Na, Mg and K mainly came from the marine source, while Al, Fe and Mn were mainly from the crustal source, which also contributed to Mg and K over CEA. High EFs were associated with Ni, Cd and Se, suggesting likely contributions from mixed sources from the Antarctic continent, long-range transport, marine biogenic emissions and anthropogenic emissions. Sea-salt elements (Na, Mg, K were mainly accumulated in the coarse mode, and crustal elements (Al, Fe, Mn presented a bimodal size distribution pattern. Bioactive elements (Fe, Ni, Cd were enriched in the fine mode, especially with samples collected over the SO, possibly affecting biogeochemical cycles in this oceanic region.
The oceanic response to carbon emissions over the next century: investigation using three ocean carbon cycle models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chuck, A.; Tyrrell, T.; Holligan, P.M.; Totterdell, I.J.

2005-01-01

A recent study of coupled atmospheric carbon dioxide and the biosphere found alarming sensitivity of next-century atmospheric pCO 2 (and hence planetary temperature) to uncertainties in terrestrial processes. Here we investigate whether there is similar sensitivity associated with uncertainties in the behaviour of the ocean carbon cycle. We investigate this important question using three models of the ocean carbon cycle of varying complexity: (1) a new three-box oceanic carbon cycle model; (2) the HILDA multibox model with high vertical resolution at low latitudes; (3) the Hadley Centre ocean general circulation model (HadOCC). These models were used in combination to assess the quantitative significance (to year 2100 pCO 2 ) of potential changes to the ocean stimulated by global warming and other anthropogenic activities over the period 2000-2100. It was found that an increase in sea surface temperature and a decrease in the mixing rate due to stratification give rise to the greatest relative changes in pCO 2 , both being positive feedbacks. We failed to find any comparable large sensitivity due to the ocean
A Reusable and Autonomous Ocean-Atmosphere Sensor Integration System (OASIS), Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The need to acquire observations on oceanic and atmospheric physical and biogeochemical processes continues to increase. These data are presently being used as...
Earth 2075 (CO2) - can Ocean-Amplified Carbon Capture (oacc) Impart Atmospheric CO2-SINKING Ability to CCS Fossil Energy?

Science.gov (United States)

Fry, R.; Routh, M.; Chaudhuri, S.; Fry, S.; Ison, M.; Hughes, S.; Komor, C.; Klabunde, K.; Sethi, V.; Collins, D.; Polkinghorn, W.; Wroobel, B.; Hughes, J.; Gower, G.; Shkolnik, J.

2017-12-01

Previous attempts to capture atmospheric CO2 by algal blooming were stalled by ocean viruses, zooplankton feeding, and/or bacterial decomposition of surface blooms, re-releasing captured CO2 instead of exporting it to seafloor. CCS fossil energy coupling could bypass algal bloom limits—enabling capture of 10 GtC/yr atmospheric CO2 by selective emiliania huxleyi (EHUX) blooming in mid-latitude open oceans, far from coastal waters and polar seas. This could enable a 500 GtC drawdown, 350 ppm restoration by 2050, 280 ppm CO2 by 2075, and ocean pH 8.2. White EHUX blooms could also reflect sunlight back into outer space and seed extra ocean cloud cover, via DMS release, to raise albedo 1.8%—restoring preindustrial temperature (ΔT = 0°C) by 2030. Open oceans would avoid post-bloom anoxia, exclusively a coastal water phenomenon. The EHUX calcification reaction initially sources CO2, but net sinking prevails in follow-up equilibration reactions. Heavier-than-water EHUX sink captured CO2 to the sea floor before surface decomposition occurs. Seeding EHUX high on their nonlinear growth curve could accelerate short-cycle secondary open-ocean blooming—overwhelming mid-latitude viruses, zooplankton, and competition from other algae. Mid-latitude "ocean deserts" exhibit low viral, zooplankton, and bacterial counts. Thermocline prevents nutrient upwelling that would otherwise promote competing algae. Adding nitrogen nutrient would foster exclusive EHUX blooming. Elevated EHUX seed levels could arise from sealed, pH-buffered, floating, seed-production bioreactors infused with 10% CO2 from carbon feedstock supplied by inland CCS fossil power plants capturing 90% of emissions as liquid CO2. Deep-water SPAR platforms extract natural gas from beneath the sea floor. On-platform Haber and pH processing could convert extracted CH4 to buffered NH4+ nutrient, enabling ≥0.7 GtC/yr of bioreactor seed production and 10 GtC/yr of amplified secondary open-ocean CO2 capture—making CCS
Climate variability in a coupled GCM. Pt. 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Latif, M.; Sterl, A.; Assenbaum, M.; Junge, M.M.; Maier-Reimer, E.

1993-01-01

The seasonal cycle and the interannual variability of the tropical Indian Ocean circulation are investigated and the Indian Summer Monsoon is simulated by a coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model in a 26 year integration. Although the model exhibits significant climate drift, it simulates realistically the seasonal changes in the tropical Indian Ocean and the onset and evolution of the Indian Summer Monsoon. The amplitudes of the seasonal changes, however, are somewhat underestimated. The coupled GCM also simulates considerable interannual variability in the tropical Indian Ocean circulation which is partly related to the El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon and the associated changes in the Walker Circulation. Changes in the surface wind stress appear to be crucial in forcing interannual variations in the Indian Ocean SST. As in the Pacific Ocean, the net surface heat flux acts as a negative feedback on the SST anomalies. The interannual variability in Monsoon rainfall is simulated by the coupled GCM only about half as strongly as observed. (orig.)
Deficiencies and possibilities for long-lead coupled climate prediction of the Western North Pacific-East Asian summer monsoon

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Sun-Seon; Ha, Kyung-Ja [Pusan National University, Division of Earth Environmental System, Busan (Korea, Republic of); Lee, June-Yi; Wang, Bin [University of Hawaii, Department of Meteorology and International Pacific Research Center, Honolulu, HI (United States); Schemm, Jae Kyung E. [Climate Prediction Center/NCEP, Camp Springs, MD (United States)

2011-03-15

Long-lead prediction of waxing and waning of the Western North Pacific (WNP)-East Asian (EA) summer monsoon (WNP-EASM) precipitation is a major challenge in seasonal time-scale climate prediction. In this study, deficiencies and potential for predicting the WNP-EASM precipitation and circulation one or two seasons ahead were examined using retrospective forecast data for the 26-year period of 1981-2006 from two operational couple models which are the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Climate Forecast System (CFS) and the Bureau of Meteorology Research Center (BMRC) Predictive Ocean-Atmosphere Model for Australia (POAMA). While both coupled models have difficulty in predicting summer mean precipitation anomalies over the region of interest, even for a 0-month lead forecast, they are capable of predicting zonal wind anomalies at 850 hPa several months ahead and, consequently, satisfactorily predict summer monsoon circulation indices for the EA region (EASMI) and for the WNP region (WNPSMI). It should be noted that the two models' multi-model ensemble (MME) reaches 0.40 of the correlation skill for the EASMI with a January initial condition and 0.75 for the WNPSMI with a February initial condition. Further analysis indicates that prediction reliability of the EASMI is related not only to the preceding El Nino and Southern Oscillation (ENSO) but also to simultaneous local SST variability. On other hand, better prediction of the WNPSMI is accompanied by a more realistic simulation of lead-lag relationship between the index and ENSO. It should also be noted that current coupled models have difficulty in capturing the interannual variability component of the WNP-EASM system which is not correlated with typical ENSO variability. To improve the long-lead seasonal prediction of the WNP-EASM precipitation, a statistical postprocessing was developed based on the multiple linear regression method. The method utilizes the MME prediction of the EASMI and
Atmospheric teleconnection influence on North American land surface phenology

Science.gov (United States)

Dannenberg, Matthew P.; Wise, Erika K.; Janko, Mark; Hwang, Taehee; Kolby Smith, W.

2018-03-01

Short-term forecasts of vegetation activity are currently not well constrained due largely to our lack of understanding of coupled climate-vegetation dynamics mediated by complex interactions between atmospheric teleconnection patterns. Using ecoregion-scale estimates of North American vegetation activity inferred from remote sensing (1982-2015), we examined seasonal and spatial relationships between land surface phenology and the atmospheric components of five teleconnection patterns over the tropical Pacific, north Pacific, and north Atlantic. Using a set of regression experiments, we also tested for interactions among these teleconnection patterns and assessed predictability of vegetation activity solely based on knowledge of atmospheric teleconnection indices. Autumn-to-winter composites of the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) were strongly correlated with start of growing season timing, especially in the Pacific Northwest. The two leading modes of north Pacific variability (the Pacific-North American, PNA, and West Pacific patterns) were significantly correlated with start of growing season timing across much of southern Canada and the upper Great Lakes. Regression models based on these Pacific teleconnections were skillful predictors of spring phenology across an east-west swath of temperate and boreal North America, between 40°N-60°N. While the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) was not strongly correlated with start of growing season timing on its own, we found compelling evidence of widespread NAO-SOI and NAO-PNA interaction effects. These results suggest that knowledge of atmospheric conditions over the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans increases the predictability of North American spring phenology. A more robust consideration of the complexity of the atmospheric circulation system, including interactions across multiple ocean basins, is an important step towards accurate forecasts of vegetation activity.

The Coastal Ocean Prediction Systems program: Understanding and managing our coastal ocean. Volume 1: Strategic summary

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1990-05-15

The proposed COPS (Coastal Ocean Prediction Systems) program is concerned with combining numerical models with observations (through data assimilation) to improve our predictive knowledge of the coastal ocean. It is oriented toward applied research and development and depends upon the continued pursuit of basic research in programs like COOP (Coastal Ocean Processes); i.e., to a significant degree it is involved with ``technology transfer`` from basic knowledge to operational and management applications. This predictive knowledge is intended to address a variety of societal problems: (1) ship routing, (2) trajectories for search and rescue operations, (3) oil spill trajectory simulations, (4) pollution assessments, (5) fisheries management guidance, (6) simulation of the coastal ocean`s response to climate variability, (7) calculation of sediment transport, (8) calculation of forces on structures, and so forth. The initial concern is with physical models and observations in order to provide a capability for the estimation of physical forces and transports in the coastal ocean. For all these applications, there are common needs for physical field estimates: waves, tides, currents, temperature, and salinity, including mixed layers, thermoclines, fronts, jets, etc. However, the intent is to work with biologists, chemists, and geologists in developing integrated multidisciplinary prediction systems as it becomes feasible to do so. From another perspective, by combining observations with models through data assimilation, a modern approach to monitoring is provided through whole-field estimation.
Progress in Understanding Land-Surface-Atmosphere Coupling from LBA Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alan K Betts

2010-06-01

Full Text Available LBA research has deepened our understanding of the role of soil water storage, clouds and aerosols in land-atmosphere coupling. We show how the reformulation of cloud forcing in terms of an effective cloud albedo per unit area of surface gives a useful measure of the role of clouds in the surface energy budget over the Amazon. We show that the diurnal temperature range has a quasi-linear relation to the daily mean longwave cooling; and to effective cloud albedo because of the tight coupling between the near-surface climate, the boundary layer and the cloud field. The coupling of surface and atmospheric processes is critical to the seasonal cycle: deep forest rooting systems make water available throughout the year, whereas in the dry season the shortwave cloud forcing is reduced by regional scale subsidence, so that more light is available for photosynthesis. At sites with an annual precipitation above 1900 mm and a dry season length less than 4 months, evaporation rates increased in the dry season, coincident with increased radiation. In contrast, ecosystems with precipitation less than 1700 mm and a longer dry season showed clear evidence of reduced evaporation in the dry season coming from water stress. In all these sites, the seasonal variation of the effective cloud albedo is a major factor in determining the surface available energy. Dry season fires add substantial aerosol to the atmosphere. Aerosol scattering and absorption both reduce the total downward surface radiative flux, but increase the diffuse/direct flux ratio, which increases photosynthetic efficiency. Convective plumes produced by fires enhance the vertical transport of aerosols over the Amazon, and effectively inject smoke aerosol and gases directly into the middle troposphere with substantial impacts on mid- tropospheric dispersion. In the rainy season in Rondônia, convection in low-level westerly flows with low aerosol content resembles oceanic convection with
Fractionation and current time trends of PCB congeners: evolvement of distributions 1950–2010 studied using a global atmosphere-ocean general circulation model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Lammel

2012-08-01

Full Text Available PCBs are ubiquitous environmental pollutants expected to decline in abiotic environmental media in response to decreasing primary emissions since the 1970s. A coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model with embedded dynamic sub-models for atmospheric aerosols and the marine biogeochemistry and air-surface exchange processes with soils, vegetation and the cryosphere is used to study the transport and fate of four PCB congeners covering a range of 3–7 chlorine atoms.

The change of the geographic distribution of the PCB mixture reflects the sources and sinks' evolvement over time. Globally, secondary emissions (re-volatilisation from surfaces are on the long term increasingly gaining importance over primary emissions. Secondary emissions are most important for the congeners with 5–6 chlorine atoms. Correspondingly, the levels of these congeners are predicted to decrease slowest. Changes in congener mixture composition (fractionation are characterized both geographically and temporally. In high latitudes enrichment of the lighter, less persistent congeners and more delayed decreasing levels in response to decreasing emissions are found. The delivery of the contaminants to high latitudes is predicted to be more efficient than previously suggested. The results suggest furthermore that the effectiveness of emission control measures may significantly vary among substances. The trends of decline of organic contaminant levels in the abiotic environmental media do not only vary with latitude (slow in high latitudes, but do also show longitudinal gradients.
Capacity-coupled multidischarge for atmospheric plasma production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mase, Hiroshi; Fujiwara, Tamiya; Sato, Noriyoshi

2003-01-01

We propose a method of plasma production by capacity-coupled multidischarge (CCMD) at atmospheric pressure. The discharge gaps in the CCMD consist of a common electrode and a number of compact electrodes (CCE) which are directly coupled with small capacitors for quenching the discharge. A simple CCE structure is provided by a cylindrical capacitor, the inner conductor of which is used as a gap electrode. A short pulse discharge is observed to appear homogeneously at each CCE. A charge transfer for the single-pulsed discharge is 10-100 times as large as that of the conventional dielectric barrier discharge. A high efficiency of ozone production has been confirmed in the CCMD using O 2 gas. A device configuration of the CCMD is quite flexible with respect to its geometrical shape and size. The CCMD could be used to produce plasmas for various kinds of industrial applications at atmospheric pressure
Fluid-structure interaction simulation of floating structures interacting with complex, large-scale ocean waves and atmospheric turbulence with application to floating offshore wind turbines

Science.gov (United States)

Calderer, Antoni; Guo, Xin; Shen, Lian; Sotiropoulos, Fotis

2018-02-01

We develop a numerical method for simulating coupled interactions of complex floating structures with large-scale ocean waves and atmospheric turbulence. We employ an efficient large-scale model to develop offshore wind and wave environmental conditions, which are then incorporated into a high resolution two-phase flow solver with fluid-structure interaction (FSI). The large-scale wind-wave interaction model is based on a two-fluid dynamically-coupled approach that employs a high-order spectral method for simulating the water motion and a viscous solver with undulatory boundaries for the air motion. The two-phase flow FSI solver is based on the level set method and is capable of simulating the coupled dynamic interaction of arbitrarily complex bodies with airflow and waves. The large-scale wave field solver is coupled with the near-field FSI solver with a one-way coupling approach by feeding into the latter waves via a pressure-forcing method combined with the level set method. We validate the model for both simple wave trains and three-dimensional directional waves and compare the results with experimental and theoretical solutions. Finally, we demonstrate the capabilities of the new computational framework by carrying out large-eddy simulation of a floating offshore wind turbine interacting with realistic ocean wind and waves.
Completing the Feedback Loop: The Impact of Chlorophyll Data Assimilation on the Ocean State

Science.gov (United States)

Borovikov, Anna; Keppenne, Christian; Kovach, Robin

2015-01-01

In anticipation of the integration of a full biochemical model into the next generation GMAO coupled system, an intermediate solution has been implemented to estimate the penetration depth (1Kd_PAR) of ocean radiation based on the chlorophyll concentration. The chlorophyll is modeled as a tracer with sources-sinks coming from the assimilation of MODIS chlorophyll data. Two experiments were conducted with the coupled ocean-atmosphere model. In the first, climatological values of Kpar were used. In the second, retrieved daily chlorophyll concentrations were assimilated and Kd_PAR was derived according to Morel et al (2007). No other data was assimilated to isolate the effects of the time-evolving chlorophyll field. The daily MODIS Kd_PAR product was used to validate the skill of the penetration depth estimation and the MERRA-OCEAN re-analysis was used as a benchmark to study the sensitivity of the upper ocean heat content and vertical temperature distribution to the chlorophyll input. In the experiment with daily chlorophyll data assimilation, the penetration depth was estimated more accurately, especially in the tropics. As a result, the temperature bias of the model was reduced. A notably robust albeit small (2-5 percent) improvement was found across the equatorial Pacific ocean, which is a critical region for seasonal to inter-annual prediction.
Turbidity, SOLAR RADIATION - ATMOSPHERIC and other data from unknown platforms in the TOGA Area - Pacific from 1992-11-10 to 1993-02-20 (NODC Accession 9600030)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The accession contains Ocean Station Chemistry data collected in TOGA Area - Pacific (30 N to 30 S) as part of Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere (TOGA) and Coupled...
Acceleration of global warming due to carbon-cycle feedbacks in a coupled climate model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cox, P.M.; Betts, R.A.; Jones, C.D.; Spall, S.A.; Totterdell, I.J.

2000-01-01

The continued increase in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide due to anthropogenic emissions is predicted to lead to significant changes in climate. About half of the current emissions are being absorbed by the ocean and by land ecosystems, but this absorption is sensitive to climate as well as to atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, creating a feedback loop. General circulation models have generally excluded the feedback between climate and the biosphere, using static vegetation distributions and CO 2 concentrations from simple carbon-cycle models that do not include climate change. Here we present results from a fully coupled, three-dimensional carbon-climate model, indicating that carbon-cycle feedbacks could significantly accelerate climate change over the twenty-first century. We find that under a 'business as usual' scenario, the terrestrial biosphere acts as an overall carbon sink until about 2050, but turns into a source thereafter. By 2100, the ocean uptake rate of 5 Gt C yr -1 is balanced by the terrestrial carbon source, and atmospheric CO 2 concentrations are 250 p.p.m.v. higher in our fully coupled simulation than in uncoupled carbon models, resulting in a global-mean warming of 5.5 K, as compared to 4 K without the carbon-cycle feedback. (author)
How robust is the atmospheric circulation response to Arctic sea-ice loss in isolation?

Science.gov (United States)

Kushner, P. J.; Hay, S. E.; Blackport, R.; McCusker, K. E.; Oudar, T.

2017-12-01

It is now apparent that active dynamical coupling between the ocean and atmosphere determines a good deal of how Arctic sea-ice loss changes the large-scale atmospheric circulation. In coupled ocean-atmosphere models, Arctic sea-ice loss indirectly induces a 'mini' global warming and circulation changes that extend into the tropics and the Southern Hemisphere. Ocean-atmosphere coupling also amplifies by about 50% Arctic free-tropospheric warming arising from sea-ice loss (Deser et al. 2015, 2016). The mechanisms at work and how to separate the response to sea-ice loss from the rest of the global warming process remain poorly understood. Different studies have used distinctive numerical approaches and coupled ocean-atmosphere models to address this problem. We put these studies on comparable footing using pattern scaling (Blackport and Kushner 2017) to separately estimate the part of the circulation response that scales with sea-ice loss in the absence of low-latitude warming from the part that scales with low-latitude warming in the absence of sea-ice loss. We consider well-sampled simulations from three different coupled ocean-atmosphere models (CESM1, CanESM2, CNRM-CM5), in which greenhouse warming and sea-ice loss are driven in different ways (sea ice albedo reduction/transient RCP8.5 forcing for CESM1, nudged sea ice/CO2 doubling for CanESM2, heat-flux forcing/constant RCP8.5-derived forcing for CNRM-CM5). Across these different simulations, surprisingly robust influences of Arctic sea-ice loss on atmospheric circulation can be diagnosed using pattern scaling. For boreal winter, the isolated sea-ice loss effect acts to increase warming in the North American Sub-Arctic, decrease warming of the Eurasian continent, enhance precipitation over the west coast of North America, and strengthen the Aleutian Low and the Siberian High. We will also discuss how Arctic free tropospheric warming might be enhanced via midlatitude ocean surface warming induced by sea-ice loss
Global response to solar radiation absorbed by phytoplankton in a coupled climate model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Patara, Lavinia [Centro Euro-Mediterraneo per i Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC), Bologna (Italy); Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR), Kiel (Germany); Vichi, Marcello; Masina, Simona [Centro Euro-Mediterraneo per i Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC), Bologna (Italy); Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Centro Euro-Mediterraneo per i Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC), Bologna (Italy); Fogli, Pier Giuseppe [Centro Euro-Mediterraneo per i Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC), Bologna (Italy); Manzini, Elisa [Centro Euro-Mediterraneo per i Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC), Bologna (Italy); Max-Planck-Institut fuer Meteorologie, Hamburg (Germany)

2012-10-15

The global climate response to solar radiation absorbed by phytoplankton is investigated by performing multi-century simulations with a coupled ocean-atmosphere-biogeochemistry model. The absorption of solar radiation by phytoplankton increases radiative heating in the near-surface ocean and raises sea surface temperature (SST) by overall {approx}0.5 C. The resulting increase in evaporation enhances specific atmospheric humidity by 2-5%, thereby increasing the Earth's greenhouse effect and the atmospheric temperatures. The Hadley Cell exhibits a weakening and poleward expansion, therefore reducing cloudiness at subtropical-middle latitudes and increasing it at tropical latitudes except near the Equator. Higher SST at polar latitudes reduces sea ice cover and albedo, thereby increasing the high-latitude ocean absorption of solar radiation. Changes in the atmospheric baroclinicity cause a poleward intensification of mid-latitude westerly winds in both hemispheres. As a result, the North Atlantic Ocean meridional overturning circulation extends more northward, and the equatorward Ekman transport is enhanced in the Southern Ocean. The combination of local and dynamical processes decreases upper-ocean heat content in the Tropics and in the subpolar Southern Ocean, and increases it at middle latitudes. This study highlights the relevance of coupled ocean-atmosphere processes in the global climate response to phytoplankton solar absorption. Given that simulated impacts of phytoplankton on physical climate are within the range of natural climate variability, this study suggests the importance of phytoplankton as an internal constituent of the Earth's climate and its potential role in participating in its long-term climate adjustments. (orig.)
Global response to solar radiation absorbed by phytoplankton in a coupled climate model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patara, Lavinia; Vichi, Marcello; Masina, Simona; Fogli, Pier Giuseppe; Manzini, Elisa

2012-01-01

The global climate response to solar radiation absorbed by phytoplankton is investigated by performing multi-century simulations with a coupled ocean-atmosphere-biogeochemistry model. The absorption of solar radiation by phytoplankton increases radiative heating in the near-surface ocean and raises sea surface temperature (SST) by overall ∼0.5 C. The resulting increase in evaporation enhances specific atmospheric humidity by 2-5%, thereby increasing the Earth's greenhouse effect and the atmospheric temperatures. The Hadley Cell exhibits a weakening and poleward expansion, therefore reducing cloudiness at subtropical-middle latitudes and increasing it at tropical latitudes except near the Equator. Higher SST at polar latitudes reduces sea ice cover and albedo, thereby increasing the high-latitude ocean absorption of solar radiation. Changes in the atmospheric baroclinicity cause a poleward intensification of mid-latitude westerly winds in both hemispheres. As a result, the North Atlantic Ocean meridional overturning circulation extends more northward, and the equatorward Ekman transport is enhanced in the Southern Ocean. The combination of local and dynamical processes decreases upper-ocean heat content in the Tropics and in the subpolar Southern Ocean, and increases it at middle latitudes. This study highlights the relevance of coupled ocean-atmosphere processes in the global climate response to phytoplankton solar absorption. Given that simulated impacts of phytoplankton on physical climate are within the range of natural climate variability, this study suggests the importance of phytoplankton as an internal constituent of the Earth's climate and its potential role in participating in its long-term climate adjustments. (orig.)
Atmospheric delivery of anthropogenic bioavailable iron from mineral dust to the ocean

OpenAIRE

伊藤, 彰記; 時, 宗波; ITO, Akinori; SHI, Zongbo

2015-01-01

Atmospheric deposition of anthropogenic soluble iron (Fe) to the ocean has been suggested to modulate primary ocean productivity and thus indirectly affect the climate. A key process contributing to anthropogenic sources of soluble Fe is associated with air pollution, which acidifies Fe-containing mineral aerosols during their transport and leads to Fe transformation from insoluble to soluble forms. However, there is large uncertainty in our estimate of this anthropogenic soluble Fe. Here, we...
Oxygenated volatile organic carbon in the western Pacific convective center: ocean cycling, air-sea gas exchange and atmospheric transport

Science.gov (United States)

Schlundt, Cathleen; Tegtmeier, Susann; Lennartz, Sinikka T.; Bracher, Astrid; Cheah, Wee; Krüger, Kirstin; Quack, Birgit; Marandino, Christa A.

2017-09-01

A suite of oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs - acetaldehyde, acetone, propanal, butanal and butanone) were measured concurrently in the surface water and atmosphere of the South China Sea and Sulu Sea in November 2011. A strong correlation was observed between all OVOC concentrations in the surface seawater along the entire cruise track, except for acetaldehyde, suggesting similar sources and sinks in the surface ocean. Additionally, several phytoplankton groups, such as haptophytes or pelagophytes, were also correlated to all OVOCs, indicating that phytoplankton may be an important source of marine OVOCs in the South China and Sulu seas. Humic- and protein-like fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM) components seemed to be additional precursors for butanone and acetaldehyde. The measurement-inferred OVOC fluxes generally showed an uptake of atmospheric OVOCs by the ocean for all gases, except for butanal. A few important exceptions were found along the Borneo coast, where OVOC fluxes from the ocean to the atmosphere were inferred. The atmospheric OVOC mixing ratios over the northern coast of Borneo were relatively high compared with literature values, suggesting that this coastal region is a local hotspot for atmospheric OVOCs. The calculated amount of OVOCs entrained into the ocean seemed to be an important source of OVOCs to the surface ocean. When the fluxes were out of the ocean, marine OVOCs were found to be enough to control the locally measured OVOC distribution in the atmosphere. Based on our model calculations, at least 0.4 ppb of marine-derived acetone and butanone can reach the upper troposphere, where they may have an important influence on hydrogen oxide radical formation over the western Pacific Ocean.
Bioavailable atmospheric phosphorous supply to the global ocean: a 3-D global modeling study

Science.gov (United States)

Myriokefalitakis, Stelios; Nenes, Athanasios; Baker, Alex R.; Mihalopoulos, Nikolaos; Kanakidou, Maria

2016-12-01

The atmospheric cycle of phosphorus (P) is parameterized here in a state-of-the-art global 3-D chemistry transport model, taking into account primary emissions of total P (TP) and soluble P (DP) associated with mineral dust, combustion particles from natural and anthropogenic sources, bioaerosols, sea spray and volcanic aerosols. For the present day, global TP emissions are calculated to be roughly 1.33 Tg-P yr-1, with the mineral sources contributing more than 80 % to these emissions. The P solubilization from mineral dust under acidic atmospheric conditions is also parameterized in the model and is calculated to contribute about one-third (0.14 Tg-P yr-1) of the global DP atmospheric source. To our knowledge, a unique aspect of our global study is the explicit modeling of the evolution of phosphorus speciation in the atmosphere. The simulated present-day global annual DP deposition flux is 0.45 Tg-P yr-1 (about 40 % over oceans), showing a strong spatial and temporal variability. Present-day simulations of atmospheric P aerosol concentrations and deposition fluxes are satisfactory compared with available observations, indicating however an underestimate of about 70 % on current knowledge of the sources that drive the P atmospheric cycle. Sensitivity simulations using preindustrial (year 1850) anthropogenic and biomass burning emission scenarios showed a present-day increase of 75 % in the P solubilization flux from mineral dust, i.e., the rate at which P is converted into soluble forms, compared to preindustrial times, due to increasing atmospheric acidity over the last 150 years. Future reductions in air pollutants due to the implementation of air-quality regulations are expected to decrease the P solubilization flux from mineral dust by about 30 % in the year 2100 compared to the present day. Considering, however, that all the P contained in bioaerosols is readily available for uptake by marine organisms, and also accounting for all other DP sources, a total
Uncertainty in Earth System Models: Benchmarks for Ocean Model Performance and Validation

Science.gov (United States)

Ogunro, O. O.; Elliott, S.; Collier, N.; Wingenter, O. W.; Deal, C.; Fu, W.; Hoffman, F. M.

2017-12-01

The mean ocean CO2 sink is a major component of the global carbon budget, with marine reservoirs holding about fifty times more carbon than the atmosphere. Phytoplankton play a significant role in the net carbon sink through photosynthesis and drawdown, such that about a quarter of anthropogenic CO2 emissions end up in the ocean. Biology greatly increases the efficiency of marine environments in CO2 uptake and ultimately reduces the impact of the persistent rise in atmospheric concentrations. However, a number of challenges remain in appropriate representation of marine biogeochemical processes in Earth System Models (ESM). These threaten to undermine the community effort to quantify seasonal to multidecadal variability in ocean uptake of atmospheric CO2. In a bid to improve analyses of marine contributions to climate-carbon cycle feedbacks, we have developed new analysis methods and biogeochemistry metrics as part of the International Ocean Model Benchmarking (IOMB) effort. Our intent is to meet the growing diagnostic and benchmarking needs of ocean biogeochemistry models. The resulting software package has been employed to validate DOE ocean biogeochemistry results by comparison with observational datasets. Several other international ocean models contributing results to the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) were analyzed simultaneously. Our comparisons suggest that the biogeochemical processes determining CO2 entry into the global ocean are not well represented in most ESMs. Polar regions continue to show notable biases in many critical biogeochemical and physical oceanographic variables. Some of these disparities could have first order impacts on the conversion of atmospheric CO2 to organic carbon. In addition, single forcing simulations show that the current ocean state can be partly explained by the uptake of anthropogenic emissions. Combined effects of two or more of these forcings on ocean biogeochemical cycles and ecosystems
Isolating Tracers of Phytoplankton with Allometric Zooplankton (TOPAZ) from Modular Ocean Model (MOM5) to Couple it with a Global Ocean Model

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, H. C.; Moon, B. K.; Wie, J.; Park, H. S.; Kim, K. Y.; Lee, J.; Byun, Y. H.

2017-12-01

This research is motivated by a need to develop a new coupled ocean-biogeochemistry model, a key tool for climate projections. The Modular Ocean Model (MOM5) is a global ocean/ice model developed by the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) in the US, and it incorporates Tracers of Phytoplankton with Allometric Zooplankton (TOPAZ), which simulates the marine biota associated with carbon cycles. We isolated TOPAZ from MOM5 into a stand-alone version (TOPAZ-SA), and had it receive initial data and ocean physical fields required. Then, its reliability was verified by comparing the simulation results from the TOPAZ-SA with the MOM5/TOPAZ. This stand-alone version of TOPAZ is to be coupled to the Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean (NEMO). Here we present the preliminary results. Acknowledgements This research was supported by the project "Research and Development for KMA Weather, Climate, and Earth system Services" (NIMS-2016-3100) of the National Institute of Meteorological Sciences/Korea Meteorological Administration.
Diagnosing the Nature of Land-Atmosphere Coupling: A Case Study of Dry/Wet Extremes

Science.gov (United States)

Santanello, Joseph A., Jr.; Peters-Lidard, Christa; Kennedy, Aaron D.

2012-01-01

Land-atmosphere (L-A) interactions play a critical role in determining the diurnal evolution of land surface and planetary boundary layer (PBL) temperature and moisture states and fluxes. In turn, these interactions regulate the strength of the connection between surface moisture and precipitation in a coupled system. To address deficiencies in numerical weather prediction and climate models due to improper treatment of L-A interactions, recent studies have focused on development of diagnostics to quantify the strength and accuracy of the land-PBL coupling at the process-level. In this study, a diagnosis of the nature and impacts oflocalland-atmosphere coupling (LoCo) during dry and wet extreme conditions is presented using a combination of models and observations during the summers of2006-7 in the U.S. Southern Great Plains. Specifically, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model has been coupled to NASA's Land Information System (LIS), which provides a flexible and high-resolution representation and initialization of land surface physics and states. A range of diagnostics exploring the links and feedbacks between soil moisture and precipitation are examined for the dry/wet regimes of this region, along with the behavior and accuracy of different land-PBL scheme couplings under these conditions. In addition, we examine the impact of improved specification ofland surface states, anomalies, and fluxes that are obtained through the use of a hew optimization and uncertainty module in LIS, on the L-A coupling in WRF forecasts. Results demonstrate how LoCo diagnostics can be applied to coupled model components in the context of their integrated impacts on the process-chain connecting the land surface to the PBL and support of hydrological anomalies.
Response of Ocean Circulation to Different Wind Forcing in Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands

Science.gov (United States)

Solano, Miguel; Garcia, Edgardo; Leonardi, Stafano; Canals, Miguel; Capella, Jorge

2013-11-01

The response of the ocean circulation to various wind forcing products has been studied using the Regional Ocean Modeling System. The computational domain includes the main islands of Puerto Rico, Saint John and Saint Thomas, located on the continental shelf dividing the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Data for wind forcing is provided by an anemometer located in a moored buoy, the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS) model and the National Digital Forecast Database (NDFD). Hindcast simulations have been validated using hydrographic data at different locations in the area of study. Three cases are compared to quantify the impact of high resolution wind forcing on the ocean circulation and the vertical structure of salinity, temperature and velocity. In the first case a constant wind velocity field is used to force the model as measured by an anemometer on top of a buoy. In the second case, a forcing field provided by the Navy's COAMPS model is used and in the third case, winds are taken from NDFD in collaboration with the National Centers for Environmental Prediction. Validated results of ocean currents against data from Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers at different locations show better agreement using high resolution wind data as expected. Thanks to CariCOOS and NOAA.
A numerical study of the effect of irrigation on land-atmosphere interactions in a spring wheat cropland in India using a coupled atmosphere-crop growth dynamics model

Science.gov (United States)

Kumari, S.; Sharma, P.; Srivastava, A.; Rastogi, D.; Sehgal, V. K.; Dhakar, R.; Roy, S. B.

2017-12-01

Vegetation dynamics and surface meteorology are tightly coupled through the exchange of momentum, moisture and heat between the land surface and the atmosphere. In this study, we use a recently developed coupled atmosphere-crop growth dynamics model to study these exchanges and their effects in a spring wheat cropland in northern India. In particular, we investigate the role of irrigation in controlling crop growth rates, surface meteorology, and sensible and latent heat fluxes. The model is developed by implementing a crop growth module based on the Simple and Universal Crop growth Simulator (SUCROS) model in the Weather Research Forecasting (WRF) mesoscale atmospheric model. The crop module calculates photosynthesis rates, carbon assimilation, and biomass partitioning as a function of environmental factors and crop development stage. The leaf area index (LAI) and root depth calculated by the crop module is then fed to the Noah-MP land module of WRF to calculate land-atmosphere fluxes. The crop model is calibrated using data from an experimental spring wheat crop site in the Indian Agriculture Research Institute. The coupled model is capable of simulating the observed spring wheat phenology. Irrigation is simulated by changing the soil moisture levels from 50% - 100% of field capacity. Results show that the yield first increases with increasing soil moisture and then starts decreasing as we further increase the soil moisture. Yield attains its maximum value with soil moisture at the level of 60% water of FC. At this level, high LAI values lead to a decrease in the Bowen Ratio because more energy is transferred to the atmosphere as latent heat rather than sensible heat resulting in a cooling effect on near-surface air temperatures. Apart from improving simulation of land-atmosphere interactions, this coupled modeling approach can form the basis for the seamless crop yield and seasonal scale weather outlook prediction system.
Effects of air-sea coupling on the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillations over the tropical Indian Ocean

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lin, Ailan [CMA, Key Open Laboratory for Tropical Monsoon, Institute of Tropical and Marine Meteorology, Guangzhou (China); Li, Tim [CMA, Key Open Laboratory for Tropical Monsoon, Institute of Tropical and Marine Meteorology, Guangzhou (China); University of Hawaii, IPRC, Honolulu, Hawaii (United States); University of Hawaii, Department of Meteorology, Honolulu, Hawaii (United States); Fu, Xiouhua [University of Hawaii, IPRC, Honolulu, Hawaii (United States); Luo, Jing-Jia; Masumoto, Yukio [Research Institute for Global Change, JAMSTEC, Yokohama (Japan)

2011-12-15

The effects of air-sea coupling over the tropical Indian Ocean (TIO) on the eastward- and northward-propagating boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) are investigated by comparing a fully coupled (CTL) and a partially decoupled Indian Ocean (pdIO) experiment using SINTEX-F coupled GCM. Air-sea coupling over the TIO significantly enhances the intensity of both the eastward and northward propagations of the BSISO. The maximum spectrum differences of the northward- (eastward-) propagating BSISO between the CTL and pdIO reach 30% (25%) of their respective climatological values. The enhanced eastward (northward) propagation is related to the zonal (meridional) asymmetry of sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA). A positive SSTA appears to the east (north) of the BSISO convection, which may positively feed back to the BSISO convection. In addition, air-sea coupling may enhance the northward propagation through the changes of the mean vertical wind shear and low-level specific humidity. The interannual variations of the TIO regulate the air-sea interaction effect. Air-sea coupling enhances (reduces) the eastward-propagating spectrum during the negative Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) mode, positive Indian Ocean basin (IOB) mode and normal years (during positive IOD and negative IOB years). Such phase dependence is attributed to the role of the background mean westerly in affecting the wind-evaporation-SST feedback. A climatological weak westerly in the equatorial Indian Ocean can be readily reversed by anomalous zonal SST gradients during the positive IOD and negative IOB events. Although the SSTA is always positive to the northeast of the BSISO convection for all interannual modes, air-sea coupling reduces the zonal asymmetry of the low-level specific humidity and thus the eastward propagation spectrum during the positive IOD and negative IOB modes, while strengthening them during the other modes. Air-sea coupling enhances the northward propagation under all

New method for model coupling using Stampi. Application to the coupling of atmosphere model (MM5) and land-surface model (SOLVEG)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagai, Haruyasu

2003-12-01

A new method to couple atmosphere and land-surface models using the message passing interface (MPI) was proposed to develop an atmosphere-land model for studies on heat, water, and material exchanges around the land surface. A non-hydrostatic atmospheric dynamic model of Pennsylvania State University and National Center for Atmospheric Research (PUS/NCAR-MM5) and a detailed land surface model (SOLVEG) including the surface-layer atmosphere, soil, and vegetation developed at Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) are used as the atmosphere and land-surface models, respectively. Concerning the MPI, a message passing library named Stampi developed at JAERI that can be used between different parallel computers is used. The models are coupled by exchanging calculation results by using MPI on their independent parallel calculations. The modifications for this model coupling are easy, simply adding some modules for data exchanges to each model code without changing each model's original structure. Moreover, this coupling method is flexible and allows the use of independent time step and grid interval for each model. (author)
Omens of coupled model biases in the CMIP5 AMIP simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Găinuşă-Bogdan, Alina; Hourdin, Frédéric; Traore, Abdoul Khadre; Braconnot, Pascale

2018-02-01

Despite decades of efforts and improvements in the representation of processes as well as in model resolution, current global climate models still suffer from a set of important, systematic biases in sea surface temperature (SST), not much different from the previous generation of climate models. Many studies have looked at errors in the wind field, cloud representation or oceanic upwelling in coupled models to explain the SST errors. In this paper we highlight the relationship between latent heat flux (LH) biases in forced atmospheric simulations and the SST biases models develop in coupled mode, at the scale of the entire intertropical domain. By analyzing 22 pairs of forced atmospheric and coupled ocean-atmosphere simulations from the CMIP5 database, we show a systematic, negative correlation between the spatial patterns of these two biases. This link between forced and coupled bias patterns is also confirmed by two sets of dedicated sensitivity experiments with the IPSL-CM5A-LR model. The analysis of the sources of the atmospheric LH bias pattern reveals that the near-surface wind speed bias dominates the zonal structure of the LH bias and that the near-surface relative humidity dominates the east-west contrasts.
Assessment of the importance of the current-wave coupling in the shelf ocean forecasts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Jordà

2007-07-01

Full Text Available The effects of wave-current interactions on shelf ocean forecasts is investigated in the framework of the MFSTEP (Mediterranean Forecasting System Project Towards Enviromental Predictions project. A one way sequential coupling approach is adopted to link the wave model (WAM to the circulation model (SYMPHONIE. The coupling of waves and currents has been done considering four main processes: wave refraction due to currents, surface wind drag and bottom drag modifications due to waves, and the wave induced mass flux. The coupled modelling system is implemented in the southern Catalan shelf (NW Mediterranean, a region with characteristics similar to most of the Mediterranean shelves. The sensitivity experiments are run in a typical operational configuration. The wave refraction by currents seems to be not very relevant in a microtidal context such as the western Mediterranean. The main effect of waves on current forecasts is through the modification of the wind drag. The Stokes drift also plays a significant role due to its spatial and temporal characteristics. Finally, the enhanced bottom friction is just noticeable in the inner shelf.
Climate change feedbacks on future oceanic acidification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McNeil, Ben I.; Matear, Richard J.

2007-01-01

Oceanic anthropogenic CO 2 uptake will decrease both the pH and the aragonite saturation state (Oarag) of seawater leading to an oceanic acidification. However, the factors controlling future changes in pH and Oarag are independent and will respond differently to oceanic climate change feedbacks such as ocean warming, circulation and biological changes. We examine the sensitivity of these two CO 2 -related parameters to climate change feedbacks within a coupled atmosphere-ocean model. The ocean warming feedback was found to dominate the climate change responses in the surface ocean. Although surface pH is projected to decrease relatively uniformly by about 0.3 by the year 2100, we find pH to be insensitive to climate change feedbacks, whereas Oarag is buffered by ∼15%. Ocean carbonate chemistry creates a situation whereby the direct pH changes due to ocean warming are almost cancelled by the pH changes associated with dissolved inorganic carbon concentrations changes via a reduction in CO 2 solubility from ocean warming. We show that the small climate change feedback on future surface ocean pH is independent to the amount of ocean warming. Our analysis therefore implies that future projections of surface ocean acidification only need to consider future atmospheric CO 2 levels, not climate change induced modifications in the ocean
The impact on ocean ecosystems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seymour, A.H.

1982-01-01

A nuclear war would have less impact on ocean ecosystems than on terrestrial systems. But damage to coastal regions and estuaries might be substantial. This chapter discusses the distribution, effects, and hazards of fallout radionuclides in the ocean, and attempts to assess the impact on ocean ecosystems of dust particles in the atmosphere, ozone depletion, and temperature change following a nuclear war. The information offers some insight into the impact of such a war, but does not provide definitive predictions. Two other consequences, however, do have the potential for devastating effects upon marine ecosystems. It has been predicted that a 100-fold reduction in solar light intensity at the earth's surface due to particles in the atmosphere is possible; this would result in death to most of the phytoplankton and herbivorous zooplankton in more than half of the oceans of the Northern Hemisphere, and under some circumstances, depletion of ozone in the stratosphere by NOsub(X) could increase UV radiation at the earth's surface, the magnitude of the change being sufficient to seriously reduce the populations of organisms at the base of the food web. Temperature changes would be of little consequence. (U.K.)
Effects of Ocean Acidification on Phytoplankton Physiology and Nutrition for Fishery-based Food Webs

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Rising atmospheric concentrations of CO2 are predicted to decrease the pH of high-latitude oceans by 0.3–0.5 units by 2100. Because of their limited capacity for ion...
South African integrated carbon observation network (SA-ICON): CO2 measurements on land, atmosphere and ocean

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Feig, Gregor T

2016-10-01

Full Text Available It has become essential to accurately estimate the emission and uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO(sub2)) around the globe. Atmospheric CO(sub2) plays a central role in the Earth’s atmospheric, ocean and terrestrial systems and it has been...
Physical and meteorological data from the seventy moorings of the Tropical Atmosphere/Ocean (TAO) Project in the Tropical Pacific Ocean, 1979-2002 (NODC Accession 0000727)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Physical and meteorological data were collected in the Tropical Pacific Ocean from 29 January 1979 to 03 November 2001. Data were collected by the Pacific Marine...
Future ocean hypercapnia driven by anthropogenic amplification of the natural CO2 cycle

Science.gov (United States)

McNeil, Ben I.; Sasse, Tristan P.

2016-01-01

High carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in sea-water (ocean hypercapnia) can induce neurological, physiological and behavioural deficiencies in marine animals. Prediction of the onset and evolution of hypercapnia in the ocean requires a good understanding of annual variations in oceanic CO2 concentration, but there is a lack of relevant global observational data. Here we identify global ocean patterns of monthly variability in carbon concentration using observations that allow us to examine the evolution of surface-ocean CO2 levels over the entire annual cycle under increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations. We predict that the present-day amplitude of the natural oscillations in oceanic CO2 concentration will be amplified by up to tenfold in some regions by 2100, if atmospheric CO2 concentrations continue to rise throughout this century (according to the RCP8.5 scenario of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). The findings from our data are broadly consistent with projections from Earth system climate models. Our predicted amplification of the annual CO2 cycle displays distinct global patterns that may expose major fisheries in the Southern, Pacific and North Atlantic oceans to hypercapnia many decades earlier than is expected from average atmospheric CO2 concentrations. We suggest that these ocean ‘CO2 hotspots’ evolve as a combination of the strong seasonal dynamics of CO2 concentration and the long-term effective storage of anthropogenic CO2 in the oceans that lowers the buffer capacity in these regions, causing a nonlinear amplification of CO2 concentration over the annual cycle. The onset of ocean hypercapnia (when the partial pressure of CO2 in sea-water exceeds 1,000 micro-atmospheres) is forecast for atmospheric CO2 concentrations that exceed 650 parts per million, with hypercapnia expected in up to half the surface ocean by 2100, assuming a high-emissions scenario (RCP8.5). Such extensive ocean hypercapnia has detrimental implications for
North Atlantic atmospheric and ocean inter-annual variability over the past fifty years - Dominant patterns and decadal shifts

Science.gov (United States)

Hauser, Tristan; Demirov, Entcho; Zhu, Jieshun; Yashayaev, Igor

2015-03-01

The atmosphere and ocean of the North Atlantic have undergone significant changes in the past century. To understand these changes, their mechanisms, and their regional implications requires a quantitative understanding of processes in the coupled ocean and atmosphere system. Central to this understanding is the role played by the dominant patterns of ocean and atmospheric variability which define coherent variations in physical characteristics over large areas. Cluster analysis is used in this article to identify the patterns of the North Atlantic atmospheric variability in the subseasonal and interannual spectral intervals. Four dominant subseasonal weather regimes are defined using Bayesian Gaussian mixture models. All correlation patterns of the Sea Level Pressure (SLP) anomalies with the membership probability time series for the weather regimes show similarities with the dipole structure typical for the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The SLP patterns of two of the regimes represent the opposite phases NAO+ and NAO-. The two other weather regimes, the Atlantic Ridge (AR) and Scandinavian-Greenland dipole (SG), have dipole spatial structures with the northern and southern centers of action shifted with respect to the NAO pattern. These two patterns define blocking structures over Scandinavia and near the southern tip of Greenland, respectively. The storm tracks typical for the four regimes resemble the well known paths for positive/negative phases of NAO for the NAO+/NAO- weather regimes, and paths influenced by blocking off the south Greenland tip for AR and over Scandinavia for SG. The correlation patterns of momentum and heat fluxes to the ocean for the four regimes have tripole structures with positive (warm) downward heat flux anomalies over the Subpolar North Atlantic (SPNA) for the NAO- and the AR and negative heat flux anomalies over the SPNA for the NAO+. The downward heat flux anomalies associated with the SG are negative over the Labrador Sea and
Climatology of the HOPE-G global ocean general circulation model - Sea ice general circulation model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Legutke, S. [Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum (DKRZ), Hamburg (Germany); Maier-Reimer, E. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Meteorologie, Hamburg (Germany)

1999-12-01

The HOPE-G global ocean general circulation model (OGCM) climatology, obtained in a long-term forced integration is described. HOPE-G is a primitive-equation z-level ocean model which contains a dynamic-thermodynamic sea-ice model. It is formulated on a 2.8 grid with increased resolution in low latitudes in order to better resolve equatorial dynamics. The vertical resolution is 20 layers. The purpose of the integration was both to investigate the models ability to reproduce the observed general circulation of the world ocean and to obtain an initial state for coupled atmosphere - ocean - sea-ice climate simulations. The model was driven with daily mean data of a 15-year integration of the atmosphere general circulation model ECHAM4, the atmospheric component in later coupled runs. Thereby, a maximum of the flux variability that is expected to appear in coupled simulations is included already in the ocean spin-up experiment described here. The model was run for more than 2000 years until a quasi-steady state was achieved. It reproduces the major current systems and the main features of the so-called conveyor belt circulation. The observed distribution of water masses is reproduced reasonably well, although with a saline bias in the intermediate water masses and a warm bias in the deep and bottom water of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The model underestimates the meridional transport of heat in the Atlantic Ocean. The simulated heat transport in the other basins, though, is in good agreement with observations. (orig.)
NASA Langley Atmospheric Science Data Centers Near Real-Time Data Products

Science.gov (United States)

Davenport, T.; Parker, L.; Rinsland, P. L.

2014-12-01

Over the past decade the Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) at NASA Langley Research Center has archived and distributed a variety of satellite mission data sets. NASA's goal in Earth science is to observe, understand, and model the Earth system to discover how it is changing, to better predict change, and to understand the consequences for life on Earth. The ASDC has collaborated with Science Teams to accommodate emerging science users in the climate and modeling communities. The ASDC has expanded its original role to support operational usage by related Earth Science satellites, support land and ocean assimilations, support of field campaigns, outreach programs, and application projects for agriculture and energy industries to bridge the gap between Earth science research results and the adoption of data and prediction capabilities for reliable and sustained use in Decision Support Systems (DSS). For example; these products are being used by the community performing data assimilations to regulate aerosol mass in global transport models to improve model response and forecast accuracy, to assess the performance of components of a global coupled atmospheric-ocean climate model, improve atmospheric motion vector (winds) impact on numerical weather prediction models, and to provide internet-based access to parameters specifically tailored to assist in the design of solar and wind powered renewable energy systems. These more focused applications often require Near Real-Time (NRT) products. Generating NRT products pose their own unique set challenges for the ASDC and the Science Teams. Examples of ASDC NRT products and challenges will be discussed.
Climatic response to a gradual increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stouffer, R.J.; Manabe, S.; Bryan, K.

1990-01-01

The transient response of a coupled ocean-atmosphere model to an increase of carbon dioxide has been the subject of several studies. The models used in these studies explicitly incorporate the effect of heat transport by ocean currents and are different from the model used by Hansen et al. Here the authors evaluate the climatic influence of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide using a coupled model recently developed at the NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. The model response exhibits a marked and unexpected interhemispheric asymmetry. In the circumpolar ocean of the southern hemisphere, a region of deep vertical mixing, the increase of surface air temperature is very slow. In the Northern hemisphere of the model, the rise of surface air temperature is faster and increases with latitude, with the exception of the northern North Atlantic, where it is relatively slow because of the weakening of the thermohaline circulation
Atmospheric occurrence, transport and gas-particle partitioning of polychlorinated biphenyls over the northwestern Pacific Ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Zilan; Lin, Tian; Li, Zhongxia; Li, Yuanyuan; Guo, Tianfeng; Guo, Zhigang

2017-10-01

Ship-board air samples were collected during March to May 2015 from the East China Sea (ECS) to the northwestern Pacific Ocean (NWP) to explore the atmospheric occurrence and gas-particle partitioning of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) when the westerly East Asian Monsoon prevailed. Total PCB concentrations in the atmosphere ranged from 56.8 to 261 pg m-3. Higher PCB levels were observed off the coast and minor temperature-induced changes showed that continuous emissions from East Asia remain as an important source to the regional atmosphere. A significant relationship between Koa (octanol-air partition coefficient) and KP (gas-particle partition coefficient) for PCBs was observed under continental air masses, suggesting that land-derived organic aerosols affected the PCB gas-particle partitioning after long-range transport, while an absence of this correlation was identified in marine air masses. The PCB partitioning cannot be fully explained by the absorptive mechanism as the predicted KP were found to be 2-3 orders of magnitude lower than the measured Kp, while the prediction was closely matched when soot adsorption was considered. The results suggested the importance of soot carbon as a transport medium for PCBs during their long-range transport and considerable impacts of continental outflows on PCBs across the downwind area. The estimated transport mass of particulate PCBs into the ECS and NWP totals 2333 kg during the spring, constituting ca. 17% of annual emission inventories of unintentionally produced PCB in China.
Comparison of the ocean surface vector winds over the Nordic Seas and their application for ocean modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Dukhovskoy, Dmitry; Bourassa, Mark

2017-04-01

Ocean processes in the Nordic Seas and northern North Atlantic are strongly controlled by air-sea heat and momentum fluxes. The predominantly cyclonic, large-scale atmospheric circulation brings the deep ocean layer up to the surface preconditioning the convective sites in the Nordic Seas for deep convection. In winter, intensive cooling and possibly salt flux from newly formed sea ice erodes the near-surface stratification and the mixed layer merges with the deeper domed layer, exposing the very weakly stratified deep water mass to direct interaction with the atmosphere. Surface wind is one of the atmospheric parameters required for estimating momentum and turbulent heat fluxes to the sea ice and ocean surface. In the ocean models forced by atmospheric analysis, errors in surface wind fields result in errors in air-sea heat and momentum fluxes, water mass formation, ocean circulation, as well as volume and heat transport in the straits. The goal of the study is to assess discrepancies across the wind vector fields from reanalysis data sets and scatterometer-derived gridded products over the Nordic Seas and northern North Atlantic and to demonstrate possible implications of these differences for ocean modeling. The analyzed data sets include the reanalysis data from the National Center for Environmental Prediction Reanalysis 2 (NCEPR2), Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR), Arctic System Reanalysis (ASR) and satellite wind products Cross-Calibrated Multi-Platform (CCMP) wind product version 1.1 and recently released version 2.0, and Remote Sensing Systems QuikSCAT data. Large-scale and mesoscale characteristics of winds are compared at interannual, seasonal, and synoptic timescales. Numerical sensitivity experiments are conducted with a coupled ice-ocean model forced by different wind fields. The sensitivity experiments demonstrate differences in the net surface heat fluxes during storm events. Next, it is hypothesized that discrepancies in the wind vorticity
Final Report. Coupled simulations of Antarctic Ice-sheet/ocean interactions using POP and CISM

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Asay-Davis, Xylar Storm [Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Potdam (Germany)

2015-12-30

The project performed under this award, referred to from here on as CLARION (CoupLed simulations of Antarctic Ice-sheet/Ocean iNteractions), included important advances in two models of ice sheet and ocean interactions. Despite its short duration (one year), the project made significant progress on its three major foci. First, together with collaborator Daniel Martin at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), I developed the POPSICLES coupled ice sheet-ocean model to the point where it could perform a number of pan-Antarctic simulations under various forcing conditions. The results were presented at a number of major conferences and workshops worldwide, and are currently being incorporated into two manuscripts in preparation.
Arctic Ocean surface geostrophic circulation 2003–2014

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. W. K. Armitage

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Monitoring the surface circulation of the ice-covered Arctic Ocean is generally limited in space, time or both. We present a new 12-year record of geostrophic currents at monthly resolution in the ice-covered and ice-free Arctic Ocean derived from satellite radar altimetry and characterise their seasonal to decadal variability from 2003 to 2014, a period of rapid environmental change in the Arctic. Geostrophic currents around the Arctic basin increased in the late 2000s, with the largest increases observed in summer. Currents in the southeastern Beaufort Gyre accelerated in late 2007 with higher current speeds sustained until 2011, after which they decreased to speeds representative of the period 2003–2006. The strength of the northwestward current in the southwest Beaufort Gyre more than doubled between 2003 and 2014. This pattern of changing currents is linked to shifting of the gyre circulation to the northwest during the time period. The Beaufort Gyre circulation and Fram Strait current are strongest in winter, modulated by the seasonal strength of the atmospheric circulation. We find high eddy kinetic energy (EKE congruent with features of the seafloor bathymetry that are greater in winter than summer, and estimates of EKE and eddy diffusivity in the Beaufort Sea are consistent with those predicted from theoretical considerations. The variability of Arctic Ocean geostrophic circulation highlights the interplay between seasonally variable atmospheric forcing and ice conditions, on a backdrop of long-term changes to the Arctic sea ice–ocean system. Studies point to various mechanisms influencing the observed increase in Arctic Ocean surface stress, and hence geostrophic currents, in the 2000s – e.g. decreased ice concentration/thickness, changing atmospheric forcing, changing ice pack morphology; however, more work is needed to refine the representation of atmosphere–ice–ocean coupling in models before we can fully
Detecting the anthropogenic influences on recent changes in ocean carbon uptake

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seferian, Roland; Ribes, Aurelien; Bopp, Laurent

2014-01-01

Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions have modified the rate at which oceans have absorbed atmospheric CO 2 over the last centuries through rising atmospheric CO 2 and modifications in climate. However, there are still missing pieces in our understanding of the recent evolution of air-sea CO 2 exchanges related to the magnitude of their response to anthropogenic forcing versus that controlled by the internal variability. Here, to detect and attribute anthropogenic influences on oceanic CO 2 uptake between 1960 and 2005, we compare an ensemble of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) climate model simulations forced by individual drivers to ocean-only model reconstructions. We demonstrate that the evolution of the global oceanic carbon sink over the last decades can be understood without invoking climate change, attributing rising atmospheric CO 2 as prominent driver of the oceanic sink. Nonetheless, at regional scale, the influence of climate change on air-sea CO 2 exchanges seems to emerge from the internal variability within the low-latitude oceans. (authors)
Land-atmosphere coupling and soil moisture memory contribute to long-term agricultural drought

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, S.; Newman, M.; Lawrence, D. M.; Livneh, B.; Lombardozzi, D. L.

2017-12-01

We assessed the contribution of land-atmosphere coupling and soil moisture memory on long-term agricultural droughts in the US. We performed an ensemble of climate model simulations to study soil moisture dynamics under two atmospheric forcing scenarios: active and muted land-atmosphere coupling. Land-atmosphere coupling contributes to a 12% increase and 36% decrease in the decorrelation time scale of soil moisture anomalies in the US Great Plains and the Southwest, respectively. These differences in soil moisture memory affect the length and severity of modeled drought. Consequently, long-term droughts are 10% longer and 3% more severe in the Great Plains, and 15% shorter and 21% less severe in the Southwest. An analysis of Coupled Model Intercomparsion Project phase 5 data shows four fold uncertainty in soil moisture memory across models that strongly affects simulated long-term droughts and is potentially attributable to the differences in soil water storage capacity across models.
Regional impacts of ocean color on tropical Pacific variability

OpenAIRE

W. Anderson; A. Gnanadesikan; A. Wittenberg

2009-01-01

The role of the penetration length scale of shortwave radiation into the surface ocean and its impact on tropical Pacific variability is investigated with a fully coupled ocean, atmosphere, land and ice model. Previous work has shown that removal of all ocean color results in a system that tends strongly towards an El Niño state. Results from a suite of surface chlorophyll perturbation experiments show that the mean state and variability of the tropical Pacific is highly se...

Assessment of GloseA4 seasonal forecasts for SADC and the global oceans

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Landman, WA

2012-09-01

Full Text Available into multi-models. Moreover, coupled ocean-atmosphere models have the ability to outscore atmospheric models, also for southern Africa (Landman et al., 2012). The main objective of this paper is to demonstrate the skill of the UK Met Office Hadley Centre’s...
The effect of Coriolis-Stokes forcing on upper ocean circulation in a two-way coupled wave-current model

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

DENG Zeng'an; XIE Li'an; HAN Guijun; ZHANG Xuefeng; WU Kejian

2012-01-01

We investigated the Stokes drift-driven ocean currents and Stokes drift-induced wind energy input into the upper ocean using a two-way coupled wave-current modeling system that consists of the Princeton Ocean Model generalized coordinate system (POMgcs),Simulating WAves Nearshore (SWAN) wave model,and the Model Coupling Toolkit (MCT).The Coriolis-Stokes forcing (CSF) computed using the wave parameters from SWAN was incorporated with the momentum equation of POMgcs as the core coupling process.Experimental results in an idealized setting show that under the steady state,the scale of the speed of CSF-driven current was 0.001 m/s and the maximum reached 0.02 rn/s.The Stokes drift-induced energy rate input into the model ocean was estimated to be 28.5 GW,taking 14％ of the direct wind energy rate input.Considering the Stokes drift effects,the total mechanical energy rate input was increased by approximately 14％,which highlights the importance of CSF in modulating the upper ocean circulation.The actual run conducted in Taiwan Adjacent Sea (TAS) shows that:1) CSF-based wave-current coupling has an impact on ocean surface currents,which is related to the activities of monsoon winds; 2) wave-current coupling plays a significant role in a place where strong eddies present and tends to intensify the eddy's vorticity; 3) wave-current coupling affects the volume transport of the Taiwan Strait (TS) throughflow in a nontrivial degree,3.75％ on average.
Fourier transform wavefront control with adaptive prediction of the atmosphere.

Science.gov (United States)

Poyneer, Lisa A; Macintosh, Bruce A; Véran, Jean-Pierre

2007-09-01

Predictive Fourier control is a temporal power spectral density-based adaptive method for adaptive optics that predicts the atmosphere under the assumption of frozen flow. The predictive controller is based on Kalman filtering and a Fourier decomposition of atmospheric turbulence using the Fourier transform reconstructor. It provides a stable way to compensate for arbitrary numbers of atmospheric layers. For each Fourier mode, efficient and accurate algorithms estimate the necessary atmospheric parameters from closed-loop telemetry and determine the predictive filter, adjusting as conditions change. This prediction improves atmospheric rejection, leading to significant improvements in system performance. For a 48x48 actuator system operating at 2 kHz, five-layer prediction for all modes is achievable in under 2x10(9) floating-point operations/s.
Dynamical attribution of oceanic prediction uncertainty in the North Atlantic: application to the design of optimal monitoring systems

Science.gov (United States)

Sévellec, Florian; Dijkstra, Henk A.; Drijfhout, Sybren S.; Germe, Agathe

2017-11-01

In this study, the relation between two approaches to assess the ocean predictability on interannual to decadal time scales is investigated. The first pragmatic approach consists of sampling the initial condition uncertainty and assess the predictability through the divergence of this ensemble in time. The second approach is provided by a theoretical framework to determine error growth by estimating optimal linear growing modes. In this paper, it is shown that under the assumption of linearized dynamics and normal distributions of the uncertainty, the exact quantitative spread of ensemble can be determined from the theoretical framework. This spread is at least an order of magnitude less expensive to compute than the approximate solution given by the pragmatic approach. This result is applied to a state-of-the-art Ocean General Circulation Model to assess the predictability in the North Atlantic of four typical oceanic metrics: the strength of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), the intensity of its heat transport, the two-dimensional spatially-averaged Sea Surface Temperature (SST) over the North Atlantic, and the three-dimensional spatially-averaged temperature in the North Atlantic. For all tested metrics, except for SST, ˜ 75% of the total uncertainty on interannual time scales can be attributed to oceanic initial condition uncertainty rather than atmospheric stochastic forcing. The theoretical method also provide the sensitivity pattern to the initial condition uncertainty, allowing for targeted measurements to improve the skill of the prediction. It is suggested that a relatively small fleet of several autonomous underwater vehicles can reduce the uncertainty in AMOC strength prediction by 70% for 1-5 years lead times.
Tropical interannual variability in a global coupled GCM: Sensitivity to mean climate state

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moore, A.M. [Bureau of Meterology Research Centre, Melbourne, Victoria (Australia)

1995-04-01

A global coupled ocean-atmosphere-sea ice general circulation model is used to study interannual variability in the Tropics. Flux correction is used to control the mean climate of the coupled system, and in one configuration of the coupled model, interannual variability in the tropical Pacific is dominated by westward moving anomalies. Through a series of experiments in which the equatorial ocean wave speeds and ocean-atmosphere coupling strength are varied, it is demonstrated that these westward moving disturbances are probably some manifestation of what Neelin describes as an {open_quotes}SST mode.{close_quotes} By modifying the flux correction procedure, the mean climate of the coupled model can be changed. A fairly modest change in the mean climate is all that is required to excite eastward moving anomalies in place of the westward moving SST modes found previously. The apparent sensitivity of the nature of tropical interannual variability to the mean climate state in a coupled general circulation model such as that used here suggests that caution is advisable if we try to use such models to answer questions relating to changes in ENSO-like variability associated with global climate change. 41 refs., 23 figs., 1 tab.
Taking Poseidon's Measure from Space: Advances in our Understanding of the Ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Avery, S. K.

2017-12-01

In many ways the ocean defines our planet and makes it livable. It provides marine resources and ecosystem services that are critical to a sustainable society. Today we understand that there is a growing need to predict, manage, and adapt to changes on our planet - changes that occur not only in the atmosphere but also in the ocean. Over the last 40 years remarkable advances in measuring key ocean quantities have been made - through the development of new satellite technologies and successful missions as well as through in-situ observing systems enabled by advances in robotics, communications, navigation, and sensors. Ocean science (and atmospheric science) is a science of numbers, imaging, and numerical models. Predictability of the ocean is tied to the scale of variability in space and time. Satellite observations have spectacularly showed us the incredible structure and variability of the ocean. It has been the combination of satellites and in-situ sensors that have allowed us to advance understanding and prediction. This presentation will highlight some of the key scientific advances that have been enabled by satellites.
Trace-Element Evidence for an Aqueous Atmospheric Origin of Desert Varnish: implications for the aqueous atmospheric input flux into the ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Thiagarajan, N.; Lee, C.

2003-12-01

Desert varnish is a slow-growing dark patina commonly found on rock surfaces in arid environments. Varnishes consist of about 30% Mn and Fe oxides accompanied by oxides of Si, Al, Mg, K and Ca, which occur primarily in the form of clays. Although it is generally agreed that varnishes have an atmospheric origin, their exact formation mechanism remains highly debated. Two endmember hypotheses are gradual accumulation of wind-blown dust followed by diagenesis, and direct chemical precipitation of dissolved elements from atmospheric aerosols. To rule out one of these hypotheses, we investigated the trace-element systematics of varnishes, in particular, focusing on those elements that have contrasting solubilities in aqueous environments. If our trace element analyses are consistent with the varnishes being derived from dissolved atmospheric constituents then the data can be used to quantify the paleofluxes of the soluble fraction of atmospheric aerosols to various depositional environments. For example, this will have implications for the transport of metals to the ocean that are immediately biologically available. We collected varnishes deposited on smooth basaltic lava flow surfaces in the Cima Volcanic Field (Mojave Desert) and in Death Valley, California. The chosen lava flows retain original flow surface structure and are topographical highs; the effects of erosion are hence minimal. Varnishes were scraped off with a quartz rod to minimize trace element contamination and the trace element compositions were then determined by ICP-MS using an external synthetic standard for calibration. Our analyses show that the rare-earth elements (REEs), Co, Ni, and Pb are enriched 1.5 to 10 times relative to the upper continental crust (UCC) and that Nb, Ti, Ta, Hf, Th, Rb and Cs are depleted to varying degrees relative to UCC and the REEs. These fractionations can be explained by their differing chemical behaviors in aqueous environments. The extreme depletion in Rb and Cs
Temperature profile and other data collected using microstructure profiler (JMSP) from the HAKUHO-MARU as part of the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment (COARE), from 01 November 1992 - 30 November 1992 (NODC Accession 9600028)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Temperature profile and other data were collected using microstructure profiler (JMSP) from the HAKUHO-MARU in the TOGA Area - Pacific Ocean (30 N to 30 S) from...
Atmospheric Concentrations of Persistent Organic Pollutants in the Southern Ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Vlahos, P.; Edson, J.; Cifuentes, A.; McGillis, W. R.; Zappa, C.

2008-12-01

Long-range transport of persistent organic pollutant (POPs) is a global concern. Remote regions such as the Southern Ocean are greatly under-sampled though critical components in understanding POPs cycling. Over 20 high-volume air samples were collected in the Southern Ocean aboard the RV Brown during the GASEX III experiment between Mar 05 to April 9 2008. The relatively stationary platform (51S,38W) enabled the collection of a unique atmospheric time series at this open ocean station. Air sampling was also conducted across transects from Punto Arenas, Chile and to Montevideo, Uruguay. Samples were collected using glass sleeves packed with poly-urethane foam plugs and C-18 resin in order to collect target organic pollutants (per-fluorinated compounds, currently and historically used pesticides) in this under-sampled region. Here we present POPs concentrations and trends over the sampled period and compare variations with air parcel back trajectories to establish potential origins of their long-range transport.
On the role of atmospheric forcing on upper ocean physics in the Southern Ocean and biological impacts

Science.gov (United States)

Carranza, Magdalena M.

The Southern Ocean (SO) plays a key role in regulating climate by absorbing nearly half of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2). Both physical and biogeochemical processes contribute to the net CO2 sink. As a result of global warming and ozone depletion, westerly winds have increased, with consequences for upper ocean physics but little is known on how primary producers are expected to respond to changes in atmospheric forcing. This thesis addresses the impact of atmospheric forcing on upper ocean dynamics and phytoplankton bloom development in the SO on synoptic storm scales, combining a broad range of observations derived from satellites, reanalysis, profiling floats and Southern elephant seals. On atmospheric synoptic timescales (2-10 days), relevant for phytoplankton growth and accumulation, wind speed has a larger impact on satellite Chl-a variability than surface heat fluxes or wind stress curl. In summer, strong winds are linked to deep mixed layers, cold sea surface temperatures and enhanced satellite chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), which suggest wind-driven entrainment plays a role in sustaining phytoplankton blooms at the surface. Subsurface bio-optical data from floats and seals reveal deep Chl-a fluorescence maxima (DFM) are ubiquitous in summer and tend to sit at the base of the mixed layer, but can occur in all seasons. The fact that wind speed and Chl-a correlations are maximal at zero lag time (from daily data) and incubation experiments indicate phytoplankton growth occurs 3-4 days after iron addition, suggests high winds in summer entrain Chl-a from a subsurface maximum. Vertical profiles also reveal Chl-a fluorescence unevenness within hydrographically defined mixed layers, suggesting the biological timescales of adaptation through the light gradient (i.e. growth and/or photoacclimation) are often faster than mixing timescales, and periods of quiescence between storms are long enough for biological gradients to form within the homogeneous layer in density
Atmospheric moisture transport and fresh water flux over oceans derived from spacebased sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, W. T.; Tang, W.

2001-01-01

preliminary results will be shown to demonstrate the application of spacebased IMT and fresh water flux in ocean-atmosphere-land interaction studies, such as the hydrologica balance on Amazon rainfall and Indian monsoon.
Atmospheric gravity waves due to the Tohoku-Oki tsunami observed in the thermosphere by GOCE

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Garcia, R.F.; Doornbos, E.N.; Bruinsma, S.; Hebert, H.

2014-01-01

Oceanic tsunami waves couple with atmospheric gravity waves, as previously observed through ionospheric and airglow perturbations. Aerodynamic velocities and density variations are computed from Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) accelerometer and thruster data during
Carbon Dioxide Emission Pathways Avoiding Dangerous Ocean Impacts

OpenAIRE

Kvale, K.; Zickfeld, K.; Bruckner, T.; Meissner, K. J.; Tanaka, K.; Weaver, A. J.

2012-01-01

Anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases could lead to undesirable effects on oceans in coming centuries. Drawing on recommendations published by the German Advisory Council on Global Change, levels of unacceptable global marine change (so-called guardrails) are defined in terms of global mean temperature, sea level rise, and ocean acidification. A global-mean climate model [the Aggregated Carbon Cycle, Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate Model (ACC2)] is coupled with an economic module [tak...
Turbidity, SOLAR RADIATION - ATMOSPHERIC and other data from XIANG YANG HONG 05 and SHI YAN 3 from 1992-01-01 to 1993-03-30 (NODC Accession 9400187)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Conductivity, Temperature and Depth (CTD) and other data were collected as part of the Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Response Experiment. Data were collected from Ships...
Earth Rotation and Coupling to Changes in Atmospheric Angular Momentum

Science.gov (United States)

Rosen, Richard D.; Frey, H. (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

The research supported under the contract dealt primarily with: (a) the mechanisms responsible for the exchange of angular momentum between the solid Earth and atmosphere; (b) the quality of the data sets used to estimate atmospheric angular momentum; and (c) the ability of these data and of global climate models to detect low-frequency signals in the momentum and, hence, circulation of the atmosphere. Three scientific papers reporting on the results of this research were produced during the course of the contract. These papers identified the particular torques responsible for the peak in atmospheric angular momentum and length-of-day during the 1982-93 El Nino event, and, more generally, the relative roles of torques over land and ocean in explaining the broad spectrum of variability in the length-of-day. In addition, a tendency for interannual variability in atmospheric angular momentum to increase during the last several decades of the 20th century was found in both observations and a global climate model experiment.
GFDL's CM2 global coupled climate models. Part I: Formulation and simulation characteristics

Science.gov (United States)

Delworth, T.L.; Broccoli, A.J.; Rosati, A.; Stouffer, R.J.; Balaji, V.; Beesley, J.A.; Cooke, W.F.; Dixon, K.W.; Dunne, J.; Dunne, K.A.; Durachta, J.W.; Findell, K.L.; Ginoux, P.; Gnanadesikan, A.; Gordon, C.T.; Griffies, S.M.; Gudgel, R.; Harrison, M.J.; Held, I.M.; Hemler, R.S.; Horowitz, L.W.; Klein, S.A.; Knutson, T.R.; Kushner, P.J.; Langenhorst, A.R.; Lee, H.-C.; Lin, S.-J.; Lu, J.; Malyshev, S.L.; Milly, P.C.D.; Ramaswamy, V.; Russell, J.; Schwarzkopf, M.D.; Shevliakova, E.; Sirutis, J.J.; Spelman, M.J.; Stern, W.F.; Winton, M.; Wittenberg, A.T.; Wyman, B.; Zeng, F.; Zhang, R.

2006-01-01

The formulation and simulation characteristics of two new global coupled climate models developed at NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) are described. The models were designed to simulate atmospheric and oceanic climate and variability from the diurnal time scale through multicentury climate change, given our computational constraints. In particular, an important goal was to use the same model for both experimental seasonal to interannual forecasting and the study of multicentury global climate change, and this goal has been achieved. Tw o versions of the coupled model are described, called CM2.0 and CM2.1. The versions differ primarily in the dynamical core used in the atmospheric component, along with the cloud tuning and some details of the land and ocean components. For both coupled models, the resolution of the land and atmospheric components is 2?? latitude ?? 2.5?? longitude; the atmospheric model has 24 vertical levels. The ocean resolution is 1?? in latitude and longitude, with meridional resolution equatorward of 30?? becoming progressively finer, such that the meridional resolution is 1/3?? at the equator. There are 50 vertical levels in the ocean, with 22 evenly spaced levels within the top 220 m. The ocean component has poles over North America and Eurasia to avoid polar filtering. Neither coupled model employs flux adjustments. The co ntrol simulations have stable, realistic climates when integrated over multiple centuries. Both models have simulations of ENSO that are substantially improved relative to previous GFDL coupled models. The CM2.0 model has been further evaluated as an ENSO forecast model and has good skill (CM2.1 has not been evaluated as an ENSO forecast model). Generally reduced temperature and salinity biases exist in CM2.1 relative to CM2.0. These reductions are associated with 1) improved simulations of surface wind stress in CM2.1 and associated changes in oceanic gyre circulations; 2) changes in cloud tuning and
A contribution to the study of atmospheric aerosols in urban, marine and oceanic areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Butor, Jean-Francois

1980-01-01

A study of atmospheric aerosols, especially marine aerosols, was carried out, using impactors and nuclepore filters in association with electron microscopy techniques. The performances of the experimental device were first determined carefully and a generator of monodisperse aerosols was built at the laboratory in order to measure the efficiency of the filters used. It was demonstrated that the chief atmospheric particulate constituents could be determined by electron microscopy. The particle-size distribution of oceanic aerosols was next studied on the basis of the results of three measurement campaigns carried out in the Atlantic ocean. In Brest, where urban aerosols more or less affected by the meteorological conditions can be found superimposed to marine aerosols, an assessment was made of the effects of moderate anthropogeneous pollution on marine aerosols as measured in the Atlantic ocean. Two cases of marine aerosol disturbance, the former by an accidental marine pollution, the latter linked to a natural local phenomenon are related and a model of the marine aerosol in the Northern Atlantic ocean is proposed which takes into account the mean particle size spectra, the characteristic parameters of its three-modal distribution and the qualitative analysis of particles. (author) [fr
Mapping Global Ocean Surface Albedo from Satellite Observations: Models, Algorithms, and Datasets

Science.gov (United States)

Li, X.; Fan, X.; Yan, H.; Li, A.; Wang, M.; Qu, Y.

2018-04-01

Ocean surface albedo (OSA) is one of the important parameters in surface radiation budget (SRB). It is usually considered as a controlling factor of the heat exchange among the atmosphere and ocean. The temporal and spatial dynamics of OSA determine the energy absorption of upper level ocean water, and have influences on the oceanic currents, atmospheric circulations, and transportation of material and energy of hydrosphere. Therefore, various parameterizations and models have been developed for describing the dynamics of OSA. However, it has been demonstrated that the currently available OSA datasets cannot full fill the requirement of global climate change studies. In this study, we present a literature review on mapping global OSA from satellite observations. The models (parameterizations, the coupled ocean-atmosphere radiative transfer (COART), and the three component ocean water albedo (TCOWA)), algorithms (the estimation method based on reanalysis data, and the direct-estimation algorithm), and datasets (the cloud, albedo and radiation (CLARA) surface albedo product, dataset derived by the TCOWA model, and the global land surface satellite (GLASS) phase-2 surface broadband albedo product) of OSA have been discussed, separately.
Regional contributions of ocean iron fertilization to atmospheric CO2 changes during the last glacial termination

Science.gov (United States)

Opazo, N. E.; Lambert, F.

2017-12-01

Mineral dust aerosols affect climate directly by changing the radiative balance of the Earth, and indirectly by acting as cloud condensation nuclei and by affecting biogeochemical cycles. The impact on marine biogeochemical cycles is primarily through the supply of micronutrients such as iron to nutrient-limited regions of the oceans. Iron fertilization of High Nutrient Low Chlorophyll (HNLC) regions of the oceans is thought to have significantly affected the carbon cycle on glacial-interglacial scales and contributed about one fourth of the 80-100 ppm lowering of glacial atmospheric CO2 concentrations.In this study, we quantify the effect of global dust fluxes on atmospheric CO2 using the cGENIE model, an Earth System Model of Intermediate Complexity with emphasis on the carbon cycle. Global Holocene and Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) dust flux fields were obtained from both dust model simulations and reconstructions based on observational data. The analysis was performed in two stages. In the first instance, we produced 8 global intermediate dust flux fields between Holocene and LGM and simulated the atmospheric CO2 drawdown due to these 10 dust levels. In the second stage, we only changed dust flux levels in specific HNLC regions to isolate the effect of these ocean basins. We thus quantify the contribution of the South Atlantic, the South Pacific, the North Pacific, and the Central Pacific HNLC regions to the total atmospheric CO2 difference due to iron fertilization of the Earth's oceans.
Decadal Variations in Eastern Canada's Taiga Wood Biomass Production Forced by Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Boucher, Etienne; Nicault, Antoine; Arseneault, Dominique; Bégin, Yves; Karami, Mehdi Pasha

2017-05-26

Across Eastern Canada (EC), taiga forests represent an important carbon reservoir, but the extent to which climate variability affects this ecosystem over decades remains uncertain. Here, we analyze an extensive network of black spruce (Picea mariana Mill.) ring width and wood density measurements and provide new evidence that wood biomass production is influenced by large-scale, internal ocean-atmosphere processes. We show that while black spruce wood biomass production is primarily governed by growing season temperatures, the Atlantic ocean conveys heat from the subtropics and influences the decadal persistence in taiga forests productivity. Indeed, we argue that 20-30 years periodicities in Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs) as part of the the Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO) directly influence heat transfers to adjacent lands. Winter atmospheric conditions associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) might also impact EC's taiga forests, albeit indirectly, through its effect on SSTs and sea ice conditions in surrounding seas. Our work emphasizes that taiga forests would benefit from the combined effects of a warmer atmosphere and stronger ocean-to-land heat transfers, whereas a weakening of these transfers could cancel out, for decades or longer, the positive effects of climate change on Eastern Canada's largest ecosystem.

Determination of the Prebomb Southern (Antarctic) Ocean Radiocarbon in Organic Matter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guilderson, T P

2001-01-01

The Southern Hemisphere is an important and unique region of the world's oceans for water-mass formation and mixing, upwelling, nutrient utilization, and carbon export. In fact, one of the primary interests of the oceanographic community is to decipher the climatic record of these processes in the source or sink terms for Southern Ocean surface waters in the CO 2 balance of the atmosphere. Current coupled ocean-atmosphere modeling efforts to trace the input of CO 2 into the ocean imply a strong sink of anthropogenic CO 2 in the southern ocean. However, because of its relative inaccessibility and the difficulty in directly measuring CO 2 fluxes in the Southern Ocean, these results are controversial at best. An accepted diagnostic of the exchange of CO 2 between the atmosphere and ocean is the prebomb distribution of radiocarbon in the ocean and its time-history since atmospheric nuclear testing. Such histories of 14 C in the surface waters of the Southern Ocean do not currently exist, primarily because there are few continuous biological archives (e.g., in corals) such as those that have been used to monitor the 14 C history of the tropics and subtropics. One of the possible long-term archives is the scallop Adamussium collbecki. Although not independently confirmed, relatively crude growth rate estimates of A. collbecki indicate that it has the potential to provide continuous 100 year time-series. We are exploring the suitability of this potential archive
Instability of coupled gravity-inertial-Rossby waves on a β-plane in solar system atmospheres

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. F. McKenzie

2009-11-01

Full Text Available This paper provides an analysis of the combined theory of gravity-inertial-Rossby waves on a β-plane in the Boussinesq approximation. The wave equation for the system is fifth order in space and time and demonstrates how gravity-inertial waves on the one hand are coupled to Rossby waves on the other through the combined effects of β, the stratification characterized by the Väisälä-Brunt frequency N, the Coriolis frequency f at a given latitude, and vertical propagation which permits buoyancy modes to interact with westward propagating Rossby waves. The corresponding dispersion equation shows that the frequency of a westward propagating gravity-inertial wave is reduced by the coupling, whereas the frequency of a Rossby wave is increased. If the coupling is sufficiently strong these two modes coalesce giving rise to an instability. The instability condition translates into a curve of critical latitude Θc versus effective equatorial rotational Mach number M, with the region below this curve exhibiting instability. "Supersonic" fast rotators are unstable in a narrow band of latitudes around the equator. For example Θc~12° for Jupiter. On the other hand slow "subsonic" rotators (e.g. Mercury, Venus and the Sun's Corona are unstable at all latitudes except very close to the poles where the β effect vanishes. "Transonic" rotators, such as the Earth and Mars, exhibit instability within latitudes of 34° and 39°, respectively, around the Equator. Similar results pertain to Oceans. In the case of an Earth's Ocean of depth 4km say, purely westward propagating waves are unstable up to 26° about the Equator. The nonlinear evolution of this instability which feeds off rotational energy and gravitational buoyancy may play an important role in atmospheric dynamics.
Remote sensing for global change, climate change and atmosphere and ocean forecasting. Volume 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-01-01

This volume is separated in three sessions. First part is on remote sensing for global change (with global modelling, land cover change on global scale, ocean colour studies of marine biosphere, biological and hydrological interactions and large scale experiments). Second part is on remote sensing for climate change (with earth radiation and clouds, sea ice, global climate research programme). Third part is on remote sensing for atmosphere and ocean forecasting (with temperatures and humidity, winds, data assimilation, cloud imagery, sea surface temperature, ocean waves and topography). (A.B.). refs., figs., tabs
Reduction of initial shock in decadal predictions using a new initialization strategy

Science.gov (United States)

He, Yujun; Wang, Bin; Liu, Mimi; Liu, Li; Yu, Yongqiang; Liu, Juanjuan; Li, Ruizhe; Zhang, Cheng; Xu, Shiming; Huang, Wenyu; Liu, Qun; Wang, Yong; Li, Feifei

2017-08-01

A novel full-field initialization strategy based on the dimension-reduced projection four-dimensional variational data assimilation (DRP-4DVar) is proposed to alleviate the well-known initial shock occurring in the early years of decadal predictions. It generates consistent initial conditions, which best fit the monthly mean oceanic analysis data along the coupled model trajectory in 1 month windows. Three indices to measure the initial shock intensity are also proposed. Results indicate that this method does reduce the initial shock in decadal predictions by Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System model, Grid-point version 2 (FGOALS-g2) compared with the three-dimensional variational data assimilation-based nudging full-field initialization for the same model and is comparable to or even better than the different initialization strategies for other fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) models. Better hindcasts of global mean surface air temperature anomalies can be obtained than in other FGOALS-g2 experiments. Due to the good model response to external forcing and the reduction of initial shock, higher decadal prediction skill is achieved than in other CMIP5 models.
Seasonal Variations of the Earth's Gravitational Field: An Analysis of Atmospheric Pressure, Ocean Tidal, and Surface Water Excitation

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, D,; Gross, R.S.; Dickey, J.

1996-01-01

Monthly mean gravitational field parameters (denoted here as C(sub even)) that represent linear combinations of the primarily even degree zonal spherical harmonic coefficients of the Earth's gravitational field have been recovered using LAGEOS I data and are compared with those derived from gridded global surface pressure data of the National meteorological center (NMC) spanning 1983-1992. The effect of equilibrium ocean tides and surface water variations are also considered. Atmospheric pressure and surface water fluctuations are shown to be the dominant cause of observed annual C(sub even) variations. Closure with observations is seen at the 1sigma level when atmospheric pressure, ocean tide and surface water effects are include. Equilibrium ocean tides are shown to be the main source of excitation at the semiannual period with closure at the 1sigma level seen when both atmospheric pressure and ocean tide effects are included. The inverted barometer (IB) case is shown to give the best agreement with the observation series. The potential of the observed C(sub even) variations for monitoring mass variations in the polar regions of the Earth and the effect of the land-ocean mask in the IB calculation are discussed.
Stochastic Ocean Predictions with Dynamically-Orthogonal Primitive Equations

Science.gov (United States)

Subramani, D. N.; Haley, P., Jr.; Lermusiaux, P. F. J.

2017-12-01

The coastal ocean is a prime example of multiscale nonlinear fluid dynamics. Ocean fields in such regions are complex and intermittent with unstationary heterogeneous statistics. Due to the limited measurements, there are multiple sources of uncertainties, including the initial conditions, boundary conditions, forcing, parameters, and even the model parameterizations and equations themselves. For efficient and rigorous quantification and prediction of these uncertainities, the stochastic Dynamically Orthogonal (DO) PDEs for a primitive equation ocean modeling system with a nonlinear free-surface are derived and numerical schemes for their space-time integration are obtained. Detailed numerical studies with idealized-to-realistic regional ocean dynamics are completed. These include consistency checks for the numerical schemes and comparisons with ensemble realizations. As an illustrative example, we simulate the 4-d multiscale uncertainty in the Middle Atlantic/New York Bight region during the months of Jan to Mar 2017. To provide intitial conditions for the uncertainty subspace, uncertainties in the region were objectively analyzed using historical data. The DO primitive equations were subsequently integrated in space and time. The probability distribution function (pdf) of the ocean fields is compared to in-situ, remote sensing, and opportunity data collected during the coincident POSYDON experiment. Results show that our probabilistic predictions had skill and are 3- to 4- orders of magnitude faster than classic ensemble schemes.
Geophysical Global Modeling for Extreme Crop Production Using Photosynthesis Models Coupled to Ocean SST Dipoles

Science.gov (United States)

Kaneko, D.

2016-12-01

Climate change appears to have manifested itself along with abnormal meteorological disasters. Instability caused by drought and flood disasters is producing poor harvests because of poor photosynthesis and pollination. Fluctuations of extreme phenomena are increasing rapidly because amplitudes of change are much greater than average trends. A fundamental cause of these phenomena derives from increased stored energy inside ocean waters. Geophysical and biochemical modeling of crop production can elucidate complex mechanisms under seasonal climate anomalies. The models have progressed through their combination with global climate reanalysis, environmental satellite data, and harvest data on the ground. This study examined adaptation of crop production to advancing abnormal phenomena related to global climate change. Global environmental surface conditions, i.e., vegetation, surface air temperature, and sea surface temperature observed by satellites, enable global modeling of crop production and monitoring. Basic streams of the concepts of modeling rely upon continental energy flow and carbon circulation among crop vegetation, land surface atmosphere combining energy advection from ocean surface anomalies. Global environmental surface conditions, e.g., vegetation, surface air temperature, and sea surface temperature observed by satellites, enable global modeling of crop production and monitoring. The method of validating the modeling relies upon carbon partitioning in biomass and grains through carbon flow by photosynthesis using carbon dioxide unit in photosynthesis. Results of computations done for this study show global distributions of actual evaporation, stomata opening, and photosynthesis, presenting mechanisms related to advection effects from SST anomalies in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans on global and continental croplands. For North America, climate effects appear clearly in severe atmospheric phenomena, which have caused drought and forest fires
The SURFEXv7.2 land and ocean surface platform for coupled or offline simulation of earth surface variables and fluxes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Masson

2013-07-01

Full Text Available SURFEX is a new externalized land and ocean surface platform that describes the surface fluxes and the evolution of four types of surfaces: nature, town, inland water and ocean. It is mostly based on pre-existing, well-validated scientific models that are continuously improved. The motivation for the building of SURFEX is to use strictly identical scientific models in a high range of applications in order to mutualise the research and development efforts. SURFEX can be run in offline mode (0-D or 2-D runs or in coupled mode (from mesoscale models to numerical weather prediction and climate models. An assimilation mode is included for numerical weather prediction and monitoring. In addition to momentum, heat and water fluxes, SURFEX is able to simulate fluxes of carbon dioxide, chemical species, continental aerosols, sea salt and snow particles. The main principles of the organisation of the surface are described first. Then, a survey is made of the scientific module (including the coupling strategy. Finally, the main applications of the code are summarised. The validation work undertaken shows that replacing the pre-existing surface models by SURFEX in these applications is usually associated with improved skill, as the numerous scientific developments contained in this community code are used to good advantage.
The SURFEXv7.2 land and ocean surface platform for coupled or offline simulation of earth surface variables and fluxes

Science.gov (United States)

Masson, V.; Le Moigne, P.; Martin, E.; Faroux, S.; Alias, A.; Alkama, R.; Belamari, S.; Barbu, A.; Boone, A.; Bouyssel, F.; Brousseau, P.; Brun, E.; Calvet, J.-C.; Carrer, D.; Decharme, B.; Delire, C.; Donier, S.; Essaouini, K.; Gibelin, A.-L.; Giordani, H.; Habets, F.; Jidane, M.; Kerdraon, G.; Kourzeneva, E.; Lafaysse, M.; Lafont, S.; Lebeaupin Brossier, C.; Lemonsu, A.; Mahfouf, J.-F.; Marguinaud, P.; Mokhtari, M.; Morin, S.; Pigeon, G.; Salgado, R.; Seity, Y.; Taillefer, F.; Tanguy, G.; Tulet, P.; Vincendon, B.; Vionnet, V.; Voldoire, A.

2013-07-01

SURFEX is a new externalized land and ocean surface platform that describes the surface fluxes and the evolution of four types of surfaces: nature, town, inland water and ocean. It is mostly based on pre-existing, well-validated scientific models that are continuously improved. The motivation for the building of SURFEX is to use strictly identical scientific models in a high range of applications in order to mutualise the research and development efforts. SURFEX can be run in offline mode (0-D or 2-D runs) or in coupled mode (from mesoscale models to numerical weather prediction and climate models). An assimilation mode is included for numerical weather prediction and monitoring. In addition to momentum, heat and water fluxes, SURFEX is able to simulate fluxes of carbon dioxide, chemical species, continental aerosols, sea salt and snow particles. The main principles of the organisation of the surface are described first. Then, a survey is made of the scientific module (including the coupling strategy). Finally, the main applications of the code are summarised. The validation work undertaken shows that replacing the pre-existing surface models by SURFEX in these applications is usually associated with improved skill, as the numerous scientific developments contained in this community code are used to good advantage.
The role of diatom resting spores in pelagic-benthic coupling in the Southern Ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Rembauville, Mathieu; Blain, Stéphane; Manno, Clara; Tarling, Geraint; Thompson, Anu; Wolff, George; Salter, Ian

2018-05-01

Natural iron fertilization downstream of Southern Ocean island plateaus supports large phytoplankton blooms and promotes carbon export from the mixed layer. In addition to sequestering atmospheric CO2, the biological carbon pump also supplies organic matter (OM) to deep-ocean ecosystems. Although the total flux of OM arriving at the seafloor sets the energy input to the system, the chemical nature of OM is also of significance. However, a quantitative framework linking ecological flux vectors to OM composition is currently lacking. In the present study we report the lipid composition of export fluxes collected by five moored sediment traps deployed in contrasting productivity regimes of Southern Ocean island systems (Kerguelen, Crozet and South Georgia) and compile them with quantitative data on diatom and faecal pellet fluxes. At the three naturally iron-fertilized sites, the relative contribution of labile lipids (mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids, unsaturated fatty alcohols) is 2-4 times higher than at low productivity sites. There is a strong attenuation of labile components as a function of depth, irrespective of productivity. The three island systems also display regional characteristics in lipid export. An enrichment of zooplankton dietary sterols, such as C27Δ5, at South Georgia is consistent with high zooplankton and krill biomass in the region and the importance of faecal pellets to particulate organic carbon (POC) flux. There is a strong association of diatom resting spore fluxes that dominate productive flux regimes with energy-rich unsaturated fatty acids. At the Kerguelen Plateau we provide a statistical framework to link seasonal variation in ecological flux vectors and lipid composition over a complete annual cycle. Our analyses demonstrate that ecological processes in the upper ocean, e.g. resting spore formation and grazing, not only impact the magnitude and stoichiometry of the Southern Ocean biological pump, but also regulate the
Calibrated prediction of Pine Island Glacier retreat during the 21st and 22nd centuries with a coupled flowline model

Science.gov (United States)

Gladstone, Rupert M.; Lee, Victoria; Rougier, Jonathan; Payne, Antony J.; Hellmer, Hartmut; Le Brocq, Anne; Shepherd, Andrew; Edwards, Tamsin L.; Gregory, Jonathan; Cornford, Stephen L.

2012-06-01

A flowline ice sheet model is coupled to a box model for cavity circulation and configured for the Pine Island Glacier. An ensemble of 5000 simulations are carried out from 1900 to 2200 with varying inputs and parameters, forced by ocean temperatures predicted by a regional ocean model under the A1B ‘business as usual’ emissions scenario. Comparison is made against recent observations to provide a calibrated prediction in the form of a 95% confidence set. Predictions are for monotonic (apart from some small scale fluctuations in a minority of cases) retreat of the grounding line over the next 200 yr with huge uncertainty in the rate of retreat. Full collapse of the main trunk of the PIG during the 22nd century remains a possibility.
The effect of ocean tides on the earth's rotation as predicted by the results of an ocean tide model

Science.gov (United States)

Gross, Richard S.

1993-01-01

The published ocean tidal angular momentum results of Seiler (1991) are used to predict the effects of the most important semidiurnal, diurnal, and long period ocean tides on the earth's rotation. The separate, as well as combined, effects of ocean tidal currents and sea level height changes on the length-of-day, UT1, and polar motion are computed. The predicted polar motion results reported here account for the presence of the free core nutation and are given in terms of the motion of the celestial ephemeris pole so that they can be compared directly to the results of observations. Outside the retrograde diurnal tidal band, the summed effect of the semidiurnal and diurnal ocean tides studied here predict peak-to-peak polar motion amplitudes as large as 2 mas. Within the retrograde diurnal tidal band, the resonant enhancement caused by the free core nutation leads to predicted polar motion amplitudes as large as 9 mas.
LIFETIME AND SPECTRAL EVOLUTION OF A MAGMA OCEAN WITH A STEAM ATMOSPHERE: ITS DETECTABILITY BY FUTURE DIRECT IMAGING

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hamano, Keiko; Kawahara, Hajime; Abe, Yutaka [Department of Earth and Planetary Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033 (Japan); Onishi, Masanori [Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Kobe University, 1-1 Rokkodai-cho, Nada, Kobe 657-8501 (Japan); Hashimoto, George L., E-mail: keiko@eps.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp [Department of Earth Sciences, Okayama University, 3-1-1 Tsushima-Naka, Kita, Okayama, 700-8530 (Japan)

2015-06-20

We present the thermal evolution and emergent spectra of solidifying terrestrial planets along with the formation of steam atmospheres. The lifetime of a magma ocean and its spectra through a steam atmosphere depends on the orbital distance of the planet from the host star. For a Type I planet, which is formed beyond a certain critical distance from the host star, the thermal emission declines on a timescale shorter than approximately 10{sup 6} years. Therefore, young stars should be targets when searching for molten planets in this orbital region. In contrast, a Type II planet, which is formed inside the critical distance, will emit significant thermal radiation from near-infrared atmospheric windows during the entire lifetime of the magma ocean. The K{sub s} and L bands will be favorable for future direct imaging because the planet-to-star contrasts of these bands are higher than approximately 10{sup −7}–10{sup −8}. Our model predicts that, in the Type II orbital region, molten planets would be present over the main sequence of the G-type host star if the initial bulk content of water exceeds approximately 1 wt%. In visible atmospheric windows, the contrasts of the thermal emission drop below 10{sup −10} in less than 10{sup 5} years, whereas those of the reflected light remain 10{sup −10} for both types of planets. Since the contrast level is comparable to those of reflected light from Earth-sized planets in the habitable zone, the visible reflected light from molten planets also provides a promising target for direct imaging with future ground- and space-based telescopes.
Mediterranean climate change and Indian Ocean warming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoerling, M.; Eischeid, J.; Hurrel, J.

2006-01-01

General circulation model (GCM) responses to 20. century changes in sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and greenhouse gases are diagnosed, with emphasis on their relationship to observed regional climate change over the Mediterranean region. A major question is whether the Mediterranean region's drying trend since 1950 can be understood as a consequence of the warming trend in tropical SSTs. We focus on the impact of Indian Ocean warming, which is itself the likely result of increasing greenhouse gases. It is discovered that a strong projection onto the positive polarity of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index characterizes the atmospheric response structure to the 1950-1999 warming of Indian Ocean SSTs. This influence appears to be robust in so far as it is reproduced in ensembles of experiments using three different GCMs. Both the equilibrium and transient responses to Indian Ocean warming are examined. Under each scenario, the latitude of prevailing mid latitude westerlies shifts poleward during the November-April period. The consequence is a drying of the Mediterranean region, whereas northern Europe and Scandinavia receive increased precipitation in concert with the poleward shift of storminess. The IPCC (TAR) 20. century coupled ocean-atmosphere simulations forced by observed greenhouse gas changes also yield a post-1950 drying trend over the Mediterranean. We argue that this feature of human-induced regional climate change is the outcome of a dynamical feedback, one involving Indian Ocean warming and a requisite adjustment of atmospheric circulation systems to such ocean warming
Intraseasonal variability in the far-east pacific: investigation of the role of air-sea coupling in a regional coupled model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Small, R.J. [Naval Research Laboratory, Jacobs Technology, Stennis Space Center, MS (United States); University of Hawaii, International Pacific Research Center, POST 401, Honolulu, HI (United States); Xie, Shang-Ping [University of Hawaii, International Pacific Research Center, POST 401, Honolulu, HI (United States); University of Hawaii, Department of Meteorology, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, Honolulu, HI (United States); Maloney, Eric D. [Colorado State University, Department of Atmospheric Science, Fort Collins, CO (United States); Szoeke, Simon P. de [Oregon State University, College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Corvallis, OR (United States); Miyama, Toru [Frontier Research for Global Change, Yokohama (Japan)

2011-03-15

Intraseasonal variability in the eastern Pacific warm pool in summer is studied, using a regional ocean-atmosphere model, a linear baroclinic model (LBM), and satellite observations. The atmospheric component of the model is forced by lateral boundary conditions from reanalysis data. The aim is to quantify the importance to atmospheric deep convection of local air-sea coupling. In particular, the effect of sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies on surface heat fluxes is examined. Intraseasonal (20-90 day) east Pacific warm-pool zonal wind and outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) variability in the regional coupled model are correlated at 0.8 and 0.6 with observations, respectively, significant at the 99% confidence level. The strength of the intraseasonal variability in the coupled model, as measured by the variance of outgoing longwave radiation, is close in magnitude to that observed, but with a maximum located about 10 further west. East Pacific warm pool intraseasonal convection and winds agree in phase with those from observations, suggesting that remote forcing at the boundaries associated with the Madden-Julian oscillation determines the phase of intraseasonal convection in the east Pacific warm pool. When the ocean model component is replaced by weekly reanalysis SST in an atmosphere-only experiment, there is a slight improvement in the location of the highest OLR variance. Further sensitivity experiments with the regional atmosphere-only model in which intraseasonal SST variability is removed indicate that convective variability has only a weak dependence on the SST variability, but a stronger dependence on the climatological mean SST distribution. A scaling analysis confirms that wind speed anomalies give a much larger contribution to the intraseasonal evaporation signal than SST anomalies, in both model and observations. A LBM is used to show that local feedbacks would serve to amplify intraseasonal convection and the large-scale circulation. Further
Modular System for Shelves and Coasts (MOSSCO v1.0) - a flexible and multi-component framework for coupled coastal ocean ecosystem modelling

Science.gov (United States)

Lemmen, Carsten; Hofmeister, Richard; Klingbeil, Knut; Hassan Nasermoaddeli, M.; Kerimoglu, Onur; Burchard, Hans; Kösters, Frank; Wirtz, Kai W.

2018-03-01

Shelf and coastal sea processes extend from the atmosphere through the water column and into the seabed. These processes reflect intimate interactions between physical, chemical, and biological states on multiple scales. As a consequence, coastal system modelling requires a high and flexible degree of process and domain integration; this has so far hardly been achieved by current model systems. The lack of modularity and flexibility in integrated models hinders the exchange of data and model components and has historically imposed the supremacy of specific physical driver models. We present the Modular System for Shelves and Coasts (MOSSCO; http://www.mossco.de), a novel domain and process coupling system tailored but not limited to the coupling challenges of and applications in the coastal ocean. MOSSCO builds on the Earth System Modeling Framework (ESMF) and on the Framework for Aquatic Biogeochemical Models (FABM). It goes beyond existing technologies by creating a unique level of modularity in both domain and process coupling, including a clear separation of component and basic model interfaces, flexible scheduling of several tens of models, and facilitation of iterative development at the lab and the station and on the coastal ocean scale. MOSSCO is rich in metadata and its concepts are also applicable outside the coastal domain. For coastal modelling, it contains dozens of example coupling configurations and tested set-ups for coupled applications. Thus, MOSSCO addresses the technology needs of a growing marine coastal Earth system community that encompasses very different disciplines, numerical tools, and research questions.
Ice at the Interface: Atmosphere-Ice-Ocean Boundary Layer Processes and Their Role in Polar Change---Workshop Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hunke, Elizabeth C. [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2012-07-23

The atmosphere-ocean boundary layer in which sea ice resides includes many complex processes that require a more realistic treatment in GCMs, particularly as models move toward full earth system descriptions. The primary purpose of the workshop was to define and discuss such coupled processes from observational and modeling points of view, including insight from both the Arctic and Antarctic systems. The workshop met each of its overarching goals, including fostering collaboration among experimentalists, theorists and modelers, proposing modeling strategies, and ascertaining data availability and needs. Several scientific themes emerged from the workshop, such as the importance of episodic or extreme events, precipitation, stratification above and below the ice, and the marginal ice zone, whose seasonal Arctic migrations now traverse more territory than in the past.
Assessment of the APCC Coupled MME Suite in Predicting the Distinctive Climate Impacts of Two Flavors of ENSO during Boreal Winter

Science.gov (United States)

Jeong, Hye-In; Lee, Doo Young; Karumuri, Ashok; Ahn, Joong-Bae; Lee, June-Yi; Luo, Jing-Jia; Schemm, Jae-Kyung E.; Hendon, Harry H.; Braganza, Karl; Ham, Yoo-Geun

2012-01-01

Forecast skill of the APEC Climate Center (APCC) Multi-Model Ensemble (MME) seasonal forecast system in predicting two main types of El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), namely canonical (or cold tongue) and Modoki ENSO, and their regional climate impacts is assessed for boreal winter. The APCC MME is constructed by simple composite of ensemble forecasts from five independent coupled ocean-atmosphere climate models. Based on a hindcast set targeting boreal winter prediction for the period 19822004, we show that the MME can predict and discern the important differences in the patterns of tropical Pacific sea surface temperature anomaly between the canonical and Modoki ENSO one and four month ahead. Importantly, the four month lead MME beats the persistent forecast. The MME reasonably predicts the distinct impacts of the canonical ENSO, including the strong winter monsoon rainfall over East Asia, the below normal rainfall and above normal temperature over Australia, the anomalously wet conditions across the south and cold conditions over the whole area of USA, and the anomalously dry conditions over South America. However, there are some limitations in capturing its regional impacts, especially, over Australasia and tropical South America at a lead time of one and four months. Nonetheless, forecast skills for rainfall and temperature over East Asia and North America during ENSO Modoki are comparable to or slightly higher than those during canonical ENSO events.
PBDEs in the atmosphere over the Asian marginal seas, and the Indian and Atlantic oceans

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jun; Li, Qilu; Gioia, Rosalinda; Zhang, Yanlin; Zhang, Gan; Li, Xiangdong; Spiro, Baruch; Bhatia, Ravinder S.; Jones, Kevin C.

2011-12-01

Air samples were collected from Jan 16 to Mar 14, 2008 onboard the Oceanic II- The Scholar Ship which navigated an east-west transect from Shanghai to Cape Verde, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were analyzed in these samples. PBDE concentrations in the atmosphere over the open seas were influenced by proximity to source areas and land, and air mass origins. The concentrations of Σ 21PBDEs over the East and South China Seas, the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Atlantic Ocean were 10.8 ± 6.13, 3.22 ± 1.57, 5.12 ± 3.56, and 2.87 ± 1.81 pg m -3, respectively. BDE-47 and -99 were the dominant congeners in all the samples, suggesting that the widely used commercial penta-BDE products were the original sources. Over some parts of Atlantic and Indian Ocean, daytime concentrations of BDE-47 and BDE-99 were higher than the concentrations at night. The strong atmospheric variability does not always coincide with a diurnal cycle, but the variability in air concentrations in such remote areas of the ocean remains strong. No significant trends were found for each of PBDE congener with latitude.
Wind Power Prediction Considering Nonlinear Atmospheric Disturbances

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yagang Zhang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper considers the effect of nonlinear atmospheric disturbances on wind power prediction. A Lorenz system is introduced as an atmospheric disturbance model. Three new improved wind forecasting models combined with a Lorenz comprehensive disturbance are put forward in this study. Firstly, we define the form of the Lorenz disturbance variable and the wind speed perturbation formula. Then, different artificial neural network models are used to verify the new idea and obtain better wind speed predictions. Finally we separately use the original and improved wind speed series to predict the related wind power. This proves that the corrected wind speed provides higher precision wind power predictions. This research presents a totally new direction in the wind prediction field and has profound theoretical research value and practical guiding significance.

Middle atmosphere electrical energy coupling

Science.gov (United States)

Hale, L. C.

1989-01-01

The middle atmosphere (MA) has long been known as an absorber of radio waves, and as a region of nonlinear interactions among waves. The region of highest transverse conductivity near the top of the MA provides a common return for global thunderstorm, auroral Birkeland, and ionospheric dynamo currents, with possibilities for coupling among them. Their associated fields and other transverse fields map to lower altitudes depending on scale size. Evidence now exists for motion-driven aerosol generators, and for charge trapped at the base of magnetic field lines, both capable of producing large MA electric fields. Ionospheric Maxwell currents (curl H) parallel to the magnetic field appear to map to lower altitudes, with rapidly time-varying components appearing as displacement currents in the stratosphere. Lightning couples a (primarily ELF and ULF) current transient to the ionosphere and magnetosphere whose wave shape is largely dependent on the MA conductivity profile. Electrical energy is of direct significance mainly in the upper MA, but electrodynamic transport of minor constituents such as smoke particles or CN may be important at other altitudes.
Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program facilities newsletter, April 2002.; TOPICAL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holdridge, D. J.

2002-01-01

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently announced the development of El Nino conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean near the South American coastline. Scientists detected a 4 F increase in the sea-surface temperatures during February. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, NOAA administrator and Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, indicated that this warming is a sign that the Pacific Ocean is heading toward an El Nino condition. Although it is too early to predict how strong the El Nino will become or the conditions it will bring to the United States, Lautenbacher said that the country is likely to feel the effects as soon as midsummer (Figure 1). During the last El Nino in 1997-1998, the United States experienced strong weather impacts. Even though researchers don't understand what causes the onset of El Nino, they do recognize what to expect once development has begun. Scientists can monitor the development of El Nino through NOAA's advanced global climate monitoring system of polar-orbiting satellites and 72 ocean buoys moored across the equator in the Pacific Ocean. The resulting measurements of surface meteorological parameters and upper ocean temperatures are made available to scientists on a real-time basis, allowing for timely monitoring and predictions. This complex monitoring array enabled NOAA to predict the 1997-1998 El Nino six months in advance
Assessing atmospheric temperature data sets for climate studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Magnus Cederlöf

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Observed near-surface temperature trends during the period 1979–2014 show large differences between land and ocean, with positive values over land (0.25–0.27 °C/decade that are significantly larger than over the ocean (0.06–0.12 °C/decade. Temperature trends in the mid-troposphere of 0.08-0.11 °C/decade, on the other hand, are similar for both land and ocean and agree closely with the ocean surface temperature trend. The lapse rate is consequently systematically larger over land than over the ocean and also shows a positive trend in most land areas. This is puzzling as a response to external warming, such as from increasing greenhouse gases, is broadly the same throughout the troposphere. The reduced tropospheric warming trend over land suggests a weaker vertical temperature coupling indicating that some of the processes in the planetary boundary layer such as inversions have a limited influence on the temperature of the free atmosphere. Alternatively, the temperature of the free atmosphere is influenced by advection of colder tropospheric air from the oceans. It is therefore suggested to use either the more robust tropospheric temperature or ocean surface temperature in studies of climate sensitivity. We also conclude that the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis Interim can be used to obtain consistent temperature trends through the depth of the atmosphere, as they are consistent both with near-surface temperature trends and atmospheric temperature trends obtained from microwave sounding sensors.
Gradient flux measurements of sea-air DMS transfer during the Surface Ocean Aerosol Production (SOAP) experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Murray J.; Walker, Carolyn F.; Bell, Thomas G.; Harvey, Mike J.; Saltzman, Eric S.; Law, Cliff S.

2018-04-01

Direct measurements of marine dimethylsulfide (DMS) fluxes are sparse, particularly in the Southern Ocean. The Surface Ocean Aerosol Production (SOAP) voyage in February-March 2012 examined the distribution and flux of DMS in a biologically active frontal system in the southwest Pacific Ocean. Three distinct phytoplankton blooms were studied with oceanic DMS concentrations as high as 25 nmol L-1. Measurements of DMS fluxes were made using two independent methods: the eddy covariance (EC) technique using atmospheric pressure chemical ionization-mass spectrometry (API-CIMS) and the gradient flux (GF) technique from an autonomous catamaran platform. Catamaran flux measurements are relatively unaffected by airflow distortion and are made close to the water surface, where gas gradients are largest. Flux measurements were complemented by near-surface hydrographic measurements to elucidate physical factors influencing DMS emission. Individual DMS fluxes derived by EC showed significant scatter and, at times, consistent departures from the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment gas transfer algorithm (COAREG). A direct comparison between the two flux methods was carried out to separate instrumental effects from environmental effects and showed good agreement with a regression slope of 0.96 (r2 = 0.89). A period of abnormal downward atmospheric heat flux enhanced near-surface ocean stratification and reduced turbulent exchange, during which GF and EC transfer velocities showed good agreement but modelled COAREG values were significantly higher. The transfer velocity derived from near-surface ocean turbulence measurements on a spar buoy compared well with the COAREG model in general but showed less variation. This first direct comparison between EC and GF fluxes of DMS provides confidence in compilation of flux estimates from both techniques, as well as in the stable periods when the observations are not well predicted by the COAREG model.
The evolution of a coupled ice shelf-ocean system under different climate states

Science.gov (United States)

Grosfeld, Klaus; Sandhäger, Henner

2004-07-01

Based on a new approach for coupled applications of an ice shelf model and an ocean general circulation model, we investigate the evolution of an ice shelf-ocean system and its sensitivity to changed climatic boundary conditions. Combining established 3D models into a coupled model system enabled us to study the reaction and feedbacks of each component to changes at their interface, the ice shelf base. After calculating the dynamics for prescribed initial ice shelf and bathymetric geometries, the basal mass balance determines the system evolution. In order to explore possible developments for given boundary conditions, an idealized geometry has been chosen, reflecting basic features of the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf, Antarctica. The model system is found to be especially sensitive in regions where high ablation or accretion rates occur. Ice Shelf Water formation as well as the build up of a marine ice body, resulting from accretion of marine ice, is simulated, indicating strong interaction processes. To improve consistency between modeled and observed ice shelf behavior, we incorporate the typical cycle of steady ice front advance and sudden retreat due to tabular iceberg calving in our time-dependent simulations. Our basic hypothesis is that iceberg break off is associated with abrupt crack propagation along elongated anomalies of the inherent stress field of the ice body. This new concept yields glaciologically plausible results and represents an auspicious basis for the development of a thorough calving criterion. Experiments under different climatic conditions (ocean warming of 0.2 and 0.5 °C and doubled surface accumulation rates) show the coupled model system to be sensitive especially to ocean warming. Increased basal melt rates of 100% for the 0.5 °C ocean warming scenario and an asymmetric development of ice shelf thicknesses suggest a high vulnerability of ice shelf regions, which represent pivotal areas between the Antarctic Ice Sheet and the Southern
Assessment of prediction skill in equatorial Pacific Ocean in high resolution model of CFS

Science.gov (United States)

Arora, Anika; Rao, Suryachandra A.; Pillai, Prasanth; Dhakate, Ashish; Salunke, Kiran; Srivastava, Ankur

2018-01-01

The effect of increasing atmospheric resolution on prediction skill of El Niño southern oscillation phenomenon in climate forecast system model is explored in this paper. Improvement in prediction skill for sea surface temperature (SST) and winds at all leads compared to low resolution model in the tropical Indo-Pacific basin is observed. High resolution model is able to capture extreme events reasonably well. As a result, the signal to noise ratio is improved in the high resolution model. However, spring predictability barrier (SPB) for summer months in Nino 3 and Nino 3.4 region is stronger in high resolution model, in spite of improvement in overall prediction skill and dynamics everywhere else. Anomaly correlation coefficient of SST in high resolution model with observations in Nino 3.4 region targeting boreal summer months when predicted at lead times of 3-8 months in advance decreased compared its lower resolution counterpart. It is noted that higher variance of winds predicted in spring season over central equatorial Pacific compared to observed variance of winds results in stronger than normal response on subsurface ocean, hence increases SPB for boreal summer months in high resolution model.
Global land-atmosphere coupling associated with cold climate processes

Science.gov (United States)

Dutra, Emanuel

This dissertation constitutes an assessment of the role of cold processes, associated with snow cover, in controlling the land-atmosphere coupling. The work was based on model simulations, including offline simulations with the land surface model HTESSEL, and coupled atmosphere simulations with the EC-EARTH climate model. A revised snow scheme was developed and tested in HTESSEL and EC-EARTH. The snow scheme is currently operational at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts integrated forecast system, and in the default configuration of EC-EARTH. The improved representation of the snowpack dynamics in HTESSEL resulted in improvements in the near surface temperature simulations of EC-EARTH. The new snow scheme development was complemented with the option of multi-layer version that showed its potential in modeling thick snowpacks. A key process was the snow thermal insulation that led to significant improvements of the surface water and energy balance components. Similar findings were observed when coupling the snow scheme to lake ice, where lake ice duration was significantly improved. An assessment on the snow cover sensitivity to horizontal resolution, parameterizations and atmospheric forcing within HTESSEL highlighted the role of the atmospheric forcing accuracy and snowpack parameterizations in detriment of horizontal resolution over flat regions. A set of experiments with and without free snow evolution was carried out with EC-EARTH to assess the impact of the interannual variability of snow cover on near surface and soil temperatures. It was found that snow cover interannual variability explained up to 60% of the total interannual variability of near surface temperature over snow covered regions. Although these findings are model dependent, the results showed consistency with previously published work. Furthermore, the detailed validation of the snow dynamics simulations in HTESSEL and EC-EARTH guarantees consistency of the results.
International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS) Release 3 Final, Individual Reports in the International Maritime Meteorological Archive Format version 1 (IMMA1)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This dataset, the International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS), is the most widely-used freely available collection of surface marine observations,...
Tropospheric weather influenced by solar wind through atmospheric vertical coupling downward control

Science.gov (United States)

Prikryl, Paul; Bruntz, Robert; Tsukijihara, Takumi; Iwao, Koki; Muldrew, Donald B.; Rušin, Vojto; Rybanský, Milan; Turňa, Maroš; Šťastný, Pavel

2018-06-01

Occurrence of severe weather in the context of solar wind coupling to the magnetosphere-ionosphere-atmosphere (MIA) system is investigated. It is observed that significant snowfall, wind and heavy rain, particularly if caused by low pressure systems in winter, tend to follow arrivals of high-speed solar wind. Previously published statistical evidence that explosive extratropical cyclones in the northern hemisphere tend to occur within a few days after arrivals of high-speed solar wind streams from coronal holes (Prikryl et al., 2009, 2016) is corroborated for the southern hemisphere. Cases of severe weather events are examined in the context of the magnetosphere-ionosphere-atmosphere (MIA) coupling. Physical mechanism to explain these observations is proposed. The leading edge of high-speed solar wind streams is a locus of large-amplitude magneto-hydrodynamic waves that modulate Joule heating and/or Lorentz forcing of the high-latitude lower thermosphere generating medium-scale atmospheric gravity waves that propagate upward and downward through the atmosphere. Simulations of gravity wave propagation in a model atmosphere using the Transfer Function Model (Mayr et al., 1990) reveal that propagating waves originating in the lower thermosphere can excite a spectrum of gravity waves in the lower atmosphere. In spite of significantly reduced amplitudes but subject to amplification upon reflection in the upper troposphere, these gravity waves can provide a lift of unstable air to release instabilities in the troposphere and initiate convection to form cloud/precipitation bands. It is primarily the energy provided by release of latent heat that leads to intensification of storms. These results indicate that vertical coupling in the atmosphere exerts downward control from solar wind to the lower atmospheric levels influencing tropospheric weather development.
Characteristics of Atmosphere-Ocean CO2 Exchange due to Typhoon Activities over the East Asian Region

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, G.; Cho, C. H.; Lim, D. H.; Sun, M.; Lee, J.; Byun, Y. H.; Lee, J.

2014-12-01

Although the oceans are generally known as a net carbon sink in global sense, it is expected that CO₂release from oceans can occur locally depending on specific weather. This study addresses investigation of change in CO2 exchange between atmosphere and ocean due to typhoon activities, using "Carbon Tracker-Asia (CTA)". The CTA has constructed and managed at National Institute of Meteorological Research(NIMR) based on Carbon Tracker developed by NOAA. In order to examine effect of typhoon on change in air-sea CO2 exchange, we selected several cases which typhoon approached to Korean peninsula in the summertime and their tracks are similar to each other. Also, we analyzed difference between CO2 flux along typhoon tracks and other adjacent region not to be directly affected by typhoon in these cases. There is a difference in ocean fluxes around 15 gC/m²yr over strong typhoon areas compared to other areas. This difference varied with the wind speeds, the correlation coefficient between the ocean and the wind flux was found 0.7. Changes in carbon flux to affect the concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere near surface instantly.
Tracing Carbon Cycling in the Atmosphere and Oceans During the Cretaceous Ocean Anoxic Event 2 (OAE2, 94Ma)

Science.gov (United States)

Moran, S. A. M.; Boudinot, F. G.; Dildar, N.; Sepúlveda, J.

2017-12-01

We present a high-resolution record of compound-specific stable carbon isotope data from short-chain—aquatic algae—and long-chain n-alkanes—terrestrial plants—preserved in sedimentary sequences from the Smokey Hollow #1 (SH1) core in the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument in southern Utah. The study area covered by SH1 core was situated at the western margin of the Western Interior Seaway during the Cretaceous Ocean Anoxic Event (OAE2, 94Ma.), and was characterized by high sedimentation rates and enhanced preservation of both marine and terrestrial organic matter. Short- and long-chain n-alkanes were isolated and purified from branched and cyclic aliphatic hydrocarbons using an optimized urea adduction protocol, and δ13Cn-alkane was measured using a Thermo MAT253 GC-C-IR-MS. We use the δ13Cn-alkane from aquatic and terrestrial sources to better understand carbon cycle interactions in the oceanic and atmospheric carbon pools across this event. Our results indicate that the δ13C of terrestrial plants experienced a faster and more pronounced positive carbon isotope excursion compared to marine sources. We will discuss how these results can inform models of carbon cycle interactions between the ocean and the atmosphere during greenhouse climates, and how they can be used to trace possible sources of CO2.
Modelling the inorganic ocean carbon cycle under past and future climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ewan, T.L.

2004-01-01

This study used a coupled ocean-atmosphere-sea ice model with an inorganic carbon component to examine the inorganic ocean carbon cycle with particular reference to how climate feedback influences future uptake. In the last 150 years, the increase in atmosphere carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) concentrations have been higher than any time during the Earth's history. Although the oceans are the largest sink for carbon dioxide, it is not know how the ocean carbon cycle will respond to increasing anthropogenic carbon dioxide concentrations in the future. Climate feedbacks could potentially reduce further uptake of carbon by the ocean. In addition to examining past climate transitions, including both abrupt and glacial-interglacial climate transitions, this study also examined the sensitivity of the inorganic carbon cycle to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide. Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were also projected under a range of global warming scenarios. Most simulations identified a transient weakening of the North Atlantic and increased sea surface temperatures (SST). These positive feedbacks act on the carbon system to reduce uptake. However, the ocean has the capacity to take up 65 to 75 per cent of the anthropogenic carbon dioxide increases. An analysis of climate feedback on future carbon uptake shows that oceans store 7 per cent more carbon when there are no climate feedbacks acting on the system. Sensitivity experiments using the Gent McWilliams parameterization for mixing associated with mesoscale eddies show a further 6 per cent increase in oceanic uptake. Inclusion of sea ice dynamics resulted in a 2 per cent difference in uptake. This study also examined changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration that occur during abrupt climate change events. Changes in ocean circulation and carbon solubility cause significant increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations when melt water episodes are simulated in both hemispheres. The response of the carbon
On the Role of Dissolved Gases in the Atmosphere Retention of Low-mass Low-density Planets

Science.gov (United States)

Chachan, Yayaati; Stevenson, David J.

2018-02-01

Low-mass low-density planets discovered by Kepler in the super-Earth mass regime typically have large radii for their inferred masses, implying the presence of H2–He atmospheres. These planets are vulnerable to atmospheric mass loss due to heating by the parent star’s XUV flux. Models coupling atmospheric mass loss with thermal evolution predicted a bimodal distribution of planetary radii, which has gained observational support. However, a key component that has been ignored in previous studies is the dissolution of these gases into the molten core of rock and iron that constitute most of their mass. Such planets have high temperatures (>2000 K) and pressures (∼kbars) at the core-envelope boundary, ensuring a molten surface and a subsurface reservoir of hydrogen that can be 5–10 times larger than the atmosphere. This study bridges this gap by coupling the thermal evolution of the planet and the mass loss of the atmosphere with the thermodynamic equilibrium between the dissolved H2 and the atmospheric H2 (Henry’s law). Dissolution in the interior allows a planet to build a larger hydrogen repository during the planet formation stage. We show that the dissolved hydrogen outgasses to buffer atmospheric mass loss. The slow cooling of the planet also leads to outgassing because solubility decreases with decreasing temperature. Dissolution of hydrogen in the interior therefore increases the atmosphere retention ability of super-Earths. The study highlights the importance of including the temperature- and pressure-dependent solubility of gases in magma oceans and coupling outgassing to planetary evolution models.
Predicting plankton net community production in the Atlantic Ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Serret, Pablo; Robinson, Carol; Fernández, Emilio; Teira, Eva; Tilstone, Gavin; Pérez, Valesca

2009-07-01

We present, test and implement two contrasting models to predict euphotic zone net community production (NCP), which are based on 14C primary production (PO 14CP) to NCP relationships over two latitudinal (ca. 30°S-45°N) transects traversing highly productive and oligotrophic provinces of the Atlantic Ocean (NADR, CNRY, BENG, NAST-E, ETRA and SATL, Longhurst et al., 1995 [An estimation of global primary production in the ocean from satellite radiometer data. Journal of Plankton Research 17, 1245-1271]). The two models include similar ranges of PO 14CP and community structure, but differ in the relative influence of allochthonous organic matter in the oligotrophic provinces. Both models were used to predict NCP from PO 14CP measurements obtained during 11 local and three seasonal studies in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, and from satellite-derived estimates of PO 14CP. Comparison of these NCP predictions with concurrent in situ measurements and geochemical estimates of NCP showed that geographic and annual patterns of NCP can only be predicted when the relative trophic importance of local vs. distant processes is similar in both modeled and predicted ecosystems. The system-dependent ability of our models to predict NCP seasonality suggests that trophic-level dynamics are stronger than differences in hydrodynamic regime, taxonomic composition and phytoplankton growth. The regional differences in the predictive power of both models confirm the existence of biogeographic differences in the scale of trophic dynamics, which impede the use of a single generalized equation to estimate global marine plankton NCP. This paper shows the potential of a systematic empirical approach to predict plankton NCP from local and satellite-derived P estimates.
Interannual Variability, Global Teleconnection, and Potential Predictability Associated with the Asian Summer Monsoon

Science.gov (United States)

Lau, K. M.; Kim, K. M.; Li, J. Y.

2001-01-01

In this Chapter, aspects of global teleconnections associated with the interannual variability of the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) are discussed. The basic differences in the basic dynamics of the South Asian Monsoon and the East Asian monsoon, and their implications on global linkages are discussed. Two teleconnection modes linking ASM variability to summertime precipitation over the continental North America were identified. These modes link regional circulation and precipitation anomalies over East Asia and continental North America, via coupled atmosphere-ocean variations over the North Pacific. The first mode has a large zonally symmetrical component and appears to be associated with subtropical jetstream variability and the second mode with Rossby wave dispersion. Both modes possess strong sea surface temperature (SST) expressions in the North Pacific. Results show that the two teleconnection modes may have its origin in intrinsic modes of sea surface temperature variability in the extratropical oceans, which are forced in part by atmospheric variability and in part by air-sea interaction. The potential predictability of the ASM associated with SST variability in different ocean basins is explored using a new canonical ensemble correlation prediction scheme. It is found that SST anomalies in tropical Pacific, i.e., El Nino, is the most dominant forcing for the ASM, especially over the maritime continent and eastern Australia. SST anomalies in the India Ocean may trump the influence from El Nino in western Australia and western maritime continent. Both El Nino, and North Pacific SSTs contribute to monsoon precipitation anomalies over Japan, southern Korea, northern and central China. By optimizing SST variability signals from the world ocean basins using CEC, the overall predictability of ASM can be substantially improved.
Ertel Potential Vorticity versus Bernoulli Streamfunction in Earth's Southern Ocean: Comparison with the Atmospheres of Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn

Science.gov (United States)

Dowling, Timothy E.; Stanley, Geoff; Bradley, Mary Elizabeth; Marshall, David P.

2017-10-01

We are working to expand the comparative planetology of vorticity-streamfunction correlations established for the atmospheres of Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn to include Earth’s Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), which is the only oceanic jet that encircles the planet. Interestingly, the ACC and its eddies scale like atmospheric jets and eddies on Jupiter and Saturn---the Southern Ocean is a “giant planet” with a zonal jet stream. Our input is the Southern Ocean State Estimate (SOSE; Mazloff et al 2010, J. Phys. Ocean. 40, 880-899), an optimal combination of observations and primitive-equation model that spans 2005-2010. Two hurdles not encountered in atmospheric work arise from the nonlinear equation of state of ocean water: non-zero helicity, which prevents the existence of truly neutral (analogous to adiabatic) surfaces, and the lack of a geostrophic streamfunction in general. We follow de Szoeke et al (2000, J. Phys. Ocean. 30, 2830-2852) to overcome these hurdles, regionally, by using orthobaric density as the vertical coordinate. In agreement with results for all atmospheres analyzed to date, scatter plots of Ertel potential vorticity, Q, versus Bernoulli streamfunction, B, on orthobaric density surfaces in the Southern Ocean are well correlated. The general shape of the correlation is like a hockey stick, with the “blade” corresponding to a broad horizontal region that spans the ACC, and the “handle” corresponding to shallow water. The same linear-regression Q versus B model employed for Mars is applied to the ACC (“blade”) signal. Results include that the deeper water on the equatorward side of the ACC is most prone to shear instability, and elsewhere the ACC is “supersonic” such that the net propagation of vorticity waves is eastward, not the usual westward. During the 6-year span of the SOSE data, there is a steady drift of the correlation to larger values at the top of the vertical profile, and to smaller values in the middle of
Full-field initialized decadal predictions with the MPI earth system model: an initial shock in the North Atlantic

Science.gov (United States)

Kröger, Jürgen; Pohlmann, Holger; Sienz, Frank; Marotzke, Jochem; Baehr, Johanna; Köhl, Armin; Modali, Kameswarrao; Polkova, Iuliia; Stammer, Detlef; Vamborg, Freja S. E.; Müller, Wolfgang A.

2017-12-01

Our decadal climate prediction system, which is based on the Max-Planck-Institute Earth System Model, is initialized from a coupled assimilation run that utilizes nudging to selected state parameters from reanalyses. We apply full-field nudging in the atmosphere and either full-field or anomaly nudging in the ocean. Full fields from two different ocean reanalyses are considered. This comparison of initialization strategies focuses on the North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre (SPG) region, where the transition from anomaly to full-field nudging reveals large differences in prediction skill for sea surface temperature and ocean heat content (OHC). We show that nudging of temperature and salinity in the ocean modifies OHC and also induces changes in mass and heat transports associated with the ocean flow. In the SPG region, the assimilated OHC signal resembles well OHC from observations, regardless of using full fields or anomalies. The resulting ocean transport, on the other hand, reveals considerable differences between full-field and anomaly nudging. In all assimilation runs, ocean heat transport together with net heat exchange at the surface does not correspond to OHC tendencies, the SPG heat budget is not closed. Discrepancies in the budget in the cases of full-field nudging exceed those in the case of anomaly nudging by a factor of 2-3. The nudging-induced changes in ocean transport continue to be present in the free running hindcasts for up to 5 years, a clear expression of memory in our coupled system. In hindcast mode, on annual to inter-annual scales, ocean heat transport is the dominant driver of SPG OHC. Thus, we ascribe a significant reduction in OHC prediction skill when using full-field instead of anomaly initialization to an initialization shock resulting from the poor initialization of the ocean flow.
Investigation of land ice-ocean interaction with a fully coupled ice-ocean model: 2. Sensitivity to external forcings

Science.gov (United States)

Goldberg, D. N.; Little, C. M.; Sergienko, O. V.; Gnanadesikan, A.; Hallberg, R.; Oppenheimer, M.

2012-06-01

A coupled ice stream-ice shelf-ocean cavity model is used to assess the sensitivity of the coupled system to far-field ocean temperatures, varying from 0.0 to 1.8°C, as well as sensitivity to the parameters controlling grounded ice flow. A response to warming is seen in grounding line retreat and grounded ice loss that cannot be inferred from the response of integrated melt rates alone. This is due to concentrated thinning at the ice shelf lateral margin, and to processes that contribute to this thinning. Parameters controlling the flow of grounded ice have a strong influence on the response to sub-ice shelf melting, but this influence is not seen until several years after an initial perturbation in temperatures. The simulated melt rates are on the order of that observed for Pine Island Glacier in the 1990s. However, retreat rates are much slower, possibly due to unrepresented bedrock features.
Toward seamless weather-climate and environmental prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Brunet, Gilbert

2016-04-01

Over the last decade or so, predicting the weather, climate and atmospheric composition has emerged as one of the most important areas of scientific endeavor. This is partly because the remarkable increase in skill of current weather forecasts has made society more and more dependent on them day to day for a whole range of decision making. And it is partly because climate change is now widely accepted and the realization is growing rapidly that it will affect every person in the world profoundly, either directly or indirectly. One of the important endeavors of our societies is to remain at the cutting-edge of modelling and predicting the evolution of the fully coupled environmental system: atmosphere (weather and composition), oceans, land surface (physical and biological), and cryosphere. This effort will provide an increasingly accurate and reliable service across all the socio-economic sectors that are vulnerable to the effects of adverse weather and climatic conditions, whether now or in the future. This emerging challenge was at the center of the World Weather Open Science Conference (Montreal, 2014).The outcomes of the conference are described in the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) book: Seamless Prediction of the Earth System: from Minutes to Months, (G. Brunet, S. Jones, P. Ruti Eds., WMO-No. 1156, 2015). It is freely available on line at the WMO website. We will discuss some of the outcomes of the conference for the WMO World Weather Research Programme (WWRP) and Global Atmospheric Watch (GAW) long term goals and provide examples of seamless modelling and prediction across a range of timescales at convective and sub-kilometer scales for regional coupled forecasting applications at Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC).
Effect of Global Warming and Increased Freshwater Flux on Northern Hemispheric Cooling

Science.gov (United States)

Girihagama, L. N.; Nof, D.

2016-02-01

We wish to answer the, fairly complicated, question of whether global warming and an increased freshwater flux can cause Northern Hemispheric warming or cooling. Starting from the assumption that the ocean is the primary source of variability in the Northern hemispheric ocean-atmosphere coupled system, we employed a simple non-linear one-dimensional coupled ocean-atmosphere model. The simplicity of the model allows us to analytically predict the evolution of many dynamical variables of interest such as, the strength of the Atlantic Meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), temperatures of the ocean and atmosphere, mass transports, salinity, and ocean-atmosphere heat fluxes. The model results show that a reduced AMOC transport due to an increased freshwater flux causes cooling in both the atmosphere and ocean in the North Atlantic (NA) deep-water formation region. Cooling in both the ocean and atmosphere can cause reduction of the ocean-atmosphere temperature difference, which in turn reduces heat fluxes in both the ocean and atmosphere. For present day climate parameters, the calculated critical freshwater flux needed to arrest AMOC is 0.08 Sv. For a constant atmospheric zonal flow, there is minimal reduction in the AMOC strength, as well as minimal warming of the ocean and atmosphere. This model provides a conceptual framework for a dynamically sound response of the ocean and atmosphere to AMOC variability as a function of increased freshwater flux. The results are qualitatively consistent with numerous realistic coupled numerical models of varying complexity.

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