Role of horizontal density advection in seasonal deepening of the mixed layer in the subtropical Southeast Pacific

The mechanisms behind the seasonal deepening of the mixed layer(ML) in the subtropical Southeast Pacific were investigated using the monthly Argo data from 2004 to 2012. The region with a deep ML(more than 175 m) was found in the region of(22?–30?S, 105?–90?W), reaching its maximum depth(～200 m) near(27?–28?S, 100?W) in September. The relative importance of horizontal density advection in determining the maximum ML location is discussed qualitatively. Downward Ekman pumping is key to determining the eastern boundary of the deep ML region. In addition, zonal density advection by the subtropical countercurrent(STCC) in the subtropical Southwest Pacific determines its western boundary, by carrying lighter water to strengthen the stratification and form a "shallow tongue" of ML depth to block the westward extension of the deep ML in the STCC region. The temperature advection by the STCC is the main source for large heat loss from the subtropical Southwest Pacific. Finally, the combined effect of net surface heat flux and meridional density advection by the subtropical gyre determines the northern and southern boundaries of the deep ML region: the ocean heat loss at the surface gradually increases from 22?S to 35?S, while the meridional density advection by the subtropical gyre strengthens the stratification south of the maximum ML depth and weakens the stratification to the north. The freshwater flux contribution to deepening the ML during austral winter is limited. The results are useful for understanding the role of ocean dynamics in the ML formation in the subtropical Southeast Pacific.     

Interannual variability of the Tropical Indian Ocean mixed layer depth

In the present study, interannual fluctuations of the mixed layer depth (MLD) in the tropical Indian Ocean are investigated from a long-term (1960–2007) eddy permitting numerical simulation and a new observational dataset built from hydrographic in situ data including Argo data (1969–2008). Both datasets show similar interannual variability patterns in relation with known climate modes and reasonable phase agreement in key regions. Due to the scarcity of the observational dataset, we then largely rely on the model to describe the interannual MLD variations in more detail. MLD interannual variability is two to four times smaller than the seasonal cycle. A large fraction of MLD interannual variations is linked to large-scale climate modes, with the exception of coastal and subtropical regions where interannual signature of small-scale structures dominates. The Indian Ocean Dipole is responsible for most variations in the 10°N–10°S band, with positive phases being associated with a shallow MLD in the equatorial and south-eastern Indian Ocean and a deepening in the south-central Indian Ocean. The El Niño signature is rather weak, with moderate MLD shoaling in autumn in the eastern Arabian Sea. Stronger than usual monsoon jets are only associated with a very modest MLD deepening in the southern Arabian Sea in summer. Finally, positive Indian Ocean Subtropical Dipoles are associated with a MLD deepening between 15 and 30°S. Buoyancy fluxes generally appear to dominate MLD interannual variations except for IOD-induced signals in the south-central Indian Ocean in autumn, where wind stirring and Ekman pumping dominate.     

Variability of ozone in the marine boundary layer of the equatorial Pacific Ocean

This study examines the processes controlling the diurnal variability of ozone (O₃) in the marine boundary layer of the Kwajalein Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands (latitude 8° 43′ N, longitude 167° 44′ E), during July to September 1999. At the study site, situated in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, O₃ mixing ratios remained low, with an overall average of 9–10 parts per billion on a volume basis (ppbv) and a standard deviation of 2.5 ppbv. In the absence of convective storms, daily O₃ mixing ratios decreased after sunrise and reached minimum during the afternoon in response to photochemical reactions. The peak-to-peak amplitude of O₃ diurnal variation was approximately 1–3 ppbv. During the daytime, O₃ photolysis, hydroperoxyl radicals, hydroxyl radicals, and bromine atoms contributed to the destruction of O₃, which explained the observed minimum O₃ levels observed in the afternoon. The entrainment of O₃-richer air from the free troposphere to the local marine boundary layer provided a recovery mechanism of surface O₃ mixing ratio with a transport rate of 0.04 to 0.2 ppbv per hour during nighttime. In the presence of convection, downward transport of O₃-richer tropospheric air increased surface O₃ mixing ratios by 3–12 ppbv. The magnitude of O₃ increase due to moist convection was lower than that observed over the continent (as high as 20–30 ppbv). Differences were ascribed to the higher O₃ levels in the continental troposphere and weaker convection over the ocean. Present results suggest that moist convection plays a role in surface-level O₃ dynamics in the tropical marine boundary layer.     

赤道海温异常与大气的垂直环流圈

本文用实测风资料计算了赤道海面大范围异常增暖和冷却时期太平洋地区的平均径圈环流和赤道附近的平均纬圈环流。结果表明,赤道东太平洋的海面温度变化对这两种垂直环流圈有着显著的影响,并且通过这两种环流圈的相互作用,影响北太平洋付热带高压的长期变化。     

Interannual variability of the surface heat budget over the northern North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans

Summary The January anomaly time series for each term of the surface heat budget (solar and longwave radiation, sensible and latent heat fluxes) are calculated for Ocean Weather Stations (OWSs) in the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans. The data set used is the Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (COADS). The dominant term is the latent heat flux. The results for OWS P in the northern North Pacific show that the interannual variability of the heat budget parameters is correlated with the synoptic variability of the Aleutian low. There is also an interdecadal signal present in the heat budget anomaly time series, with the sign of the anomaly persisting for about 8–10 years. In contrast, for OWS J in the northern North Atlantic, no correlation is found between the variability of the heat budget parameters and the corresponding synoptic variability of the Icelandic low. The station J air-sea heat fluxes also show a higher frequency variability, compared to those of station P. The results suggest the variability of the January air-sea heat exchange processes are fundamentally different over the two ocean basins.With 3 Figures     

Impacts of XBT, TAO, Altimetry and ARGO Observations on the Tropical Pacific Ocean Data Assimilation

This study aims at assessing the relative impacts of four major components of the tropical Pacific Ocean observing system on assimilation of temperature and salinity fields. Observations were collected over a period between January 2001 through June 2003 including temperature data from the expendable bathythermographs （XBT）, thermistor data from the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean （TOGA-TAO） mooring array, sea level anomalies from the Topex/Poseidon and Jason-1 altimetry （T/P-J）, and temperature and salinity profiles from the Array for Real-time Geostrophic Oceanography （ARGO） floats. An efficient three-dimensional variational analysis-based method was introduced to assimilate the above data into the tropical-Pacific circulation model. To evaluate the impact of the individual component of the observing system, four observation system experiments were carried out. The experiment that assimilated all four components of the observing system was taken as the reference. The other three experiments were implemented by withholding one of the four components. Results show that the spatial distribution of the data influences its relative contribution. XBT observations produce the most distinguished effects on temperature analyses in the off-equatorial region due to the large amount of measurements and high quality. Similarly, the impact of TAO is dominant in the equatorial region due to the focus of the spatial distribution. The Topex/Poseidon-Jason-1 can be highly complementary where the XBT and TAO observations are sparse. The contribution of XBT or TAO on the assimilated salinity is made by the model dynamics because no salinity observations from them are assimilated. Therefore, T/P-J, as a main source for providing salinity data, has been shown to have greater impacts than either XBT or TAO on the salinity analysis. Although ARGO includes the subsurface observations, the relatively smaller number of observation makes it have the smallest contribution to the assimilation syst     

Structure of the atmospheric surface layer over an industrialized equatorial area

This paper is written to report observations of the structure of the atmospheric surface layer over a coastal industrialized equatorial area. The observations were recorded at Prai Industrial Park, Penang (5° 22′ N, 100° 23′ E) a relatively simple terrain area during the south-west monsoon season in the period of three months using slow response systems. The limitations of the instruments used and its effects on the results are discussed. Wind turbulence and temperature were measured on a 10 m tower and analyzed using eddy correlation method and Monin–Obukhov similarity relations to obtain the normalized standard deviation of longitudinal (σ_u/u), lateral (σ_v/u) and vertical wind velocity fluctuations (σ_w/u) with respect to stability parameter z/L. From the results of the analysis, we found that most of turbulence is generated by shear or mechanical force. It was found that the average neutral value of σ_u/u is 2.35, 1.98 for σ_v/u and 1.47 for σ_w/u with a significantly lower than the proportionality to the power of 1/3 during unstable atmospheric conditions, and thus do not obey Monin–Obukhov similarity theory. It was observed that σ_u/u and σ_v/u values increase linearly in the range of 0 < z/L < 2 and fairly well correlated while σ_w/u does not.     

Ocean mixed layer processes in the Pacific Decadal Oscillation in coupled general circulation models

It is investigated how the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) is simulated differently among various coupled general circulation models (CGCMs), and how it is related to the heat budget of the simulated ocean mixed layer, which includes the surface heat flux and ocean heat transport. For this purpose the dataset of the climate of the 20th Century experiment (20C3M) from nine CGCMs reported to IPCC’s AR4 are used, while the MRI and MIROC models are examined in detail. Detailed analyses of these two CGCMs reveal that the PDO is mainly affected by ocean heat transport rather than surface heat flux, in particular in the MRI model which has a larger contribution of ocean heat transport to the heat budget. It is found that the ocean heat transport due to Ekman advection versus geostrophic advection contributes differently to the PDO in the western and central North Pacific. Specifically, the strength of PDO tends to be larger for CGCMs with a larger ocean heat transport in the region.     

Virtual heat entrainment in the mixed layer over very rough terrain

Inversion fluxes of virtual heat were computed for seven clear days over the Pre-Alpine region in Switzerland with profile data from a sequence of radio soundings. Several entrainment models based on the turbulent kinetic energy equation were tested with the data. It was found that the relatively simple equation first proposed by Tennekes (1973) which contains both a convective and a mechanical term for the entrainment does as well as the more complicated parameterizations. In addition, the effect of water vapor on the magnitude of the buoyancy fluxes at the surface and at the inversion was observed to be important since the Bowen ratio normally ranged between 0.1 and 0.2.Now at the Hydrology Laboratory of the Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland 20705, U.S.A.     

The biogeochemical sulfur cycle in the marine boundary layer over the Northeast Pacific Ocean

The major components of the marine boundary layer biogeochemical sulfur cycle were measured simultaneously onshore and off the coast of Washington State, U.S.A. during May 1987. Seawater dimethylsulfide (DMS) concentrations on the continental shelf were strongly influenced by coastal upwelling. Concentration further offshore were typical of summer values (2.2 nmol/L) at this latitude. Although seawater DMS concentrations were high on the biologically productive continental shelf (2–12 nmol/L), this region had no measurable effect on atmospheric DMS concentrations. Atmospheric DMS concentrations (0.1–12 nmol/m³), however, were extremely dependent upon wind speed and boundary layer height. Although there appeared to be an appreciable input of non-sea-salt sulfate to the marine boundary layer from the free troposphere, the local flux of DMS from the ocean to the atmosphere was sufficient to balance the remainder of the sulfur budget.     

An ocean data assimilation system in the Indian Ocean and west Pacific Ocean

The development and application of a regional ocean data assimilation system are among the aims of the Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment. The ocean data assimilation system in the regions including the Indian and West Pacific oceans is an endeavor motivated by this goal. In this study, we describe the system in detail. Moreover, the reanalysis in the joint area of Asia, the Indian Ocean, and the western Pacific Ocean(hereafter AIPOcean) constructed using multi-year model integration with data assimilation is used to test the performance of this system. The ocean model is an eddy-resolving,hybrid coordinate ocean model. Various types of observations including in-situ temperature and salinity profiles(mechanical bathythermograph, expendable bathythermograph, Array for Real-time Geostrophic Oceanography, Tropical Atmosphere Ocean Array, conductivity–temperature–depth, station data), remotely-sensed sea surface temperature, and altimetry sea level anomalies, are assimilated into the reanalysis via the ensemble optimal interpolation method. An ensemble of model states sampled from a long-term integration is allowed to change with season, rather than remaining stationary. The estimated background error covariance matrix may reasonably reflect the seasonality and anisotropy. We evaluate the performance of AIPOcean during the period 1993–2006 by comparisons with independent observations, and some reanalysis products. We show that AIPOcean reduces the errors of subsurface temperature and salinity, and reproduces mesoscale eddies. In contrast to ECCO and SODA products, AIPOcean captures the interannual variability and linear trend of sea level anomalies very well. AIPOcean also shows a good consistency with tide gauges.     

北太平洋副热带高压与赤道东部海温的相互作用

本文根据1957—1976年太平洋的月平均海平面气压和海温资料,分析了赤道东部海温与北太平洋海平面气压场的时滞相关。发现赤道海温的变化,就北太平洋而言,主要是受该洋东南部低层副热带及气旋的控制,而赤道海温对副热带高压的反馈,主要是发生在太平洋中部对流层副热带高压中心附近地区。赤道海温向副热带反气旋调整的时间平均为二个月左右,而副热带高压向赤道海温调整的时间平均为四个月左右。前者比后者更快。它们之间相互影响、相互调整形成了一种闭合的负反馈过程。整个过程约历时22个月左右,大致相当于北太平洋副热带高压和赤道海     

Interannual Variations in Synoptic-Scale Disturbances over the Western North Pacific

The present study investigates the interannual variation of June–November synoptic disturbance activity over the western North Pacific(WNP) and its relationship with large-scale circulation for the period 1958–2014. Two leading modes of eddy kinetic energy for the disturbance variability over the WNP are obtained by EOF analysis, characterized by anomalous eddy kinetic energy over the subtropical WNP and around the Philippines, respectively. These modes explain a large portion of the interannual variance of synoptic disturbance activity over the WNP. Both are associated with lower-level cyclonic anomalies, but with different locations: over the subtropical WNP for the first mode and over the South China Sea for the second mode. Considering the impact of ENSO on synoptic disturbance activity over the WNP, we repeat the analyses after removing the effect of ENSO, which is simply defined as the components linearly regressed onto the Ni o3.4 index, and find similar results, suggesting that the leading modes and their relationships with large-scale circulation exist without SST effects.Further analyses suggest that the meridional shear of zonal winds caused by cyclonic anomalies is crucial for maintaining the leading modes through barotropic conversion.     

Interannual and interdecadal variability of ocean temperature along the equatorial Pacific in conjunction with ENSO

In this paper, the leading modes of ocean temperature anomalies (OTA) along the equatorial Pacific Ocean are analyzed and their connection with El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and interdecadal variation is investigated. The first two leading modes of OTA are connected with the different phases of the canonical ENSO and display asymmetric features of ENSO evolution. The third leading mode depicts a tripole pattern with opposite variation of OTA above the thermocline in the central Pacific to that along the thermocline in the eastern and western Pacific. This mode is found to be associated with so-called ENSO-Modoki. Insignificant correlations of this mode with the first two leading modes suggest that ENSO-Modoki may be a mode that is independent to the canonical ENSO and also has longer time scales compared with the canonical ENSO. The fourth mode reflects a warming (cooling) tendency above (below) the thermocline since 2000. Both the first and second modes have a large contribution to the interdecadal change in thermocline during 1979–2012. Also, the analysis also documents that both ENSO and OTA shifted into higher frequency since 2000 compared with that during 1979–1999. Interestingly, the ENSO-Modoki related OTA mode does not have any trend or significant interdecadal shift during 1979–2012. In addition, it is shown that first four EOF modes seem robust before and after 1999/2000, suggesting that the interdecadal shift of the climate system in the tropical Pacific is mainly a frequency shift and the changes in spatial pattern are relatively small, although the mean states over two periods experienced some significant changes.     

ENSO modes of the equatorial Pacific Ocean in observations and CMIP5 models

El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the predominant interannual variability of the global climate system. How might ENSO change in a warmer world? The dominant two Combined Empirical Orthogonal Functions (CEOF) of the equatorial ocean temperature and zonal and vertical motion identify two modes that shown a transition in the eastern Pacific from a warming eastward/downward motion to a cooling westward/upward flow. These results also suggest consistent changes to the west and at depths down to 300 m. These dominate CEOFs provide a compact tool for assessing Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 ocean model output for both the recent historical period and for the latter part of the twenty first century. Most of the analyzed models replicate well the spatial patterns of the dominant observational CEOF modes, but nearly always underestimate the magnitudes. Comparing model output for the twentieth and twenty first centuries there is very little change between the spatial patterns of the ENSO modes of the two periods. This lack of response to climate change is shown to be partly related to competing influences of climatic changes in the mean ocean circulation.     

Correlations between sea surface temperature in eastern equatorial Pacific and rain days over China in summer

Sea-surface temperature (SST) in the eastern, equatorial Pacific and rain days over China in summer are ana-lysed using correlation moments, that is proposed by author and principal component analysis (PCA). Occurrences of the strong rain-day anomalies over China are associated with extreme SSTs in some years. Areas significantly affect-ed by the phenomena include North and Northeast China.     

Momentum and heat transfers in the surface layer over a frozen sea

Wind and temperature profiles from a 10-m mast were measured over the frozen Baltic Sea. The Monin-Obukhov similarity theory applies well to runs carefully selected according to stationarity criteria. This provides relatively low-scattered results with the roughness length z ₀ 0.04 cm, the drag coefficient C _D 1.5 × 10^-3 and the Stanton number C _H 1.00 × 10^-3 under near-neutral conditions. The roughness length, however, behaves in a peculiar way under intense stratification conditions. The reasons proposed for this could lead to an extension of the theory. The mechanisms for momentum and heat transfers are also examined, revealing that there are two different regimes, the smooth and the rough, for the wall friction but not for the heat transfer. Further, the scatter of the data for momentum and heat transfer under the aerodynamically rough regime can be explained by the distinction between the type of thermal stability conditions.     

热带西太平洋边界层的多层结构分析

本文主要利用第一次“中美热带西太平洋海气相互作用联合调查”所获得的海洋水文、气象及大气探测资料,分析了热带西太平洋暖水区边界层大气层结特征,指出热带西太平洋边界层大气具有多层结构和多层送温现象,边界层内各层厚度及气温、位温、混合比随高度的变化趋势如下:超绝热层位于地面以上50m左右,气温、位温、混合比迅速减小,系绝热不稳定层;第一层为混合层,平均厚度为351m,位温、混合比变化不明显;混合层上又是逆温层大多为30—100m厚,位温迅速增大,混合比迅速减小,系绝对稳定层;700—1000m为浅对流云活跃层,     

Effects of interannual salinity variability on the barrier layer in the western-central equatorial Pacific: A diagnostic analysis from Argo

ABSTRACT In this paper, interannual variations in the barrier layer thickness （BLT） are analyzed using Argo three-dimensional temperature and salinity data, with a locus on the effects of interannually varying salinity on the evolution of the El Nifio Southern Oscillation （ENSO）. The interannually varying BLT exhibits a zonal seesaw pattern across the equatorial Pacific during ENSO cycles. This phenomenon has been attributed to two different physical processes. During E1 Nifio （La Nifia）, the barrier layer （BL） is anomalously thin （thick） west of about 160°E, and thick （thin） to the east. In the western equatorial Pacific （the western part： 130°-160°E）, interannual variations of the BLT indicate a lead of one year relative to those of the ENSO onset. The interannual variations of the BLT can be largely attributed to the interannual temperature variability, through its dominant effect on the isothermal layer depth （ILD）. However, in the central equatorial Pacific （the eastern part： 160~E- 170~W）, interannual variations of the BL almost synchronously vary with ENSO, with a lead of about two months relative to those of the local SST. In this region, the interannual variations of the BL are significantly affected by the interannually varying salinity, mainly through its modulation effect on the mixed layer depth （MLD）. As evaluated by a onedimensional boundary layer ocean model, the BL around the dateline induced by interannual salinity anomalies can significantly affect the temperature fields in the upper ocean, indicating a positive feedback that acts to enhance ENSO.     

Local advection processes in the surface layer of the marginal ice zone

Micro-scale turbulent transport processes over the marginal ice zone have been studied by use of a two-dimensional numerical model. It has been found that internal boundary layers (IBLs) of horizontal mean velocity, temperature, and specific humidity reveal a near field and a far field. In the near field, the change in surface roughness dominates the height and growth rate of a velocity IBL. The change in surface heat flux governs the near field of a temperature and humidity IBL. In the far field, approximately x/¦L _*2 ¦ ~ 20, where L _*2 is the downstream Obukhov length, the downstream stratification more and more influences the growth rate of IBLs basically by modifying the eddy viscosity.Above more complex terrain consisting of an ensemble of ice strips and leads, a merging height h ^M develops, below which the horizontal variability of the surface modification is clearly observed; h ^M varies with the length scale L of surface modification approximately in proportion to h ^M /L ~ 1/20 – 1/10, as a rule of thumb. Above the merging height, an enveloping IBL exists, whose growth depends on the ice cover, i.e., on the integral of surface modification, but changes very little with L.Local advection of momentum, heat, and moisture clearly affects the local surface heat fluxes. Sensible and latent heat fluxes are found to show also a near and far field. However, if areally averaged surface fluxes are to be deduced from grid-averaged flow variables, then details of local advection can be neglected to a reasonably good approximation.