Indian Ocean sea surface salinity variations in a coupled model

The variability of the sea surface salinity (SSS) in the Indian Ocean is studied using a 100-year control simulation of the Community Climate System Model (CCSM 2.0). The monsoon-driven seasonal SSS pattern in the Indian Ocean, marked by low salinity in the east and high salinity in the west, is captured by the model. The model overestimates runoff into the Bay of Bengal due to higher rainfall over the Himalayan–Tibetan regions which drain into the Bay of Bengal through Ganga–Brahmaputra rivers. The outflow of low-salinity water from the Bay of Bengal is too strong in the model. Consequently, the model Indian Ocean SSS is about 1 less than that seen in the climatology. The seasonal Indian Ocean salt balance obtained from the model is consistent with the analysis from climatological data sets. During summer, the large freshwater input into the Bay of Bengal and its redistribution decide the spatial pattern of salinity tendency. During winter, horizontal advection is the dominant contributor to the tendency term. The interannual variability of the SSS in the Indian Ocean is about five times larger than that in coupled model simulations of the North Atlantic Ocean. Regions of large interannual standard deviations are located near river mouths in the Bay of Bengal and in the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean. Both freshwater input into the ocean and advection of this anomalous flux are responsible for the generation of these anomalies. The model simulates 20 significant Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) events and during IOD years large salinity anomalies appear in the equatorial Indian Ocean. The anomalies exist as two zonal bands: negative salinity anomalies to the north of the equator and positive to the south. The SSS anomalies for the years in which IOD is not present and for ENSO years are much weaker than during IOD years. Significant interannual SSS anomalies appear in the Indian Ocean only during IOD years.     

The impacts of different surface boundary conditions for sea surface salinity on simulation in an OGCM

盐度是海洋的一个基本状态变量,在海洋环流中起着重要的作用。少量的盐通量扰动都会改变海洋的经向翻转环流和海表温盐场。因此,本文使用了海洋环流模式LICOM2.0研究了不同盐度边界条件对全球总盐量、海表盐度和大西洋经圈翻转环流模拟的影响。结果表明:洋面上的弱恢复项对合理地模拟海表盐度起着重要的作用,且对全球总盐量起着递增的作用;在虚盐通量中使用模拟的海表盐度而非定常的参考盐度能够更合理地模拟大西洋经圈翻转环流;除此之外,含有实盐通量的盐度边界条件能够更好地维持全球总盐量的守恒。     

海温强迫下的东亚夏季大气环流潜在可预报性特征

利用大气环流模式NCARCAM3,进行22a（1979—2000年）、每年8个初值的集合试验,并采用方差分析方法,研究了观测海温强迫下东亚夏季大气环流的潜在可预报性。结果表明,夏季东亚地区海平面气压场的潜在可预报性总体偏低,在中国区域呈东南高、西北低的分布特征;850hPa纬向风场、对流层500～200hPa平均温度场和500hPa位势高度场在低纬度地区的潜在可预报性明显高于中高纬度地区。500hPa位势高度场的潜在可预报性较高,东亚大部分地区大于0.5,尤其华南地区大于0.7。夏季东亚500hPa位势高度场的潜在可预报性具有明显的年际变化特征,并与夏季南海海温异常关系密切。与正常年份相比,在夏季南海海温偏暖或者偏冷年,东亚500hPa位势高度场的潜在可预报性较高     

Dynamics of decadal variability in the Atlantic subpolar gyre: a stochastically forced oscillator

Internal variability of the Atlantic subpolar gyre is investigated in a 600 years control simulation of a comprehensive coupled climate model. The subpolar gyre shows irregular oscillations of decadal time scale with most spectral power between 15 and 20 years. Positive and negative feedback mechanisms act successively on the circulation leading to an internal oscillation. This involves periodically enhanced deep convection in the subpolar gyre center and intermittently enhanced air-sea thermal coupling. As a result, anomalies of the large-scale atmospheric circulation can be transferred to the ocean on the ocean’s intrinsic time scale, exciting the oscillator stochastically. A detailed understanding of oscillatory mechanisms of the ocean and their sensitivity to atmospheric forcing holds considerable potential for decadal predictions as well as for the interpretation of proxy data records.     

Can local linear stochastic theory explain sea surface temperature and salinity variability?

 Sea surface temperature (SST) and salinity (SSS) time series from four ocean weather stations and data from an integration of the GFDL coupled ocean-atmosphere model are analyzed to test the applicability of local linear stochastic theory to the mixed-layer ocean. According to this theory, mixed-layer variability away from coasts and fronts can be explained as a ‘red noise’ response to the ‘white noise’ forcing by atmospheric disturbances. At one weather station, Papa (northeast Pacific), this stochastic theory can be applied to both salinity and temperature, explaining the relative redness of the SSS spectrum. Similar results hold for a model grid point adjacent to Papa, where the relationships between atmospheric energy and water fluxes and actual changes in SST and SSS are what is expected from local linear stochastic theory. At the other weather stations, this theory cannot adequately explain mixed-layer variability. Two oceanic processes must be taken into account: at Panulirus (near Bermuda), mososcale eddies enhance the observed variability at high frequencies. At Mike and India (North Atlantic), variations in SST and SSS advection, indicated by the coherence and equal persistence of SST and SSS anomalies, contribute to much of the low frequency variability in the model and observations. To achieve a global perspective, TOPEX altimeter data and model results are used to identify regions of the ocean where these mechanisms of variability are important. Where mesoscale eddies are as energetic as at Panulirus, indicated by the TOPEX global distribution of sea level variability, one would expect enhanced variability on short time scales. In regions exhibiting signatures of variability similar to Mike and India, variations in SST and SSS advection should dominate at low frequencies. According to the model, this mode of variability is found in the circumpolar ocean and the northern North Atlantic, where it is associated with the irregular oscillations of the model’s thermohaline circulation. Received: 11 March 1996 / Accepted: 6 September 1996     

非定常天气海面通量特征

本文研究了天气尺度系统(如冷锋)过境时的海面通量特征及计算通量的方法。发现冷锋前几小时的暖区内,湍流切应力急剧增大,总体输送系数 C_D,C_H出现突变,与地面风速的突然增加是同步的。这是地转适应过程在边界层内的一种响应,为海面上动力学过程的研究提供了重要信息。     

Dynamical contribution to sea surface salinity variations in the eastern Gulf of Guinea based on numerical modelling

In this study, we analyse the seasonal variability of the sea surface salinity (SSS) for two coastal regions of the Gulf of Guinea from 1995 to 2006 using a high resolution model (1/12°) embedded in a Tropical Atlantic (1/4°) model. Compared with observations and climatologies, our model demonstrates a good capability to reproduce the seasonal and spatial variations of the SSS and mixed layer depth. Sensitivity experiments are carried out to assess the respective impacts of precipitations and river discharge on the spatial structure and seasonal variations of the SSS in the eastern part of the Gulf of Guinea. In the Bight of Biafra, both precipitations and river runoffs are necessary to observe permanent low SSS values but the river discharge has the strongest impact on the seasonal variations of the SSS. South of the equator, the Congo river discharge alone is sufficient to explain most of the SSS structure and its seasonal variability. However, mixed layer budgets for salinity reveal the necessity to take into account the horizontal and vertical dynamics to explain the seasonal evolution of the salinity in the mixed layer. Indeed evaporation, precipitations and runoffs represent a relatively small contribution to the budgets locally at intraseasonal to seasonal time scales. Horizontal advection always contribute to spread the low salinity coastal waters offshore and thus decrease the salinity in the eastern Gulf of Guinea. For the Bight of Biafra and the Congo plume region, the strong seasonal increase of the SSS observed from May/June to August/September, when the trade winds intensify, results from a decreasing offshore spread of freshwater associated with an intensification of the salt input from the subsurface. In the Congo plume region, the subsurface salt comes mainly from advection due to a strong upwelling but for the Bight of Biafra, entrainment and vertical mixing also play a role. The seasonal evolution of horizontal advection in the Bight of Biafra is mainly driven by eddy correlations between salinity and velocities, but it is not the case in the Congo plume.     

基于卫星和Argo观测的阿拉伯海中北部海表盐度季节和年际变化

基于美国国家航天局（NASA）发射的水瓶座（Aquarius/SAC-D）卫星和欧洲航天局（ERA）发射的土壤湿度与海洋盐度（SMOS）卫星的观测资料,以及Argo海表盐度资料,重点分析了阿拉伯海中北部海表盐度的季节和年际变化.年平均情况下,Argo、Aquarius和SMOS表现出相似的海表盐度分布形态,均表现了阿拉伯海中北部高达36.5 psu的高盐特征.阿拉伯海中北部海表盐度在2—3月出现最低值,在4月之后快速升高,并在夏季西南季风的成熟阶段达到最高.阿拉伯海中北部海表盐度显著的季节变化与季风风场引起的大量蒸发和平流输送相关.夏季风期间,Ras al Hadd急流将来自阿曼湾的高盐水向东向南输送到阿拉伯海中北部海域,使海表盐度升高并达到最高值;冬季风期间,冬季风环流系统在印度半岛西侧海域形成向北的低盐水输送,造成阿拉伯海中北部海表盐度降低.该低盐水平流在冬季风后期能够影响到阿曼海.阿拉伯海中北部海表盐度年际变化主要与季风驱动的季风环流系统的变化相关,尤其是冬季风期间向北流动的印度西侧沿岸流的强弱与该区域海表盐度年际变化关系密切.     

Assessment of interannual sea surface salinity variability and its effects on the barrier layer in the equatorial Pacific using BNU-ESM

As salinity stratification is necessary to form the barrier layer (BL), the quantification of its role in BL interannual variability is crucial. This study assessed salinity variability and its effect on the BL in the equatorial Pacific using outputs from Beijing Normal University Earth System Model (BNU-ESM) simulations. A comparison between observations and the BNU-ESM simulations demonstrated that BNU-ESM has good capability in reproducing most of the interannual features observed in nature. Despite some discrepancies in both magnitude and location of the interannual variability centers, the displacements of sea surface salinity (SSS), barrier layer thickness (BLT), and SST simulated by BNU-ESM in the equatorial Pacific are realistic. During El Niño, for example, the modeled interannual anomalies of BLT, mixed layer depth, and isothermal layer depth, exhibit good correspondence with observations, including the development and decay of El Niño in the central Pacific, whereas the intensity of the interannual variabilities is weaker relative to observations. Due to the bias in salinity simulations, the SSS front extends farther west along the equator, whereas BLT variability is weaker in the central Pacific than in observations. Further, the BNU-ESM simulations were examined to assess the relative effects of salinity and temperature variability on BLT. Consistent with previous observation-based analyses, the interannual salinity variability can make a significant contribution to BLT relative to temperature in the western-central equatorial Pacific.     

ASCAT近岸风在山东沿海的适用性分析

利用2013年1月—2014年12月山东近海的8个浮标站、海岛站和自动站资料与ASCAT近岸风速和风向进行对比,以分析ASCAT反演风场在山东沿海的适用性。研究发现：总体上看,ASCAT近岸风速与代表站实况风速正相关,ASCAT近岸风速在山东沿海误差较小,风向有明显的偏离。ASCAT近岸风在渤海、渤海海峡和黄海北部的适用性优于黄海中部。风力不同时,ASCAT近岸风速与实况偏差有明显差别,表现为当实况出现6级及以上的大风,ASCAT近岸风速小于实况;当实况出现6级以下的风,ASCAT近岸风速大于实况。就ASCAT风速偏差而言,6级以下的风速偏差小于6级及以上风。ASCAT近岸风向与实况偏差也有明显差别,当实况出现6级及以上的大风,ASCAT近岸风向与实况的偏离变小;当实况出现6级以下的风,ASCAT近岸风向与实况的偏离变大。因此,ASCAT近岸风速在山东沿海有较好的适用性,6级以下风更优;ASCAT近岸风向也有一定的适用性,6级及以上风向可用性比6级以下强。     

Drag of the sea surface

It is shown how the drag of the sea surface can be computed from the wind speed and the sea state. The approach, applicable both for fully developed and for developing seas, is based on conservation of momentum in the boundary layer above the sea, which allows one to relate the drag to the properties of the momentum exchange between the sea waves and the atmosphere.The total stress is split into two parts: a turbulent part and a wave-induced part. The former is parameterized in terms of mixing-length theory. The latter is calculated by integration of the wave-induced stress over all wave numbers. Usually, the effective roughness is given in terms of the empirical Charnock relation. Here, it is shown how this relation can be derived from the dynamical balance between turbulent and wave-induced stress. To this end, the non-slip boundary conditions is assigned to the wave surface, and the local roughness parameter is determined by the scale of the molecular sublayer.The formation of the sea drag is then described for fully developed and developing seas and for light to high winds.For the Charnock constant, a value of about 0.018–0.030 is obtained, depending on the wind input, which is well within the range of experimental data.It is shown that gravity-capillary waves with a wavelength less than 5 cm play a minor role in the momentum transfer from wind to waves. Most of the momentum is transferred to decimeter and meter waves, so that the drag of developing seas depends crucially on the form of the wave spectrum in the corresponding high wavenumber range.The dependence of the drag on wave age depends sensitively on the dependence of this high wavenumbertail on wave age. If the tail is wave-age independent, the sea drag appears to be virtually independent of wave age. If the tail depends on wave age, the drag also does. There is contradictory evidence as to the actual dependence. Therefore, additional experiments are needed.The investigation was in part supported by the Netherlands Geosciences Foundation (GOA) with financial aid from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).     

Research into the measurement of sea state,sea temperature and salinity by means of microwave radiometry

Some experimental and theoretical data on sea surface radiation sensitivity, at microwave frequencies, to variations in temperature, salinity of the water and sea state are summarized.Deceased.     

On the interannual variability of surface salinity in the Atlantic

The mechanisms controlling the interannual variability of sea surface salinity (SSS) in the Atlantic are investigated using a simulation with the ECHAM4/OPA8 coupled model and, for comparison, the NCEP reanalysis and an observed SSS climatology. Anomalous Ekman advection is found to be as important as the freshwater flux in generating SSS anomalies, in contrast to sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies which are primarily caused by surface heat flux fluctuations. Since the surface heat flux feedback does not damp the SSS anomalies but generally damps existing SST anomalies, SSS anomalies have a larger characteristic time scale. As a result, they are more influenced by the mean currents and the geostrophic variability, which dominate the SSS changes at low frequency over much of the basin. The link between SSS anomalies and the dominant patterns of atmospheric variability in the North Atlantic sector is also discussed. It is shown that the North Atlantic Oscillation generates SSS anomalies much more by Ekman advection than by freshwater exchanges. At least in the coupled model, there is little one-to-one correspondence between the main atmospheric and SSS anomaly patterns, unlike what is found for SST anomalies.     

High-order cumulants of sea surface elevations

The variability of cumulants of the fifth and sixth orders of the sea surface elevations is studied. The investigations are carried out on the basis of the data of direct wave measurements carried out in the field conditions. It is demonstrated that the cumulants of the fifth order are weakly correlated with the variations of the mean sea surface slope generated by the dominant waves. The variations of the cumulant of the sixth order are not correlated with the mean slope variations. The errors of the sea surface elevation probability density approximated by the models based on the use of Gram-Charlier series are analyzed. The analysis is carried out for the models including various numbers of terms of the Gram-Charlier series.     

南海海平面高度年循环的特征

根据 ＴＯＰＥＸ／ ＰＯＳＥＩＤＯＮ－ＥＲＳ高度计提供的海平面高度异常资料和并行海洋气候模式（ＰＯＣＭ）模拟海平面高度资料，分析了南海海平面高度年循环特征。结果表明：ｌ月，３月和５月海平面高度的异常值分别与７月，９月，１１月的异常值相反。ｌ月（７月），深水海区与吕宋海峡的海平面高度为负（正）异常，在大部分陆架区和南海的西和南部，海平面高度为正（负）异常。在３月（９月），除海平面高度异常的量级已减少，且较小的ＳＳＨ正异常（负异常）出现在南海的中部以外，海平面高度异常的分布型与 １月（７月）类似； ＳＳＨ的年循环的最大振幅出现在吕宋岛的西北海域；风的季节变化是南海ＳＳＨ季节变化的主要原因。     

Interannual variability of the sea surface salinity and its related freshwater flux in the tropical Pacific: A comparison of CMIP5 and CMIP6

This paper assesses the interannual variabilities of simulated sea surface salinity (SSS) and freshwater flux (FWF) in the tropical Pacific from phases 5 and 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5 and CMIP6). The authors focus on comparing the simulated SSS and FWF responses to El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) from two generations of models developed by the same group. The results show that CMIP5 and CMIP6 models can perform well in simulating the spatial distributions of the SSS and FWF responses associated with ENSO, as well as their relationship. It is found that most CMIP6 models have improved in simulating the geographical distribution of the SSS and FWF interannual variability in the tropical Pacific compared to CMIP5 models. In particular, CMIP6 models have corrected the underestimation of the spatial relationship of the FWF and SSS variability with ENSO in the central-western Pacific. In addition, CMIP6 models outperform CMIP5 models in simulating the FWF interannual variability (spatial distribution and intensity) in the tropical Pacific. However, as a whole, CMIP6 models do not show improved skill scores for SSS interannual variability, which is due to their overestimation of the intensity in some models. Large uncertainties exist in simulating the interannual variability of SSS among CMIP5 and CMIP6 models and some improvements with respect to physical processes are needed.摘要通过比较CMIP5和CMIP6来自同一个单位两代模式模拟, 表明CMIP5和CMIP6均能较好地模拟出热带太平洋的海表盐度 (SSS) 和淡水通量 (FWF) 对ENSO响应的分布及其响应间的关系. 与CMIP5模式相比, 大部份CMIP6模式模拟的SSS和FWF年际变化分布均呈现改进, 特别是纠正了较低的中西太平洋SSS和FWF变化的空间关系. 但是, 整体上, CMIP6模式模拟的SSS年际变化技巧没有提高, 与SSS年际变率的强度被高估有关. CMIP5和CMIP6模式模拟SSS的年际变化还存在较大的不确定性, 在物理方面需要改进.     

Long-term variability of sea surface temperature in Taiwan Strait

Long-term variability of sea surface temperature (SST) in the Taiwan Strait was studied from the U.K. Met Office Hadley Centre climatological data set HadISST1. In 1957–2011, three epochs were identified. The first epoch of cooling SST lasted through 1976. The regime shift of 1976–1977 led to an extremely rapid warming of 2.1 °C in 22 years. Another regime shift occurred in 1998–1999, resulting in a 1.0 °C cooling by 2011. The cross-frontal gradient between the China Coastal Current and offshore Taiwan Strait waters has abruptly decreased in 1992 and remained low through 2011. The long-term warming of SST increased towards the East China Sea, where the SST warming in 1957–2011 was about three times that in the South China Sea. The long-term warming was strongly enhanced in winter, with the maximum warming of 3.8 °C in February. The wintertime amplification of long-term warming has resulted in a decrease of the north–south SST range from 5 to 4 °C and a decrease in the amplitude of seasonal cycle of SST from 11 to 8 °C.     

Microhydrodynamics of flotation processes in the sea surface layer

The uppermost surface of the ocean forms a peculiarly important ecosystem, the sea surface microlayer (SML). Comprising the top 1–1000 μm of the ocean surface, the SML concentrates many chemical substances, particularly those that are surface active. Important economically as a nursery for fish eggs and larvae, the SML unfortunately is also especially vulnerable to pollution. Contaminants that settle out from the air, have low solubility, or attach to floatable matter tend to accumulate in the SML.Bubbles contribute prominently to the dynamics of air–sea exchanges, playing an important role in geochemical cycling of material in the upper ocean and SML. In addition to the movement of bubbles, the development of a bubble cloud interrelates with the single particle dynamics of all other bubbles and particles. In the early sixties, several in situ oceanographic techniques revealed an “unbelievably immense” number of coastal bubbles of radius 15–300 μm. The spatial and temporal variation of bubble numbers were studied; acoustical oceanographers now use bubbles as tracers to determine ocean processes near the ocean surface. Sea state and rain noises have both been definitively ascribed to the radiation from huge numbers of infant micro bubbles [The Acoustic Bubble. Academic Press, San Diego].Our research programme aims at constructing a hydrodynamic model for particle transport processes occurring at the microscale, in multi-phase flotation suspensions. Current research addresses bubble and floc microhydrodynamics as building blocks for a microscale transport model. This paper reviews sea surface transport processes in the microlayer and the lower atmosphere, and identifies those amenable to microhydrodynamic modelling and simulation. It presents preliminary simulation results including the multi-body hydrodynamic mobility functions for the modelling of “dynamic bubble filters” and floc suspensions. Hydrodynamic interactions versus spatial anisotropy and size of particle clouds are investigated.