Regimes of seasonal air–sea interaction and implications for performance of forced simulations |
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Authors: | Renguang Wu Ben P Kirtman |
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Institution: | (1) Center for Ocean–Land–Atmosphere Studies, 4041 Powder Mill Road, Suite 302, Calverton, MD 20705, USA;(2) School of Computational Sciences, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA |
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Abstract: | Sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies can induce anomalous convection through surface evaporation and low-level moisture
convergence. This SST forcing of the atmosphere is indicated in a positive local rainfall–SST correlation. Anomalous convection
can feedback on SST through cloud-radiation and wind-evaporation effects and wind-induced oceanic mixing and upwelling. These
atmospheric feedbacks are reflected in a negative local rainfall–SST tendency correlation. As such, the simultaneous rainfall–SST
and rainfall–SST tendency correlations can indicate the nature of local air–sea interactions. Based on the magnitude of simultaneous
rainfall–SST and rainfall–SST tendency correlations, the present study identifies three distinct regimes of local air–sea
interactions. The relative importance of SST forcing and atmospheric forcing differs in these regimes. In the equatorial central-eastern
Pacific and, to a smaller degree, in the western equatorial Indian Ocean, SST forcing dominates throughout the year and the
surface heat flux acts mainly as a damping term. In the tropical Indo-western Pacific Ocean regions, SST forcing and atmospheric
forcing dominate alternatively in different seasons. Atmospheric forcing dominates in the local warm/rainy season. SST forcing
dominates with a positive wind-evaporation feedback during the transition to the cold/dry season. SST forcing also dominates
during the transition to the warm/rainy season but with a negative cloud-radiation feedback. The performance of atmospheric
general circulation model simulations forced by observed SST is closely linked to the regime of air–sea interaction. The forced
simulations have good performance when SST forcing dominates. The performance is low or poor when atmospheric forcing dominates. |
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