Seasonal to interannual climate predictability in mid and high northern latitudes in a global coupled model

The upper limit of climate predictability in mid and high northern latitudes on seasonal to interannual time scales is investigated by performing two perfect ensemble experiments with the global coupled atmosphere–ocean–sea ice model ECHAM5/MPI-OM. The ensembles consist of six members and are initialized in January and July from different years of the model’s 300-year control integration. The potential prognostic predictability is analyzed for a set of oceanic and atmospheric climate parameters. The predictability of the atmospheric circulation is small except for southeastern Europe, parts of North America and the North Pacific, where significant predictability occurs with a lead time of up to half a year. The predictability of 2 m air temperature shows a large land–sea contrast with highest predictabilities over the sub polar North Atlantic and North Pacific. A combination of relatively high persistence and advection of sea surface temperature anomalies into these areas leads to large predictability. Air temperature over Europe, parts of North America and Asia shows significant predictability of up to half a year in advance. Over the ice-covered Arctic, air temperature is not predictable at time scales exceeding 2 months. Sea ice thickness is highly predictable in the central Arctic mainly due to persistence and in the Labrador Sea due to dynamics. Surface salinity is highly predictable in the Arctic Ocean, northern North Atlantic and North Pacific for several years in advance. We compare the results to the predictability due to persistence and show the importance of dynamical processes for the predictability.     

A 20-year coupled ocean-sea ice-atmosphere variability mode in the North Atlantic in an AOGCM

In order to understand potential predictability of the ocean and climate at the decadal time scales, it is crucial to improve our understanding of internal variability at this time scale. Here, we describe a 20-year mode of variability found in the North Atlantic in a 1,000-year pre-industrial simulation of the IPSL-CM5A-LR climate model. This mode involves the propagation of near-surface temperature and salinity anomalies along the southern branch of the subpolar gyre, leading to anomalous sea-ice melting in the Nordic Seas, which then forces sea-level pressure anomalies through anomalous surface atmospheric temperatures. The wind stress associated to this atmospheric structure influences the strength of the East Greenland Current across the Denmark Strait, which, in turn, induces near-surface temperature and salinity anomalies of opposite sign at the entrance of the Labrador Sea. This starts the second half of the cycle after approximatively 10 years. The time scale of the cycle is thus essentially set by advection of tracers along the southern branch of the subpolar gyre, and by the time needed for anomalous East Greenland Current to accumulate heat and freshwater anomalies at the entrance of the Labrador Sea. The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) does not play a dominant role in the mode that is confined in the subpolar North Atlantic, but it also has a 20-year preferred timescale. This is due to the influence of the propagating salinity anomalies on the oceanic deep convection. The existence of this preferred timescale has important implications in terms of potential predictability of the North Atlantic climate in the model, although its realism remains questionable and is discussed.     

一个海洋-海冰耦合模式的北极气候模拟

This paper evaluates the simulation of Arctic sea ice states using an ocean-ice coupled model that employs LASG/IAP(the State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics/the Institute of Atmospheric Physics) Climate Ocean Model(LICOM) and the sea-ice model from the Bergen Climate Model(BCM).It is shown that the coupled model can reasonably reproduce the major characteristics of the mean state,annual cycle,and interannual variability of the Arctic sea ice concentration.The coupled model also shows biases that were generally presented in other models,such as the underestimation of summer sea ice concentration and thickness as well as the unsatisfactory sea ice velocity.Sensitivity experiments indicate that the insufficient performance of the ocean model at high latitudes may be the main reason for the biases in the coupled model.The smoother and the fake "island",which had to be used due to the model’s grid in the North Pole region,likely caused the ocean model’s weak performance.Sea ice model thermodynamics are also responsible for the sea ice simulation biases.Therefore,both the thermodynamic module of the sea ice component and the model grid of the ocean component need to be further improved.     

ENSO phase-locking in an ocean-atmosphere coupled model FGCM-1.0

The mean climatology and the basic characteristics of the ENSO cycle simulated by a coupled model FGCM-1.0 are investigated in this study. Although with some common model biases as in other directly coupled models, FGCM-1.0 is capable of producing the interannual variability of the tropical Pacific, such as the ENSO phenomenon. The mechanism of the ENSO events in the coupled model can be explained by “delayed oscillator” and “recharge-discharge” hypotheses. Compared to the observations, the simulated ENSO events show larger amplitude with two distinctive types of phase-locking： one with its peak phase-locked to boreal winter and the other to boreal summer. These two types of events have a similar frequency of occurrence, but since the second type of event is seldom observed, it may be related to the biases of the coupled model. Analysis show that the heat content anomalies originate from the central south Pacific in the type of events peaking in boreal summer, which can be attributed to a different background climatology from the normal events. The mechanisms of their evolutions are also discussed.     

Simulating the Holocene climate evolution at northern high latitudes using a coupled atmosphere-sea ice-ocean-vegetation model

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 CO₂ and CH₄ content were prescribed. The experiment reveals an early optimum (9–8 kyr BP) in most regions, followed by a 1–3°C decrease in mean annual temperatures, a reduction in summer precipitation and an expansion of sea-ice cover. These results are in general agreement with proxy data. Over the continents, the timing of the largest temperature response in summer coincides with the maximum insolation difference, while over the oceans, the maximum response is delayed by a few months due to the thermal inertia of the oceans, placing the strongest cooling in the winter half year. Sea ice is involved in two positive feedbacks (ice-albedo and sea-ice insulation) that lead regionally to an amplification of the thermal response in our model (7°C cooling in Canadian Arctic). In some areas, the tundra-taiga feedback results in intensified cooling during summer, most notably in northern North America. The simulated sea-ice expansion leads in the Nordic Seas to less deep convection and local weakening of the overturning circulation, producing a maximum winter temperature reduction of 7°C. The enhanced interaction between sea ice and deep convection is accompanied by increasing interannual variability, including two marked decadal-scale cooling events. Deep convection intensifies in the Labrador Sea, keeping the overall strength of the thermohaline circulation stable throughout the experiment.     

Implementation of a one-dimensional enthalpy sea-ice model in a simple pycnocline prediction model for sea-ice data assimilation studies

To further explore enthalpy-based sea-ice assimilation, a one-dimensional(1D) enthalpy sea-ice model is implemented into a simple pycnocline prediction model. The 1D enthalpy sea-ice model includes the physical processes such as brine expulsion, flushing, and salt diffusion. After being coupled with the atmosphere and ocean components, the enthalpy sea-ice model can be integrated stably and serves as an important modulator of model variability. Results from a twin experiment show that the sea-ice data assimilation in the enthalpy space can produce smaller root-mean-square errors of model variables than the traditional scheme that assimilates the observations of ice concentration, especially for slow-varying states. This study provides some insights into the improvement of sea-ice data assimilation in a coupled general circulation model.     

一个海-冰-气耦合模式中格陵兰海海冰年际变异及其成因的个例分

利用一个全球海-冰-气耦合模式模拟结果, 选取冬季年际变率最大的海冰区--格陵兰海海冰区中的一个4年海冰剧烈变化过程展开分析, 试图探讨此个例过程中海冰剧烈变化的原因.结果表明, 在此个例中, 该区域海冰年际变异主要是由大气环流异常驱动的, 海表面温度和海冰密集度变化主要是对大气环流变化的响应.海表面温度变化决定着海冰范围及海冰密集度的变化, 但海冰变化时通过相变潜热的释放或吸收反过来对海表面温度变化有一定影响.     

Linking the northern hemisphere sea-ice reduction trend and the quasi-decadal arctic sea-ice oscillation

The nature of the reduction trend and quasi-decadal oscillation in Northern Hemisphere sea-ice extent is investigated. The trend and oscillation that seem to be two separate phenomena have been found in data. This study examines a hypothesis that the Arctic sea-ice reduction trend in the last three decades amplified the quasi-decadal Arctic sea-ice oscillation (ASIO) due to a positive ice/ocean-albedo feedback, based on data analysis and a conceptual model proposed by Ikeda et al. The theoretical, conceptual model predicts that the quasi-decadal oscillation is amplified by the thinning sea-ice, leading to the ASIO, which is driven by the strong positive feedback between the atmosphere and ice-ocean systems. Such oscillation is predicted to be out-of-phase between the Arctic Basin and the Nordic Seas with a phase difference of 3/4, with the Nordic Seas leading the Arctic. The wavelet analysis of the sea ice data reveals that the quasi-decadal ASIO occurred actively since the 1970s following the trend starting in the 1960s (i.e., as sea-ice became thinner and thinner), as the atmosphere experienced quasi-decadal oscillations during the last century. The wavelet analysis also confirms the prediction of such out-of-phase feature between these two basins, which varied from 0.62 in 1960 to 0.25 in 1995. Furthermore, a coupled ice-ocean general circulation model (GCM) was used to simulate two scenarios, one without the greenhouse gas warming and the other having realistic atmospheric forcing along with the warming that leads to sea-ice reduction trend. The quasi-decadal ASIO is excited in the latter case compared to the no-warming case. The wavelet analyses of the simulated ice volume were also conducted to derive decadal ASIO and similar phase relationship between the Arctic Ocean and the Nordic Seas. An independent data source was used to confirm such decadal oscillation in the upper layer (or freshwater) thickness, which is consistent with the model simulation. A modified feedback loop for the sea-ice trend and ASIO was proposed based on the previous one by Mysak and Venegas and the ice/albedo and cloud/albedo feedabcks, which are responsible for the sea ice reduction trend.     

北极海冰数值预报的初步研究——基于海冰—海洋耦合模式MITgcm的模拟试验

利用最近发展的MITgcm(麻省理工学院通用环流模式)海冰-海洋耦合模式,以NCEP(美国国家环境预测中心)再分析资料为大气强迫场进行了1992年1月至2009年12月北极海冰数值模拟.结果表明,此模式能很好地模拟卫星观测的北极海冰季节和年际变化,具备很好的北极海冰数值模拟能力.以此为基础,对2009年7月和10月北极...     

Improved ENSO forecasts by assimilating sea surface temperature observations into an intermediate coupled model

A simple method for initializing intermediate coupled models (ICMs) using only sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly data is comprehensively tested in two sets of hindcasts with a new ICM. In the initialization scheme, both the magnitude of the nudging parameter and the duration of the assimilation are considered, and initial conditions for both atmosphere and ocean are generated by running the coupled model with SST anomalies nudged to the observations. A comparison with the observations indicates that the scheme can generate realistic thermal fields and surface dynamic fields in the equatorial Pacific through hindcast experiments. An ideal experiment is performed to get the optimal nudging parameters which include the nudging intensity and nudging time length. Twelve-month-long hindcast experiments are performed with the model over the period 1984–2003 and the period 1997–2003. Compared with the original prediction results, the model prediction skills are significantly improved by the nudging method especially beyond a 6-month lead time during the two different periods. Potential problems and further improvements are discussed regarding the new coupled assimilation system.     

一个大洋环流模式和相应的海气耦合模式的评估 I.热带太平洋年平均状态

评估了中国科学院大气物理研究所大气科学和地球流体动力学数值模拟国家重点实验室海洋环流模式L30T63和海气耦合模式FGCM 0模拟的热带太平洋年平均状态 ,资料取自L30T63由观测的大气强迫驱动的Control试验、由NCARCCM3大气强迫驱动的Spinup试验、以及相应的海气耦合模式FGCM 0。主要的结论是 :( 1 )在“准确”的海表强迫下 ,Control模拟的海面温度和温跃层与观测结果相当接近 ,模式的固有误差是赤道冷舌过分西伸和东南太平洋温跃层偏浅。 ( 2 )Spinup能模拟出合理的热带太平洋上层海洋环流 ,但存在两个问题 ,即 :暖池区海面温度显著偏高、沿赤道的梯度过大 ;赤道温跃层偏浅、东西向坡度偏小 ,它们分别与CCM3提供的海表短波辐射通量和风应力的系统误差有关。这两个问题很可能是海气耦合模式FGCM 0运行初期误差迅速发展的重要原因。 ( 3)FGCM 0模拟的赤道暖池区上层 1 0 0m的平均温度比观测低 3℃。分析表明FGCM 0夸大了暖池区海洋动力过程的降温作用 ,使得模拟的“暖池”在一定程度上具有冷舌的属性。FGCM 0模拟的热带南太平洋温跃层比观测结果偏浅数十米到 1 0 0m ,以致赤道两侧的上层海洋温度分布趋于对称 ,成为“doubleITCZ”现象在上层海洋中的表现。风应力旋度的系统误差和垂直混合随深度衰减过快     

适应极地快速变化海冰模式的研发与挑战

极地海冰是地球气候系统的重要组成部分,也是气候环境变化的指示器和放大器.极地海冰复杂的多尺度物理过程和极地观测资料的匮乏,给海冰模式的研发带来了巨大的挑战.在过去的半个多世纪中,大气-海冰-海洋的复杂相互作用和冰内物理过程在海冰模式中的数学描述取得了重大的进展,但海冰模式对一些重要物理过程的描述仍很不完善,尤其是近年来...     

亚洲冬季地表气温与北半球海平面气压场的关系

利用NCEP资料对1949～1999年间的地表气温进行经验正交函数分解(EOF),得到的前两个模态均表明,20世纪70年代中期以后,在两个模态迭加的情况下,亚洲大部分区域冬季气温升高,增暖明显,发生了显著的年代际变化.奇异值分解(SVD)冬季亚洲地表气温和北半球海平面气压场得到的结果说明,北极涛动对亚洲冬季气温的年代际变化有显著影响,其次北太平洋海平面气压与陆地海平面气压的反相分布可能对亚洲冬季气温的年际变化有影响.     

The interdecadal variation characteristics of arctic sea ice cover-Enso-East asian monsoon and their interrelationship at quasi-Four years time scale

l.Introducti0nTheclimateformationandvariabilityisnotonlythereflectionofatmosphericinternalbe-havi0rbutalsotheinnuencefromtheinteractionexistSintheclimatesystem.Becausetherela-tivecooIingandheatingsourcesofatmospherearelocatedinthePOlarandtropicalregionrespectively,itiseasytounderstandthattheArcticseaicecoverandSSTanomalieswhichim-pocttheatmosphericheatingtosomeextentcanexerttheirinfluenceontheremotCatmosphericcirculation-Inthisregard,thefocusrelatedtheinflueneeofArcticseaicecoverandtropica…     

喀拉海和巴伦支海海冰对中高纬异常纬向环流暨中国东部重霾天气形成的作用

采用1981年1月—2017年2月国家气象信息中心雾、霾数据集资料、同期NCEP/NCAR再分析资料以及哈德来中心的海冰资料,分析了秋冬季喀拉海和巴伦支海海冰变化与东亚冬季风暨中国东部冬季雾和霾日数变化特征之间的关系。研究结果表明,喀拉海和巴伦支海海冰对亚洲区中高纬纬向环流有重要影响,秋季海冰异常偏少是冬季亚洲区中高纬异常纬向环流形成的诱因之一。该地区秋季海冰偏少年,冬季亚洲中高纬地区纬向环流异常偏强,东亚大槽偏弱,影响我国东部地区的东亚冬季风减弱,这为大气污染物在水平方向上的聚集提供了有利条件,同时在海冰偏少年,对流层从中层向下均为正温度距平,与地表温差减小,不利于对流发展,使得大气的状况变得更加稳定,不利于大气污染物在垂直方向上的扩散,水平和垂直方向上的共同作用导致中国东部地区易发生霾天气过程。虽然喀拉海和巴伦支海海冰是影响中国东部地区冬季霾过程发生的重要因子之一,但其对冬季中国东部雾天气发生日数多寡的影响并不显著。亚洲区纬向环流指数相比经向环流指数更能反映中国东部地区冬季雾-霾日数的变化,冬季亚洲中高纬纬向环流越强,中国东部地区雾-霾日数越多。     

Ensemble data assimilation in a simple coupled climate model: The role of ocean-atmosphere interaction

A conceptual coupled ocean-atmosphere model was used to study coupled ensemble data assimilation schemes with a focus on the role of ocean-atmosphere interaction in the assimilation. The optimal scheme was the fully coupled data assimilation scheme that employs the coupled covariance matrix and assimilates observations in both the atmosphere and ocean. The assimilation of synoptic atmospheric variability that captures the temporal fluctuation of the weather noise was found to be critical for the estimation of not only the atmospheric, but also oceanic states. The synoptic atmosphere observation was especially important in the mid-latitude system, where oceanic variability is driven by weather noise. The assimilation of synoptic atmospheric variability in the coupled model improved the atmospheric variability in the analysis and the subsequent forecasts, reducing error in the surface forcing and, in turn, in the ocean state. Atmospheric observation was able to further improve the oceanic state estimation directly through the coupled covariance between the atmosphere and ocean states. Relative to the mid-latitude system, the tropical system was influenced more by ocean-atmosphere interaction and, thus, the assimilation of oceanic observation becomes more important for the estimation of the ocean and atmosphere.     

南极海冰北界涛动指数及其与我国夏季天气气候的关系

南极海冰的变化和全球大气环流关系密切。南极各区海冰的不同变化, 对南北半球大气环流有着不同的影响。文中基于对南极海冰变化的客观分区, 定义了南极海冰北界涛动指数 (ASEOI), 并结合中央气象台提供的南方涛动指数、北半球500 hPa和100 hPa高度场资料以及我国160站降水、温度资料, 利用诊断分析方法, 对ASEOI与我国夏季天气气候的关系进行了研究。研究表明:ASEOI对我国长江中下游降水及全国大部分地区温度具有指示意义。若前一年10月ASEOI偏低, 则当年7月我国长江中下游降水偏多, 引发洪涝灾害的可能性很大; 温度场上, 我国北方气温偏高, 南方气温偏低, 而高温往往伴随着少雨, 这无疑会加剧华北本就严重的旱情。     

SIMULATION ON CLIMATIC VARIATION OF ARCTIC SEA ICE THROUGH AN ICE-OCEAN COUPLED MODEL*

An ocean model developed by the Institute of Marine Research and the University of Bergen in Norway (BOM) and a state-of-the-art sea ice model developed by NCAR (CSIM4) are coupled, Considering influences of 9 major rivers,forced by the NCEP reanalysis atmospheric fields and the Levitus surface salinity,the Arctic sea ice climatic variation from January 1949 to December.1999 was simulated through the coupled model.The comparison of simulated results and observations shows that:(1)the long-term ice concentration variation tendencies are in consistent with the observations in the divisional ocean regions;(2)simulated ice thickness horizontal distribution is reasonable.Simulated ice thickness has a decreasing tendency in the central Arctic,which agrees with the submarine observations.Simulated annually maximum ice thickness is highly related to observed fast-ice thickness off the Russian coast;and (3)sea ice area/volume fluxes through the Fram Strait are in accord with the satellite-derived data.Generally,the coupled model successfully simulated the Arctic Ocean sea ice climatic variation.     

Effects of spring Arctic sea ice on summer drought in the middle and high latitudes of Asia

Based on data observed from 1979 to 2017, the influence of Arctic sea ice in the previous spring on the first mode of interannual variation in summer drought in the middle and high latitudes of Asia (MHA) is analyzed in this paper, and the possible associated physical mechanism is discussed. The results show that when there is more sea ice near the Svalbard Islands in spring while the sea ice in the Barents–Kara Sea decreases, the drought distribution in the MHA shows a north–south dipole pattern in late summer, and drought weakens in the northern MHA region and strengthens in the southern MHA region. By analyzing the main physical process affecting these changes, the change in sea ice in spring is found to lead to the Polar–Eurasian teleconnection pattern, resulting in more precipitation, thicker snow depths, higher temperatures, and higher soil moisture in the northern MHA region in spring and less precipitation, smaller snow depths, and lower soil moisture in the southern MHA region. Such soil conditions last until summer, affect summer precipitation and temperature conditions through soil moisture–atmosphere feedbacks, and ultimately modulate changes in summer drought in the MHA.摘要本文分析了亚洲中高纬度地区 (MHA) 年际尺度夏季干旱的主模态时空变化特征, 以及影响第一模态的主要影响因子和可能的物理过程. 结果显示该区域夏季干旱第一模态主要呈现一个南北偶极性的分布. 而影响MHA夏季干旱的主要影响因子为前春北极海冰. 当春季斯瓦尔巴群岛附近海冰偏多, 而巴伦支海-喀拉海海冰减少时, 通过冰-气相互作用, 使得MHA北部春季降水增加, 雪深加厚, 土壤湿度偏高, 而南部则相反. 然后这样的土壤湿度条件从春季持续到夏季, 通过土壤湿度-大气反馈影响夏季MHA降水和温度变化, 最终对夏季干旱主模态产生影响.