Stability dependent parameterisations of vertical mixing in ocean general circulation models

Summary Parameterisations of mixing induced through shear instability, internal wave breaking, and double diffusion are investigated in simulations of ocean climate using a global ocean general circulation model (OGCM). Focus is placed on the sensitivity of the large scale circulation, water mass formation and transport of heat as measures of the model's ability to represent current climate. The model resolution is typical of OGCMs being coupled to atmospheric. GCMs in climate models and the parameterisations investigated are all computationally inexpensive enough to allow for integrations on long time scales. Under the assumption of constant vertical eddy coefficients (the control case), the model climatology displays acceptable values of North Atlantic Deep Water formation, Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) transport, and Indonesian through-flow but an excessively deep and diffuse pycnocline structure with weak stratification in the deep ocean. It is found that various circulation and water mass properties are sensitive to the choice of parameterisation of vertical mixing and that determining a scheme which works satisfactorily over all regions (tropical, mid-latitude, and polar) of the domain is not straightforward. Parameterisations of internal wave breaking or upper ocean shear instability lead to some improvements in the model water mass formation. ACC and poleward heat transport when compared to the control case whereas parameterisations of double diffusive processes did not. Based on these and other results, various recommendations are made for mixing parameterisations in ocean climate models.With 8 Figures     

Remote effects of tropical cyclone wind forcing over the western Pacific on the eastern equatorial ocean

An ocean general circulation model （OGCM） is used to demonstrate remote effects of tropical cyclone wind （TCW） forcing in the tropical Pacific. The signature of TCW forcing is explicitly extracted using a locally weighted quadratic least=squares regression （called as LOESS） method from six-hour satellite surface wind data; the extracted TCW component can then be additionally taken into account or not in ocean modeling, allowing isolation of its effects on the ocean in a clean and clear way. In this paper, seasonally varying TCW fields in year 2008 are extracted from satellite data which are prescribed as a repeated annual cycle over the western Pacific regions off the equator （poleward of 10°N/S）; two long-term OGCM experiments are performed and compared, one with the TCW forcing part included additionally and the other not. Large, persistent thermal perturbations （cooling in the mixed layer （ML） and warming in the thermocline） are induced locally in the western tropical Pacific, which are seen to spread with the mean ocean circulation pathways around the tropical basin. In particular, a remote ocean response emerges in the eastern equatorial Pacific to the prescribed off-equatorial TCW forcing, characterized by a cooling in the mixed layer and a warming in the thermocline. Heat budget analyses indicate that the vertical mixing is a dominant process responsible for the SST cooling in the eastern equatorial Pacific. Further studies are clearly needed to demonstrate the significance of these results in a coupled ocean-atmosphere modeling context.     

Remote Efects of Tropical Cyclone Wind Forcing over the Western Pacific on the Eastern Equatorial Ocean

An ocean general circulation model(OGCM)is used to demonstrate remote efects of tropical cyclone wind(TCW)forcing in the tropical Pacific.The signature of TCW forcing is explicitly extracted using a locally weighted quadratic least-squares regression(called as LOESS)method from six-hour satellite surface wind data;the extracted TCW component can then be additionally taken into account or not in ocean modeling,allowing isolation of its efects on the ocean in a clean and clear way.In this paper,seasonally varying TCW fields in year 2008 are extracted from satellite data which are prescribed as a repeated annual cycle over the western Pacific regions of the equator(poleward of 10 N/S);two long-term OGCM experiments are performed and compared,one with the TCW forcing part included additionally and the other not.Large,persistent thermal perturbations(cooling in the mixed layer(ML)and warming in the thermocline)are induced locally in the western tropical Pacific,which are seen to spread with the mean ocean circulation pathways around the tropical basin.In particular,a remote ocean response emerges in the eastern equatorial Pacific to the prescribed of-equatorial TCW forcing,characterized by a cooling in the mixed layer and a warming in the thermocline.Heat budget analyses indicate that the vertical mixing is a dominant process responsible for the SST cooling in the eastern equatorial Pacific.Further studies are clearly needed to demonstrate the significance of these results in a coupled ocean-atmosphere modeling context.     

A one-dimensional model for the parameterization of deep convection in the ocean

A one-dimensional penetrative plume model has been constructed to parameterize the process of deep convection in ocean general circulation models (OGCMs). This research is motivated by the need for OGCMs to better model the production of deep and intermediate water masses. The parameterization scheme takes the temperature and salinity profiles of OGCM grid boxes and simulates the subgrid-scale effects of convection using a one-dimensional parcel model. The model moves water parcels from the surface layer down to their level of neutral buoyancy, simulating the effect of convective plumes. While in transit, the plumes exchange water with the surrounding environment; however, the bulk of the plume water mass is deposited at e level of neutral buoyancy. Weak upwelling around the plumes is included to maintain an overall mass balance. The process continues until the negative buoyant energy of the one-dimensional vertical column is minimized. The parameterized plume entrainment rate, which plays a central role in the parameterization, is calculated using modified equations based on the physics of entraining buoyant plumes. This scheme differs from the convective adjustment techniques currently used in OGCMs, because the parcels penetrate downward with the appropriate degree of mixing until they reach their level of neutral stability.     

The deep water stratification of ocean general circulation models

Abstract

A central problem in climate and ocean modelling is the accurate simulation of the climatological state of the oceanic density field. A constant vertical diffusivity for heat and salt is frequently employed in ocean general circulation models (OGCMs) and it is usually assigned a value designed to optimize the depth of the pycnocline. One undesired consequence of this choice is a poor representation of the deep water, which is usually insufficiently stratified. In contrast to the uniform diffusivity of many models, some observational studies suggest that the vertical diffusivity is not constant but increases with depth, possibly in inverse proportion to the local buoyancy frequency. Numerical experiments with an OGCM are presented that demonstrate that allowing the vertical diffusivity to increase below the pycnocline substantially increases the stratification of the abyssal water mass of these models without significantly affecting the pycnocline depth, and hence may lead to a better representation of the vertical density structure.     

Intermittent convection, mixed boundary conditions and the stability of the thermohaline circulation

 Intermittent convection and its consequences on the stability of the thermohaline circulation are investigated with an oceanic global circulation model (OGCM) and simple box models. A two-box model shows that intermittency is a consequence of the non-linearity of the equation of state and of the ratio of heat and freshwater fluxes at surface versus the fluxes at depth. Moreover, it only occurs in areas, where the instability of the water column is caused by temperature or by salinity. Intermittency is not necessarily suppressed by long restoring times. Because intermittent convection causes temporal variations of the ocean-atmosphere fluxes, an OGCM cannot reach an exact equilibrium. After a switch to mixed boundary conditions, changes of the convective activity occur in areas where intermittency is observed. Intermittent convection becomes either continuous or is stopped depending on the method used for calculating the freshwater fluxes. Advective and diffusive fluxes between these regions and their surroundings change in order to balance the altered convective fluxes. A comparison between the OGCM and a six-box model illustrates that this may lead to an alteration of adjacent deep convection and of the related deep water formation. Received: 4 November 1997 / Accepted: 5 November 1998     

全球海洋环流模式中氚分布的模拟

氚（3H）作为一种重要的被动示踪物,经常被用于研究海洋中的物理过程及评估海洋环流模式的模拟性能。使用一个全球海洋环流模式（LICOM）来研究氚在海洋中的分布、存储和输送。模拟的全球氚通量表明,1975年之前氚主要由海气交换输入海洋,特别是在1963年,氚的气体交换输入约为降水输入的2.5倍,1975年之后两种方式的氚输入通量都大幅减少。比对GEOSECS（Geochemical Ocean Sections Study,1972～1978年）和WOCE （World Ocean Circulation Experiment,1989～1995年）大洋观测计划期间的观测资料发现,我们的模式很好地模拟出了氚的海表分布、水柱总量、经向分布以及次表层的高值信号,主要缺点在于模拟的氚向深层的穿透不足,特别是在全球的两个副热带地区,表现尤为明显,氚输入函数的不确定性和模式物理场描述的不足可能是造成误差的主要原因。模式给出的海洋中氚储存总量的结果与基于观测得到的结果比较吻合,如北太平洋海区：1973～1974年模拟结果约为20.4 kg,相同期间观测估计值为21.1±4.7 kg,1989～1995年模拟结果为20.7 kg,相同期间观测估计值为23.4±2.0 kg。氚在等密度面上高低纬的侧向通风明显,模式成功模拟出氚从中高纬的海表进入,沿等密度面向低纬的次表层输送,又经大洋环流和扩散分别向南半球和高纬输送的过程。     

ENSO in a hybrid coupled model. Part I: sensitivity to physical parametrizations

 A hybrid coupled model (HCM) for the tropical Pacific ocean-atmosphere system is used to test the effects of physical parametrizations on ENSO simulation. The HCM consists of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory ocean general circulation model coupled to an empirical atmospheric model based on the covariance matrix of observed SST and wind stress anomaly fields. In this two-part work, part I describes the effects of ocean vertical mixing schemes and atmospheric spin-up time on ENSO period. Part II addresses ENSO prediction using the HCM and examines the impact of initialization schemes. The standard version of the HCM exhibits spatial and temporal evolution that compare well to observations, with irregular cycles that tend to exhibit 3- and 4-year frequency-locking behavior. Effects in the vertical mixing parametrization that produce stronger mixing in the surface layer give a longer inherent ENSO period, suggesting model treatment of vertical mixing is crucial to the ENSO problem. Although the atmospheric spin-up time scale is short compared to ENSO time scales, it also has a significant effect in lengthening the ENSO period. This suggests that atmospheric time scales may not be truly negligible in quantitative ENSO theory. Overall, the form and evolution mechanism of the ENSO cycle is robust, even though the period is affected by these physical parametrizations. Received: 17 April 1998 / Accepted: 22 July 1999     

Impact of resolving the diurnal cycle in an ocean–atmosphere GCM. Part 1: a diurnally forced OGCM

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.     

Influences of Freshwater from Major Rivers on Global Ocean Circulation and Temperatures in the MIT Ocean General Circulation Model

Responses of global ocean circulation and temperature to freshwater runoff from major rivers were studied by blocking regional runoff in the global ocean general circulation model(OGCM)developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Runoff into the tropical Atlantic,the western North Pacific,and the Bay of Bengal and northern Arabian Sea were selectively blocked.The blocking of river runoff first resulted in a salinity increase near the river mouths(2 practical salinity units).The saltier and,therefore,denser water was then transported to higher latitudes in the North Atlantic,North Pacific,and southern Indian Ocean by the mean currents.The subsequent density contrasts between northern and southern hemispheric oceans resulted in changes in major ocean currents.These anomalous ocean currents lead to significant temperature changes(1°C-2°C)by the resulting anomalous heat transports.The current and temperature anomalies created by the blocked river runoff propagated from one ocean basin to others via coastal and equatorial Kelvin waves.This study suggests that river runoff may be playing an important role in oceanic salinity,temperature,and circulations;and that partially or fully blocking major rivers to divert freshwater for societal purposes might significantly change ocean salinity,circulations,temperature,and atmospheric climate.Further studies are necessary to assess the role of river runoff in the coupled atmosphere-ocean system.     

Vertical heat transports in the ocean and their effect on time-dependent climate change

In response to increasing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, the rate of time-dependent climate change is determined jointly by the strength of climate feedbacks and the efficiency of processes which remove heat from the surface into the deep ocean. This work examines the vertical heat transport processes in the ocean of the HADCM2 atmosphere–ocean general circulation model (AOGCM) in experiments with CO₂ held constant (control) and increasing at 1 per year (anomaly). The control experiment shows that global average heat exchanges between the upper and lower ocean are dominated by the Southern Ocean, where heat is pumped downwards by the wind-driven circulation and diffuses upwards along sloping isopycnals. This is the reverse of the low-latitude balance used in upwelling–diffusion ocean models, the global average upward diffusive transport being against the temperature gradient. In the anomaly experiment, weakened convection at high latitudes leads to reduced diffusive and convective heat loss from the deep ocean, and hence to net heat uptake, since the advective heat input is less affected. Reduction of deep water production at high latitudes results in reduced upwelling of cold water at low latitudes, giving a further contribution to net heat uptake. On the global average, high-latitude processes thus have a controlling influence. The important role of diffusion highlights the need to ensure that the schemes employed in AOGCMs give an accurate representation of the relevant sub-grid-scale processes. Received: 8 July 1999 / Accepted: 17 November 1999     

CLIMBER-2: a climate system model of intermediate complexity. Part II: model sensitivity

 A set of sensitivity experiments with the climate system model of intermediate complexity CLIMBER-2 was performed to compare its sensitivity to changes in different types of forcings and boundary conditions with the results of comprehensive models (GCMs). We investigated the climate system response to changes in freshwater flux into the Northern Atlantic, CO₂ concentration, solar insolation, and vegetation cover in the boreal zone and in the tropics. All these experiments were compared with the results of corresponding experiments performed with different GCMs. Qualitative, and in many respects, quantitative agreement between the results of CLIMBER-2 and GCMs demonstrate the ability of our climate system model of intermediate complexity to address diverse aspects of the climate change problem. In addition, we used our model for a series of experiments to assess the impact of some climate feedbacks and uncertainties in model parameters on the model sensitivity to different forcings. We studied the role of freshwater feedback and vertical ocean diffusivity for the stability properties of the thermohaline ocean circulation. We show that freshwater feedback plays a minor role, while changes of vertical diffusivity in the ocean considerably affect the circulation stability. In global warming experiments we analysed the impact of hydrological sensitivity and vertical diffusivity on the long-term evolution of the thermohaline circulation. In the boreal and tropical deforestation experiments we assessed the role of an interactive ocean and showed that for both types of deforestation scenarios, an interactive ocean leads to an additional cooling due to albedo and water vapour feedbacks. Received: 28 May 2000 / Accepted: 9 November 2000     

The LMDZ4 general circulation model: climate performance and sensitivity to parametrized physics with emphasis on tropical convection

The LMDZ4 general circulation model is the atmospheric component of the IPSL–CM4 coupled model which has been used to perform climate change simulations for the 4th IPCC assessment report. The main aspects of the model climatology (forced by observed sea surface temperature) are documented here, as well as the major improvements with respect to the previous versions, which mainly come form the parametrization of tropical convection. A methodology is proposed to help analyse the sensitivity of the tropical Hadley–Walker circulation to the parametrization of cumulus convection and clouds. The tropical circulation is characterized using scalar potentials associated with the horizontal wind and horizontal transport of geopotential (the Laplacian of which is proportional to the total vertical momentum in the atmospheric column). The effect of parametrized physics is analysed in a regime sorted framework using the vertical velocity at 500 hPa as a proxy for large scale vertical motion. Compared to Tiedtke’s convection scheme, used in previous versions, the Emanuel’s scheme improves the representation of the Hadley–Walker circulation, with a relatively stronger and deeper large scale vertical ascent over tropical continents, and suppresses the marked patterns of concentrated rainfall over oceans. Thanks to the regime sorted analyses, these differences are attributed to intrinsic differences in the vertical distribution of convective heating, and to the lack of self-inhibition by precipitating downdraughts in Tiedtke’s parametrization. Both the convection and cloud schemes are shown to control the relative importance of large scale convection over land and ocean, an important point for the behaviour of the coupled model.     

A degradation approach to accelerate simulations to steady-state in a 3-D tracer transport model of the global ocean

 We have developed a new method to accelerate tracer simulations to steady-state in a 3-D global ocean model, run off-line. Using this technique, our simulations for natural ¹⁴C ran 17 times faster when compared to those made with the standard non-accelerated approach. For maximum acceleration we wish to initialize the model with tracer fields that are as close as possible to the final equilibrium solution. Our initial tracer fields were derived by judiciously constructing a much faster, lower-resolution (degraded), off-line model from advective and turbulent fields predicted from the parent on-line model, an ocean general circulation model (OGCM). No on-line version of the degraded model exists; it is based entirely on results from the parent OGCM. Degradation was made horizontally over sets of four adjacent grid-cell squares for each vertical layer of the parent model. However, final resolution did not suffer because as a second step, after allowing the degraded model to reach equilibrium, we used its tracer output to re-initialize the parent model (at the original resolution). After re-initialization, the parent model must then be integrated only to a few hundred years before reaching equilibrium. To validate our degradation-integration technique (DEGINT), we compared ¹⁴C results from runs with and without this approach. Differences are less than 10‰ throughout 98.5% of the ocean volume. Predicted natural ¹⁴C appears reasonable over most of the ocean. In the Atlantic, modeled Δ¹⁴C indicates that as observed, the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) fills the deep North Atlantic, and Antartic Intermediate Water (AAIW) infiltrates northward; conversely, simulated Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) does not penetrate northward beyond the equator as it should. In the Pacific, in surface eastern equatorial waters, the model produces a north–south assymetry similar to that observed; other global ocean models do not, because their resolution is inadequate to resolve equatorial dynamics properly, particularly the intense equatorial undercurrent. The model’s oldest water in the deep Pacific (at −239‰) is close to that observed (−248‰), but is too deep. Surface waters in the Southern Ocean are too rich in natural ¹⁴C due to inadequacies in the OGCM’s thermohaline forcing. Received: 18 March 1997 / Accepted: 27 July 1997     

Effects of tropical instability wave (TIW)-induced surface wind feedback in the tropical Pacific Ocean

Tropical instability waves (TIWs) arise from oceanic instability in the eastern tropical Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, having a clear atmospheric signature that results in coupled atmosphere–ocean interactions at TIW scales. In this study, the extent to which TIW-induced surface wind feedback influences the ocean is examined using an ocean general circulation model (OGCM). The TIW-induced wind stress (τ_TIW) part is diagnostically determined using an empirical τ_TIW model from sea surface temperature (SST) fields simulated in the OGCM. The interactively represented TIW wind tends to reduce TIW activity in the ocean and influence the mean state, with largest impacts during TIW active periods in fall and winter. In December, the interactive τ_TIW forcing induces a surface cooling (an order of ?0.1 to ?0.3 °C), an increased heat flux into the ocean, a shallower mixed layer and a weakening of the South Equatorial Current in the eastern equatorial Pacific. Additionally, the TIW wind effect yields a pronounced latitudinal asymmetry of sea level field across the equator, and a change to upper thermal structure, characterized by a surface cooling and a warming below in the thermocline, leading to a decreased temperature gradient between the mixed layer and the thermocline. Processes responsible for the τ_TIW–induced cooling effects are analyzed. Vertical mixing and meridional advection are the two terms in the SST budget that are dominantly affected by the TIW wind feedback: the cooling effect from the vertical mixing on SST is enhanced, with the maximum induced cooling in winter; the warming effect from the meridional advection is reduced in July–October, but enhanced in November–December. Additional experiments are performed to separate the relative roles the affected surface momentum and heat fluxes play in the cooling effect on SST. This ocean-only modeling work indicates that the effect of TIW-induced wind feedback is small but not negligible, and may need to be adequately taken into account in large-scale climate modeling.     

Learning about the ocean carbon cycle from observational constraints and model simulations of multiple tracers

A key question in studies of the potential for reducing uncertainty in climate change projections is how additional observations may be used to constrain models. We examine the case of ocean carbon cycle models. The reliability of ocean models in projecting oceanic CO₂ uptake is fundamentally dependent on their skills in simulating ocean circulation and air–sea gas exchange. In this study we demonstrate how a model simulation of multiple tracers and utilization of a variety of observational data help us to obtain additional information about the parameterization of ocean circulation and air–sea gas exchange, relative to approaches that use only a single tracer. The benefit of using multiple tracers is based on the fact that individual tracer holds unique information with regard to ocean mixing, circulation, and air–sea gas exchange. In a previous modeling study, we have shown that the simulation of radiocarbon enables us to identify the importance of parameterizing sub-grid scale ocean mixing processes in terms of diffusive mixing along constant density surface (isopycnal mixing) and the inclusion of the effect of mesoscale eddies. In this study we show that the simulation of phosphate, a major macronutrient in the ocean, helps us to detect a weak isopycnal mixing in the upper ocean that does not show up in the radiocarbon simulation. We also show that the simulation of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) reveals excessive upwelling in the Southern Ocean, which is also not apparent in radiocarbon simulations. Furthermore, the updated ocean inventory data of man-made radiocarbon produced by nuclear tests (bomb ¹⁴C) enable us to recalibrate the rate of air–sea gas exchange. The progressive modifications made in the model based on the simulation of additional tracers and utilization of updated observational data overall improve the model’s ability to simulate ocean circulation and air–sea gas exchange, particularly in the Southern Ocean, and has great consequence for projected CO₂ uptake. Simulated global ocean uptake of anthropogenic CO₂ from pre-industrial time to the present day by both previous and updated models are within the range of observational-based estimates, but with substantial regional difference, especially in the Southern Ocean. By year 2100, the updated model estimated CO₂ uptake are 531 and 133 PgC (1PgC?=?10¹⁵ gram carbon) for the global and Southern Ocean respectively, whereas the previous version model estimated values are 540 and 190 PgC.     

Numerical simulation of the regional ocean circulation in the coastal areas of china

The regional ocean circulation in the coastal areas or China (including a part of the western Pacific Ocean, the South China Sea and the Bay of Bengal el al.) is simulated by using the improved Princeton Uni-versity ocean circulation model (POM). Compared with the modeling results obtained by the large-scale ocean general circulation model (OGCM), the basic ocean circulation features simulated by the regional ocean circulation model are in good agreement with that simulated by OGCM and some detailed character-istics such as the regional ocean circulation, sea temperature, salinity and free sea surface height have also been obtained which are in good accord with the observations. These results indicate that the regional ocean circulation model has good capability to produce the regional ocean circulation characteristics and it can be used to develop coupled regional ocean-atmospheric model systems.     

海洋对人为CO2吸收的三维模式研究

文中用包含海洋化学过程和一个简单生物过程的三维碳循环模式模拟了海洋对大气CO2 的吸收 ,并分析了碳吸收的纬度分布。模拟工业革命以来海洋对大气 CO2 的吸收表明 :海洋碳吸收再加上大气 CO2 的增加只占由化石燃料燃烧、森林砍伐和土地利用的变化而释放到大气中的 CO2 的 2 /3。1 980～ 1 989年期间海洋年平均吸收 2 .0 5Gt C。海洋人为 CO2 的吸收有明显的纬度特征。模式计算的海洋 CO2 的吸收在总量与纬度分布上与观测结果比较相符。     

Transports and budgets of volume,heat, and salt from a global eddy-resolving ocean model

The results from an integration of a global ocean circulation model have been condensed into an analysis of the volume, heat, and salt transports among the major ocean basins. Transports are also broken down between the model's Ekman, thermocline, and deep layers. Overall, the model does well. Horizontal exchanges of mass, heat, and salt between ocean basins have reasonable values; and the volume of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) transport is in general agreement with what limited observations exist. On a global basis the zonally integrated meridional heat transport is poleward at all latitudes except for the latitude band 30°S to 45°S. This anomalous transport is most likely a signature of the model's inability to form Antarctic Intermediate (AAIW) and Antarctic bottom water (AABW) properly. Eddy heat transport is strong at the equator where its convergence heats the equatorial Pacific about twice as much as it heats the equatorial Atlantic. The greater heating in the Pacific suggests that mesoscale eddies may be a vital mechanism for warming and maintaining an upwelling portion of the global conveyor-belt circulation. The model's fresh water transport compares well with observations. However, in the Atlantic there is an excessive southward transport of fresh water due to the absence of the Mediterranean outflow and weak northward flow of AAIW. Eddies in the mid-latitudes act to redistribute heat and salt down the mean gradients. Residual fluxes calculated from a sum of the computed advective (including eddies), forced, and stored fluxes of heat and salt represent transport mostly due to vertical sub-grid scale mixing processes. Perhaps the model's greatest weakness is the lack of strong AAIW and AABW circulation cells. Accurate thermohaline forcing in the North Atlantic (based on numerous hydrographic observations) helps the model adequately produce NADW. In contrast, the southern ocean is an area of sparse observation. Better thermohaline observations in this area may be needed if models such as this are to produce the deep convection that will achieve more accurate simulations of the global 3-dimensional circulation.     

Change of tropical cyclone heat potential in response to global warming

Tropical cyclone heat potential (TCHP) in the ocean can affect tropical cyclone intensity and intensification. In this paper, TCHP change under global warming is presented based on 35 models from CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, Phase 5). As the upper ocean warms up, the TCHP of the global ocean is projected to increase by 140.6% in the 21st century under the RCP4.5 (+4.5 W m^-2 Representative Concentration Pathway) scenario. The increase is particularly significant in the western Pacific, northwestern Indian and western tropical Atlantic oceans. The increase of TCHP results from the ocean temperature warming above the depth of the 26°C isotherm (D26), the deepening of D26, and the horizontal area expansion of SST above 26°C. Their contributions are 69.4%, 22.5% and 8.1%, respectively. Further, a suite of numerical experiments with an Ocean General Circulation Model (OGCM) is conducted to investigate the relative importance of wind stress and buoyancy forcing to the TCHP change under global warming. Results show that sea surface warming is the dominant forcing for the TCHP change, while wind stress and sea surface salinity change are secondary.