Thermohaline circulation in the North Atlantic and its simulation with a box model

Features of the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation response to periodic, stochastic, and instantaneous forcing are studied using a four-box model. The present-day circulation is shown to be characterized by a stable quasi-periodic oscillatory mode that manifests itself as the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation. The thermohaline catastrophe is unlikely in the modern climate epoch.     

大西洋热盐环流年代际变化机制研究Ⅲ.北大西洋海气要素对热盐环流年代际振荡的影响

基于该系列文章前文研究中构建的海气耦合气候模式和所揭示的北大西洋热盐环流年代际振荡机制,针对海气要素对该振荡机制的影响问题进行了重点的探讨。为细致准确的研究北大西洋海洋要素同北大西洋热盐环流年代际振荡的关系,有针对性的定义了副极地海区表层密度指数和北大西洋暖流强度指数并对模式结果进行了全面分析。分析结果表明副极地海区表层密度变化领先大西洋径向翻转环流(MOC)变化7 a,北大西洋暖流的变化领先 MOC变化4 a,格陵兰－苏格兰海脊溢流水强度(包括丹麦海峡溢流水和法鲁海峡溢流水,是北大西洋深层水的重要来源)的变化领先 MOC的变化3 a;北大西洋大气要素变化对北大西洋热盐环流年代际振荡有非常重要的调制作用,当副极地流环和北大西洋暖流(NAC)达到最强的2 a之前,高纬度地区大气为气旋式环流异常,中纬度地区大气为反气旋式环流异常,海表热通量在大西洋副极地海区是负异常,这都有利于副极地流环和NAC的加强,更多高盐度的北大西洋水进入格陵兰-冰岛-挪威海(GIN)海域,由此可以导致GIN海域表层密度上升,使水体的层结稳定性减弱,有利于深层对流的发生,同时大气变化通过风应力旋度和海表热通量也直接影响GIN海域深层水的生成,进而导致格陵兰－苏格兰海脊溢流水的强度增加。     

大西洋热盐环流年代际变化机制研究Ⅲ.北大西洋海气要素对热盐环流年代际振荡的影响

基于该系列文章前文研究中构建的海气耦合气候模式和所揭示的北大西洋热盐环流年代际振荡机制,针对海气要素对该振荡机制的影响问题进行了重点的探讨.为细致准确的研究北大西洋海洋要素同北大西洋热盐环流年代际振荡的关系,有针对性的定义了副极地海区表层密度指数和北大西洋暖流强度指数并对模式结果进行了全面分析.分析结果表明副极地海区表...     

Variability of the North Atlantic Thermohaline Circulation in Different Phases of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation from Ocean Objective Analyses and Reanalyses

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - Zonally averaged characteristics of the North Atlantic (NA) thermohaline circulation are investigated in different phases of the Atlantic Multidecadal...     

Hydrological conditions of water mass subduction in the eastern North Atlantic Ocean (Cruise 43 of the R/VAkademik Vernadsky)

This paper reports some results of a large-scale survey conducted in the eastern North Atlantic Ocean on the WOCE project. The weather conditions, the structure of the upper mixed layer, the water circulation and thermohaline structure, as well as the potential vorticity distribution in the test area, are described.Translated by Vladimir A. Puchkin.     

The different behaviour of modeled ocean circulation under an atmosphere with different heat capacity

We examine the difference in modeled thermohaline circulation under an atmosphere with no heat capacity (NHC) and infinite heat capacity (IHC) in a series of numerical experiments using the Bryan/Cox OGCM. An NHC atmosphere allows ocean sea surface temperatures to respond to changes in oceanic poleward heat transport, inferring an atmosphere that is allowed to seek its equilibrium temperature, whereas an IHC atmosphere does not. This is responsible for the following different behaviour patterns under the two atmospheres: 1) under NHC atmosphere, oceanic thermal oscillation persists, whereas under IHC atmosphere it does not; 2) under NHC atmosphere, the oceanic thermohaline circulation is less sensitive to high latitude freshening than under IHC atmosphere; 3) under either atmosphere, multiple equilibrium solutions are possible. However, under NHC atmosphere, two equilibria of the thermohaline circulation are generated in the same way as in the GFDL fully coupled model, while under IHC atmosphere, they are not.     

Numerical modeling of the Arctic Ocean ice system response to variations in the atmospheric circulation from 1948 to 2007

The results of model calculations aimed at reproducing climate changes in the Arctic Ocean due to variations in the atmospheric circulation are presented. The combined ocean-ice numerical model is based on NCAR/NCEP reanalysis data and its modified version of CIAF on the state of the lower atmosphere, radiative fluxes, and precipitation from 1948 to the present. The numerical experiments reveal the effect of the ice cover, water circulation, and thermohaline structure of the Arctic Ocean on variations in the state of the atmosphere. We found the heating and cooling periods in the Atlantic water layer, as well as the freshwater accumulation regimes in the Canadian Basin and freshwater flow through the Fram Strait and Canadian Archipelago straits. The numerical model reproduces a reconfiguration of the water circulation of the surface and intermediate layers of the ocean, a shift in the boundary between Atlantic and Pacific waters, and a significant reduction of the ice area.     

The connection between Labrador Sea buoyancy loss, deep western boundary current strength, and Gulf Stream path in an ocean circulation model

The sensitivity of the North Atlantic gyre circulation to high latitude buoyancy forcing is explored in a global, non-eddy resolving ocean general circulation model. Increased buoyancy forcing strengthens the deep western boundary current, the northern recirculation gyre, and the North Atlantic Current, which leads to a more realistic Gulf Stream path. High latitude density fluxes and surface water mass transformation are strongly dependent on the choice of sea ice and salinity restoring boundary conditions. Coupling the ocean model to a prognostic sea ice model results in much greater buoyancy loss in the Labrador Sea compared to simulations in which the ocean is forced by prescribed sea ice boundary conditions. A comparison of bulk flux forced hindcast simulations which differ only in their sea ice and salinity restoring forcings reveals the effects of a mixed thermohaline boundary condition transport feedback whereby small, positive temperature and salinity anomalies in subpolar regions are amplified when the gyre spins up as a result of increased buoyancy loss and convection. The primary buoyancy flux effects of the sea ice which cause the simulations to diverge are ice melt, which is less physical in the diagnostic sea ice model, and insulation of the ocean, which is less physical with the prognostic sea ice model. Increased salinity restoring ensures a more realistic net winter buoyancy loss in the Labrador Sea, but it is found that improvements in the Gulf Stream simulation can only be achieved with the excessive buoyancy loss associated with weak salinity restoring.     

On the correlation between oscillations of the Caspian Sea level and the North Atlantic climate

Correlations between the changes in the climate of the Caspian Sea region and in its level and the variations in the North Atlantic climate are studied. The indices of North Atlantic oscillation (NAO), Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO), the intensity of Atlantic thermohaline circulation (ATHC), and the air humidity above the North Atlantic are used as basic indicators of climatic variations that influence the Caspian Sea. Results of an experiment for reproducing the World Ocean circulation and the parameterization of cyclic climate peculiarities made it possible to reveal their impact on the formation of Eurasian climatic variability and on the level regime of the Caspian Sea. This impact is studied through the variability of ATHC, the NAO index, and a composite index of moisture transport (CIMT) that is proposed as a result of the studies.     

Strengths and weaknesses of the global ocean conveyor: Inter-basin freshwater disparities as the major control

According to the current paradigm of modern climatology and oceanography, the global ocean thermohaline circulation works as the so-called “global ocean salinity conveyor belt” – a system of currents connecting different ocean basins and most notably – the northern North Atlantic and northern North Pacific Oceans – the most distant regions of the world ocean. It is shown here that a slight disparity in freshwater redistribution between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans can be sufficient for building up and maintaining a global conveyor-type ocean thermohaline circulation. On the other hand, relatively small changes in this disparity leading to change in sea surface salinity contrasts between and in the north-south within the northern parts of these two oceans can easily change the conveyor.     

Relationships between interannual variations in stratospheric warmings, tropospheric circulation, and sea surface temperature in the Northern Hemisphere

The leading modes of interannual and long-term variations in the stratospheric and tropospheric circulation and total ozone (TOMS data) and their relations to Northern Hemisphere sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies are investigated using the monthly mean NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data for the winter months of 1958–2003. Strong correlations are indicated between the interannual total ozone variations over Labrador and the North Atlantic and changes in the stratospheric polar vortex. The onset of major stratospheric warmings is connected not only with the strengthening of westerlies at the 500-hPa level in the midlatitude Atlantic, but also with the weakening of tropospheric winds over the north of eastern Siberia and strengthening over the Far East. In years with major stratospheric warmings, abnormally cold winters are observed in Eurasia, especially in eastern Siberia and northeastern China. The calculated simultaneous (with no time lags) correlations of the stratospheric circulation changes with El Niño/La Niña events give evidence of low correlations between the tropical Pacific SST anomalies and the stratospheric dynamics in the Arctic. However, there are high correlations of the extratropical Pacific and Atlantic SST anomalies with interannual tropospheric and stratospheric circulation variations, the stratospheric dynamics being more strongly connected with Pacific SST than with Atlantic SST anomalies. The interannual changes in tropospheric circulation are coupled to SST anomalies in both the Pacific and the Atlantic. Mechanisms of long-term changes in the interactive ocean-atmosphere-ozone layer system are discussed.     

洋际交换及其在全球大洋环流中的作用:MOM4p1积分1400年的结果

利用非Boussinesq近似下MOM4p1的全球大洋环流预后模式,采用真实地形,以静止状态为初始条件,进行了1 400a积分,以研究平衡状态下大洋环流的结构。模式由月平均气候态强迫场驱动,包括192×189个水平网格和压力坐标下的31个垂直层次。着重研究达到平衡状态后,各洋际通道处的质量、热量输运和补偿及其在全球大洋环流中的作用。根据动能演变特征表明,积分过程分为3个阶段:风海流的成长及准稳定状态;热盐环流的成长过程以及热盐环流的稳定状态;由静止状态冷启动达到热盐环流的稳定状态,积分过程必须在千年以上。模式结果再现了从白令海峡到格陵兰海的北冰洋贯穿流和印度尼西亚贯穿流,并用已有观测资料对它们进行对比。分析表明,海面的倾斜结构是形成太平洋-北冰洋-大西洋贯穿流和印尼贯穿流的主要动力机制。分析指出,尽管在北大西洋存在1.4×106 m3/s的南向体积输运,但其热量输运却是北向的并达到1015 W量级,其原因是北向的上层海流温度远高于北大西洋深层水向南的回流。文章分析了经向体积和热量输运对北大西洋深层水补偿来源及大西洋经向翻转环流的贡献。模拟所得洋际交换的量值可以由经向补偿予以合理解释,并得到以往实测与数模结果的支持。洋际通道处的体积和热量交换突出体现了其在大洋传送带系统中的枢纽作用。     

Sensitivity of the modelled thermohaline circulation to the parameterisation of mixing across the Greenland–Scotland ridge

The Hadley Centre climate model HadCM3 simulates a stable thermohaline circulation driven by deep water formation in the Norwegian and Labrador Seas without the need for flux adjustments. It has however been suggested that this result is the fortuitous consequence of the local use of the Roussenov convection scheme in this region, and that the model simulation may depend sensitively on this parameterisation. Here we investigate the sensitivity of the thermohaline circulation (THC) to the model’s treatment of the overflows from the Nordic Seas for both pre-industrial and increasing greenhouse gas forcings. We find that although the density structure in the Labrador Sea does depend upon the specifics of how the overflows are modelled, the global thermohaline circulation and climate responses are not sensitive to these details. This result gives credibility to previously published modelling studies on the response of the thermohaline circulation to anthropogenic greenhouse gas forcing, and implies that research may profitably be focussed on the large scale transports, where models are known to disagree.     

北极冰海耦合模式对两种不同大气再分析资料响应的分析

本文中我们比较了Climate Forecast System Reanalysis(CFSR)高分辨率的再分析数据集和低分辨率的Japanese 25-year Reanalysis Project(JRA25)再分析数据集在向下短波辐射、向下长波辐射、10m风场、近地面气温、降水、湿度上的不同,发现二者差异最大的为降水数据,其次为向下短波辐射数据、向下长波辐射数据。用这两个数据集驱动同一冰海耦合模式,CFSR强迫的海冰、北冰洋中层水和加拿大海盆温盐结构与实测相比有很大差距,等密度面上的地转流速在加拿大海盆和欧亚海盆比JRA25强迫的结果高20%,同时等密度面的深度偏深、位温偏高,在弗拉姆海峡的流通量也比海洋再分析数据Simple Ocean Data Assimilation(SODA)偏多。CFSR的向下辐射数据更加接近实测,采用此数据的敏感性实验模拟结果与实测符合的更好。对于海冰的模拟,云量起着至关重要的作用,降水带来的淡水通量通过影响大西洋入流水携带的热量进而影响到冰区。此外,CFSR过量的降水也是二者对于北冰洋温盐结构、弗拉姆海峡流通量以及地转流强度模拟产生偏差的主要原因。尽管风场的分辨率不同,在海盆尺度上对于海冰和海水温盐结构的影响并不大。     

Numerical simulation of the world ocean circulation and its climatic variability for 1948–2007 using the INMOM

The results of simulating global ocean circulation and its interannual variability in 1948–2007 using INM RAS ocean general circulation model INMOM (Institute of Numerical Mathematics Ocean Model) are presented. One of the INMOM versions is also used for the Black Sea dynamics simulation. The CORE datasets were used to set realistic atmospheric forcing. Sea ice area decrease by 2007 was reproduced in the Arctic Ocean that is in good agreement with observations. The interdecadal climatic variability was revealed with significant decrease of Atlantic thermohaline circulation (ATHC) and meridional heat transport (MHT) in North Atlantic (NA) since the late 1990’s. MHT presents decrease of heat transport from NA to the atmosphere since the mid-1990’s. Therefore the negative feedback is revealed in the Earth climate system that leads to reducing of climate warming caused primarily by anthropogenic factor for the last decades. Long-term variability (60 years) of ATHC is revealed as well which influences NA thermal state with 10 year delay. The assumption is argued that this mechanism can make a contribution in the ATHC own long-term variability.     

海洋模式中潮致混合调和分析参数化方案的建立

潮致混合对海洋环流的调整起着重要作用。陆架环流的数值模拟中如果不考虑潮汐作用,往往不能得到与观测相符的垂向温盐结构。本文基于调和分析方法,建立了一套潮致混合参数化方案。该方案通过对垂向混合系数进行调和分析,从而得到随时间变化的潮致混合系数。将该方案用于黄海冷水团数值模拟的结果显示,其能够得到与在数值模式开边界直接加入潮汐强迫相当的冷水团温盐结构。和直接引入潮汐强迫相比,这一潮致混合参数化方案的优势在于,它能够大大节省数值模拟计算机时,因此有望显著提高大规模高分辨率的海洋环流及气候模式的模拟能力和计算效率。     

A numerical experiment on the calculation of the tropical Atlantic circulation in 1982–1983, with the real wind considered

This paper discusses the results obtained through numerical modelling of the annual course of circulation and thermohaline field evolution in the tropical Atlantic under the impact of real wind forcing (from March 1982 to March 1983) and compares them with the calculation of seasonal variability induced by the climatic wind. Changes in the pattern of the equatorial currents and related temperature fields induced by the specific peculiarities in the wind field are analysed.Translated by Vladimir A. Puchkin.     

Structure of temperature variability in the high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere

The spatial structure of surface air temperature (SAT) anomalies in the extratropical latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere (NH) during the 20th century is studied from the data obtained over the period 1892–1999. The expansion of the mean (over the winter and summer periods) SAT anomalies into empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs) is used for analysis. It is shown that variations in the mean air temperature in the Arctic region (within the latitudes 60°–90°N) during both the winter and summer periods can be described with a high accuracy by two spatial orthogonal modes of variability. For the winter period, these are the EOF related to the leading mode of variability of large-scale atmospheric circulation in the NH, the North Atlantic Oscillation, and the spatially localized (in the Arctic) EOF, which describes the Arctic warming of the mid-20th century. The expansion coefficient of this EOF does not correlate with the indices of atmospheric circulation and is hypothetically related to variations in the area of the Arctic ice cover that are due to long-period variations in the influx of oceanic heat from the Atlantic. On the whole, a significantly weaker relation to the atmospheric circulation is characteristic of the summer period. The first leading variability mode describes a positive temperature trend of the past decades, which is hypothetically related to global warming, while the second leading EOF describes a long-period oscillation. On the whole, the results of analysis suggest a significant effect of natural climatic variability on air-temperature anomalies in the NH high latitudes and possible difficulties in isolating an anthropogenic component of climate changes.     

南海中尺度涡温盐异常三维结构

基于1994-2015年海面高度异常数据,采用winding-angle中尺度涡旋探测算法识别出南海范围内共5 899个反气旋涡（AE）和3 792个气旋涡（CE）,结合世界海洋数据集（WOD13）及中国科学院南海海洋研究所（SCSIO）温盐观测数据集,采用基于变分法的客观插值方法,合成了南海及南海各区域中尺度涡的温盐异常三维结构。结果表明,本文采取的插值方式能有效地获得涡旋三维结构,垂向尺度上也与前人研究结果较为一致。在平均状态下,南海AE温盐异常强度明显大于CE,AE正位温异常主体结构深度约440 m,而CE仅在320 m以浅维持涡旋结构;两者最大位温异常均出现在次表层约80 m上下,AE达2.02℃,CE达-1.60℃。盐度异常影响深度约150 m,最大盐度异常出现在50 m深附近,AE达-0.24,CE达0.28,同时由于涡旋在不单调变化的背景盐度场中引起海水下沉（上升）,AE盐度异常结构呈"上负下正"而CE呈"上正下负"式结构。南海各区域合成涡旋的温、盐异常的影响程度并不完全相同,可能与各区域涡旋的生成机制及背景温盐场有关。