Cloud-radiation feedback and atmosphere-ocean coupling in a stochastic multicloud model

Despite recent advances in supercomputing, current general circulation models (GCMs) have significant problems in representing the variability associated with organized tropical convection. Furthermore, due to high sensitivity of the simulations to the cloud radiation feedback, the tropical convection remains a major source of uncertainty in long-term weather and climate forecasts. In a series of recent studies, it has been shown, in paradigm two-baroclinic-mode systems and in aquaplanet GCMs, that a stochastic multicloud convective parameterization based on three cloud types (congestus, deep and stratiform) can be used to improve the variability and the dynamical structure of tropical convection, including intermittent coherent structures such as synoptic and mesoscale convective systems. Here, the stochastic multicloud model is modified with a parameterized cloud radiation feedback mechanism and atmosphere-ocean coupling. The radiative convective feedback mechanism is shown to increase the mean and variability of the Walker circulation. The corresponding intensification of the circulation is associated with propagating synoptic scale systems originating inside of the enhanced sea surface temperature area. In column simulations, the atmosphere ocean coupling introduces pronounced low frequency convective features on the time scale associated with the depth of the mixed ocean layer. However, in the presence of the gravity wave mixing of spatially extended simulations, these features are not as prominent. This highlights the deficiency of the column model approach at predicting the behavior of multiscale spatially extended systems. Overall, the study develops a systematic framework for incorporating parameterized radiative cloud feedback and ocean coupling which may be used to improve representation of intraseasonal and seasonal variability in GCMs.     

The role of ENSO in global ocean temperature changes during 1955–2011 simulated with a 1D climate model

Global average ocean temperature variations to 2,000 m depth during 1955–2011 are simulated with a 40 layer 1D forcing-feedback-mixing model for three forcing cases. The first case uses standard anthropogenic and volcanic external radiative forcings. The second adds non-radiative internal forcing (ocean mixing changes initiated in the top 200 m) proportional to the Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI) to represent an internal mode of natural variability. The third case further adds ENSO-related radiative forcing proportional to MEI as a possible natural cloud forcing mechanism associated with atmospheric circulation changes. The model adjustable parameters are net radiative feedback, effective diffusivities, and internal radiative (e.g., cloud) and non-radiative (ocean mixing) forcing coefficients at adjustable time lags. Model output is compared to Levitus ocean temperature changes in 50 m layers during 1955–2011 to 700 m depth, and to lag regression coefficients between satellite radiative flux variations and sea surface temperature between 2000 and 2010. A net feedback parameter of 1.7Wm^?2 K^?1 with only anthropogenic and volcanic forcings increases to 2.8Wm^?2 K^?1 when all ENSO forcings (which are one-third radiative) are included, along with better agreement between model and observations. The results suggest ENSO can influence multi-decadal temperature trends, and that internal radiative forcing of the climate system affects the diagnosis of feedbacks. Also, the relatively small differences in model ocean warming associated with the three cases suggests that the observed levels of ocean warming since the 1950s is not a very strong constraint on our estimates of climate sensitivity.     

Atmospheric radiative feedbacks associated with transient climate change and climate variability

This study examines in detail the ‘atmospheric’ radiative feedbacks operating in a coupled General Circulation Model (GCM). These feedbacks (defined as the change in top of atmosphere radiation per degree of global surface temperature change) are due to responses in water vapour, lapse rate, clouds and surface albedo. Two types of radiative feedback in particular are considered: those arising from century scale ‘transient’ warming (from a 1% per annum compounded CO₂ increase), and those operating under the model’s own unforced ‘natural’ variability. The time evolution of the transient (or ‘secular’) feedbacks is first examined. It is found that both the global strength and the latitudinal distributions of these feedbacks are established within the first two or three decades of warming, and thereafter change relatively little out to 100 years. They also closely approximate those found under equilibrium warming from a ‘mixed layer’ ocean version of the same model forced by a doubling of CO₂. These secular feedbacks are then compared with those operating under unforced (interannual) variability. For water vapour, the interannual feedback is only around two-thirds the strength of the secular feedback. The pattern reveals widespread regions of negative feedback in the interannual case, in turn resulting from patterns of circulation change and regions of decreasing as well as increasing surface temperature. Considering the vertical structure of the two, it is found that although positive net mid to upper tropospheric contributions dominate both, they are weaker (and occur lower) under interannual variability than under secular change and are more narrowly confined to the tropics. Lapse rate feedback from variability shows weak negative feedback over low latitudes combined with strong positive feedback in mid-to-high latitudes resulting in no net global feedback—in contrast to the dominant negative low to mid-latitude response seen under secular climate change. Surface albedo feedback is, however, slightly stronger under interannual variability—partly due to regions of extremely weak, or even negative, feedback over Antarctic sea ice in the transient experiment. Both long and shortwave global cloud feedbacks are essentially zero on interannual timescales, with the shortwave term also being very weak under climate change, although cloud fraction and optical property components show correlation with global temperature both under interannual variability and transient climate change. The results of this modelling study, although for a single model only, suggest that the analogues provided by interannual variability may provide some useful pointers to some aspects of climate change feedback strength, particularly for water vapour and surface albedo, but that structural differences will need to be heeded in such an analysis.     

Perturbed physics ensemble using the MIROC5 coupled atmosphere–ocean GCM without flux corrections: experimental design and results

In this study, we constructed a perturbed physics ensemble (PPE) for the MIROC5 coupled atmosphere–ocean general circulation model (CGCM) to investigate the parametric uncertainty of climate sensitivity (CS). Previous studies of PPEs have mainly used the atmosphere-slab ocean models. A few PPE studies using a CGCM applied flux corrections, because perturbations in parameters can lead to large radiation imbalances at the top of the atmosphere and climate drifts. We developed a method to prevent climate drifts in PPE experiments using the MIROC5 CGCM without flux corrections. We simultaneously swept 10 parameters in atmosphere and surface schemes. The range of CS (estimated from our 35 ensemble members) was not wide (2.2–3.2?°C). The shortwave cloud feedback related to changes in middle-level cloud albedo dominated the variations in the total feedback. We found three performance metrics for the present climate simulations of middle-level cloud albedo, precipitation, and ENSO amplitude that systematically relate to the variations in shortwave cloud feedback in this PPE.     

Mixed layer thermodynamics of the Southern South China Sea

Seasonal and inter-annual variability of the mixed layer temperature in the Southern South China Sea (SSCS) is investigated using a regional ocean circulation model simulation. The mixed layer depth (MLD) over the SSCS exhibits a strong seasonal signal with deeper MLDs during the northeast and southwest monsoons. The main factor that drives the mixed layer temperature variation in the SSCS is the air-sea heat fluxes, with vertical ocean processes acting as a relatively weak negative feedback. In general, the budget analysis demonstrates a net balance between the vertical ocean processes and surface heat flux during the pre-monsoon and southwest monsoon. Northeast monsoon period is noted by an offsetting of surface heat flux, horizontal and vertical ocean processes. The first dominant mode of mixed layer temperature inter-annual variability in the SSCS shows significant correlation (0.34) with the El Nino phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean and is best correlated (0.67) with a lag of 5 months.     

On the contribution of local feedback mechanisms to the range of climate sensitivity in two GCM ensembles

Global and local feedback analysis techniques have been applied to two ensembles of mixed layer equilibrium CO₂ doubling climate change experiments, from the CFMIP (Cloud Feedback Model Intercomparison Project) and QUMP (Quantifying Uncertainty in Model Predictions) projects. Neither of these new ensembles shows evidence of a statistically significant change in the ensemble mean or variance in global mean climate sensitivity when compared with the results from the mixed layer models quoted in the Third Assessment Report of the IPCC. Global mean feedback analysis of these two ensembles confirms the large contribution made by inter-model differences in cloud feedbacks to those in climate sensitivity in earlier studies; net cloud feedbacks are responsible for 66% of the inter-model variance in the total feedback in the CFMIP ensemble and 85% in the QUMP ensemble. The ensemble mean global feedback components are all statistically indistinguishable between the two ensembles, except for the clear-sky shortwave feedback which is stronger in the CFMIP ensemble. While ensemble variances of the shortwave cloud feedback and both clear-sky feedback terms are larger in CFMIP, there is considerable overlap in the cloud feedback ranges; QUMP spans 80% or more of the CFMIP ranges in longwave and shortwave cloud feedback. We introduce a local cloud feedback classification system which distinguishes different types of cloud feedbacks on the basis of the relative strengths of their longwave and shortwave components, and interpret these in terms of responses of different cloud types diagnosed by the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project simulator. In the CFMIP ensemble, areas where low-top cloud changes constitute the largest cloud response are responsible for 59% of the contribution from cloud feedback to the variance in the total feedback. A similar figure is found for the QUMP ensemble. Areas of positive low cloud feedback (associated with reductions in low level cloud amount) contribute most to this figure in the CFMIP ensemble, while areas of negative cloud feedback (associated with increases in low level cloud amount and optical thickness) contribute most in QUMP. Classes associated with high-top cloud feedbacks are responsible for 33 and 20% of the cloud feedback contribution in CFMIP and QUMP, respectively, while classes where no particular cloud type stands out are responsible for 8 and 21%.     

Impact of ocean optical properties on seasonal SST: results with a surface ocean model coupled to the LMD AGCM

As the accuracy of ocean models improves, determination of the solar irradiance within the ocean may become important to simulate precisely the seasonal evolution of the SST. As ocean optical properties are not well documented in space and time, we have undertaken a sensitivity study to measure the corresponding SST uncertainties at a global scale using a model coupling the LMD AGCM with an integral mixed layer model and a thermodynamic sea ice representation. The downwelling irradiance formulation is that of Paulson and Simpson which has been tuned for the five water types of the Jerlov classification. Two sensitivity, and academic, experiments corresponding to a uniformly clear ocean or turbid ocean are carried out. Turbid waters exhibit, in general, a stronger seasonal cycle of the SST of about 2°C. The sensitivity is far from uniform, with a maximum in the subtropics and the mid-latitudes of the summer hemisphere. It corresponds precisely to the area in which the observed optical properties present a large temporal variability which is therefore likely to have an action on the seasonal cycle of the ocean surface temperatures. We perform a decomposition of the model sensitivity in four terms, corresponding to the direct impact of the water type change, feedback due to the mixed layer change, feedback due to the surface solar irradiance change, and feedback due to the non solar heat fluxes change. The first two terms dominate the SST change. The direct effect tends to increase the warming of the mixed layer. In addition, the mixed layer depth diminishes because of a higher stabilizing effect of solar radiation on the TKE budget. This tends to increase further summer warming of the SST as well as their winter cooling.     

Impact of Surface Exchange Coefficients and Sea Surface Cooling on Tropical Cyclone Simulation

The surface flux exchange associated with the exchange coefficients and upper ocean conditions is essential to the development of tropical cyclones (TCs). Using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, the present study has investigated the impact of exchange coefficients and ocean coupling during Super Typhoon Saomai (2006). Firstly, two experiments with different formula of roughness are conducted. The experiment with the Donelan formula for drag coefficient (Cd) and ramped formula for enthalpy coefficient (Ck) can simulate stronger intensity compared to other experiments due to the increased surface wind and enthalpy fluxes. That is because the new formulas allows for a smaller Cd and larger Ck in the high wind regime than the former formulas did. Moreover, two coupled simulations between WRF and a one-dimensional ocean model are conducted to examine the feedback of sea surface cooling to the TC. In the experiments with a horizontal uniform mixed layer depth of 70 m, the sea surface cooling is too weak to change the evolution of TC. While in the experiment with an input mixed layer calculated using the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) data, the significant sea surface cooling induces obvious impact on TC intensity and structure. Under the negative feedback of sea surface cooling, the sensible and latent heat fluxes decreases, especially in the right part of Saomai (2006). The negative feedback with coupled ocean model plays a vital role in simulating the intensity and structure of TC.     

一次层积云发展过程对黑潮延伸体海洋锋强迫的响应研究——观测与机制分析

由于缺乏海上现场观测,对天气尺度扰动下,海表面温度锋 (海洋锋) 对海洋大气边界层 (MABL) 垂直结构和MABL内海洋性低云 (marine stratus) 的影响研究较少。2014年4月12日,中国海洋大学东方红2号科学考察船在黑潮延伸体海区的海洋锋附近捕捉到一次层积云的迅速发展。在比较稳定的天气形势下,由暖水侧向北穿越海洋锋时,云底和云顶高度升高,云区范围迅速扩大。本文利用多种大气-海洋联合观测数据,结合卫星观测和再分析资料,对此次层积云迅速发展的机理进行了综合分析。结果表明,在海上低压后部西北风控制下,在海洋锋的暖水侧 (下风方) 形成热通量大值中心和低压槽,有助于高空西风动量下传,进而又使得海气界面热通量增加,这种正反馈效应为MABL内混合层厚度加大和云底/顶高度在海洋锋的下风方升高提供有利背景条件。4月12日09:00~12:00(协调世界时),来自日本本州岛陆地的低空暖平流到达该热通量中心上空,暖平流与热通量中心的共同作用,导致该时段近海面暖中心强度异常增加,MABL中静力不稳定层加深和低压槽发展,综合作用的结果使得混合层厚度明显加深,云底高度升高,云区迅速发展。本研究有助于理解在复杂大气背景扰动下MABL对海洋强迫的响应机理。     

Inverse relationship between the equatorial eastern Pacific annual-cycle and ENSO amplitudes in a coupled general circulation model

We propose a dynamical interpretation of the inverse relationship between the tropical eastern Pacific annual-cycle (AC) amplitude and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) amplitude, based on a pre-industrial simulation of Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Couple climate model 2.0 with a fixed concentration of greenhouse gases spanning approximately 500 years. The slowly varying background conditions over more than a decade alternately provided favorable conditions for two opposite regimes, namely the ‘strong AC—weak ENSO regime’ and the ‘weak AC—strong ENSO regime’. For the weak AC—strong ENSO regime, the tropical eastern Pacific shows meridional-asymmetric surface warming with an emphasis on the southern part, leading to weakening of both the zonal trade wind and the cross equatorial southerly wind, as well as deepening of both the thermocline and mixed layer. The deeper mixed layer, weaker southerly wind, and reduced zonal gradient of the mean sea surface temperature due to tropical eastern Pacific warming all acts to reduce the AC. Conversely, the ENSO was intensified by the deeper mixed layer and deeper thermocline depth (thermocline feedback), but suppressed by the deeper thermocline depth (Ekman feedback) and the reduced zonal temperature gradient. We also computed the coupling strengths of the ENSO and AC, defined as the linear regression coefficients of the zonal and meridional wind stresses against the eastern Pacific SST, respectively. The coupling strengths of both the AC and ENSO are larger when they are intensified, and vice versa. All processes for the weak AC—strong ENSO regime operate in the opposite manner for the strong AC—weak ENSO regime.     

中国沙漠沙尘气溶胶对沙漠源区及北太平洋地区大气辐射加热的影响

针对2001年春季中国沙漠和北太平洋上空沙尘气溶胶的空间分布情况,利用辐射传输模式,分别计算了沙尘气溶胶对沙漠和海洋大气的辐射加热（冷却）率,并讨论了低云、中云、高云对辐射加热率的影响。结果表明:春季,位于中国沙漠和太平洋上空的沙尘层对大气具有明显的加热作用。当沙漠上空光学厚度为1.0,海洋上空光学厚度为0.3时,取春季平均太阳高度角,沙尘层对应的净辐射加热率分别为2.8 K/d和0.4 K/d。由于WMO推荐的沙尘模型比东亚沙尘模型对太阳辐射吸收强,采用该模型计算得到的中国沙漠和海洋上空的加热率比采用东亚沙尘模型分别高1.5 K/d和0.2 K/d。沙尘对大气的加热率很大程度上依赖于沙尘的大气载荷。这种依赖性首先受太阳高度角的影响, 其次也受地表反照率的影响。云对沙尘层辐射加热（冷却）率的影响与云的高度和厚度有关。低云能够加热沙漠和海洋上空的沙尘大气,冷却地面和洋面。中、高云冷却沙漠上空的沙尘层。在海洋上空,中云对云层以上的沙尘层有加热作用,对云层以下的沙尘层有冷却作用。高云对海洋上空沙尘层的辐射加热（冷却）率的影响比较小,加热还是冷却,取决于云的厚度,当云层较薄时,加热沙尘层,而当云层较厚的时候,有可能冷却沙尘层。     

Effectiveness of the Bjerknes stability index in representing ocean dynamics

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a naturally occurring coupled phenomenon originating in the tropical Pacific Ocean that relies on ocean–atmosphere feedbacks. The Bjerknes stability index (BJ index), derived from the mixed-layer heat budget, aims to quantify the ENSO feedback process in order to explore the linear stability properties of ENSO. More recently, the BJ index has been used for model intercomparisons, particularly for the CMIP3 and CMIP5 models. This study investigates the effectiveness of the BJ index in representing the key ENSO ocean feedbacks—namely the thermocline, zonal advective, and Ekman feedbacks—by evaluating the amplitudes and phases of the BJ index terms against the corresponding heat budget terms from which they were derived. The output from Australian Community Climate and Earth System Simulator Ocean Model (a global ocean/sea ice flux-forced model) is used to calculate the heat budget in the equatorial Pacific. Through the model evaluation process, the robustness of the BJ index terms are tested. We find that the BJ index overestimates the relative importance of the thermocline feedback to the zonal advective feedback when compared with the corresponding terms from the heat budget equation. The assumption of linearity between variables in the BJ index formulation is the primary reason for these differences. Our results imply that a model intercomparison relying on the BJ index to explain ENSO behavior is not necessarily an accurate quantification of dynamical differences between models that are inherently nonlinear. For these reasons, the BJ index may not fully explain underpinning changes in ENSO under global warming scenarios.     

Tropical sea surface temperature: An interactive one-dimensional atmosphere-ocean model

Because the atmosphere and ocean are interacting systems, it is inappropriate to specify sea surface temperature when dealing with the atmosphere, or atmospheric anemometer level temperature and moisture when dealing with the ocean. All of these quantities should be determined interactively in terms of the external forcing: the solar constant.In the tropics, it is shown that the (cumulus) convective processes may be described by a one-dimensional cloud model. The near-surface ocean may similarly be described by a one-dimensional mixed-layer model. The coupling is achieved through a sea surface flux budget combined with the flux parameterizations implied by Monin-Obukhov similarity theory.The coupled one-dimensional atmosphere-ocean model is applied to the equilibrium situation in which all temperatures reach a steady state. Since the ocean, lacking an internal heating or cooling mechanism, can only be heated or cooled through sensibleheat fluxes through the sea surface, in equilibrium these fluxes must vanish. The atmosphere, however, maintains a stable lapse rate by balancing cumulonimbus heating against net radiative cooling. All water precipitated from cumulonimbus clouds must have evaporated from sea surface. It is shown that this equilibrium system is closed and determinable solely in terms of the solar constant.For various values of the solar constant, the sea surface temperature, the flux of latent and sensible heat from the surface, the height of the tropopause, mixed layer, and trade inversion layer, and generally, the entire vertical structure of the tropical atmosphere and near-surface ocean can be determined. The equilibrium sea surface temperature is shown to be relatively insensitive to changes in the solar constant, additional solar flux being compensated mainly by additional evaporation. Finally, the usefulness and limitations of the model are pointed out.     

Variability of sea surface salinity in stochastically forced systems

The influences of horizontal advection and horizontal diffusion on the variability of sea surface salinity in stochastically forced systems are investigated. Basic ideas are developed using a two dimensional box model and then extended to a more realistic three dimensional ocean general circulation model. It is shown that, in the absence of advection and diffusion, the ocean response is essentially that predicted by Taylor's random walk model. Advection becomes important when the advective time scale is less than the response time of the mixed layer to the stochastic forcing. Advection of parcels from regions of upwelling into regions of downwelling limits their exposure time to the stochastic forcing and thus the maximum attainable variance in the system (variance increases linearly with time). Regions of upwelling and downwelling may be introduced through the thermohaline overturning circulation or by the wind driven Ekman transport, depending on the specific model configuration. Horizontal diffusion is found to be important when the diffusive time scale is less than the mixed layer response time. The primary role of diffusion is to reduce the effective stochastic forcing through rapid mixing of uncorrelated surface forcing events. Because sea surface salinity does not have a negative feedback with the atmosphere, it is more strongly influenced by weak horizontal processes than sea surface temperature (SST). Accurate knowledge of the stochastic forcing amplitude, decorrelation time, and length scale and distribution are critical to model the variance of sea surface salinity. Aspects of the ocean model which strongly influence the variability of sea surface salinity include the surface velocity, horizontal diffusivity, and the mixed layer depth. Implications on modeling of the ocean and coupled ocean-atmosphere systems are discussed.     

Effects of tropical instability wave (TIW)-induced surface wind feedback in the tropical Pacific Ocean

Tropical instability waves (TIWs) arise from oceanic instability in the eastern tropical Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, having a clear atmospheric signature that results in coupled atmosphere–ocean interactions at TIW scales. In this study, the extent to which TIW-induced surface wind feedback influences the ocean is examined using an ocean general circulation model (OGCM). The TIW-induced wind stress (τ_TIW) part is diagnostically determined using an empirical τ_TIW model from sea surface temperature (SST) fields simulated in the OGCM. The interactively represented TIW wind tends to reduce TIW activity in the ocean and influence the mean state, with largest impacts during TIW active periods in fall and winter. In December, the interactive τ_TIW forcing induces a surface cooling (an order of ?0.1 to ?0.3 °C), an increased heat flux into the ocean, a shallower mixed layer and a weakening of the South Equatorial Current in the eastern equatorial Pacific. Additionally, the TIW wind effect yields a pronounced latitudinal asymmetry of sea level field across the equator, and a change to upper thermal structure, characterized by a surface cooling and a warming below in the thermocline, leading to a decreased temperature gradient between the mixed layer and the thermocline. Processes responsible for the τ_TIW–induced cooling effects are analyzed. Vertical mixing and meridional advection are the two terms in the SST budget that are dominantly affected by the TIW wind feedback: the cooling effect from the vertical mixing on SST is enhanced, with the maximum induced cooling in winter; the warming effect from the meridional advection is reduced in July–October, but enhanced in November–December. Additional experiments are performed to separate the relative roles the affected surface momentum and heat fluxes play in the cooling effect on SST. This ocean-only modeling work indicates that the effect of TIW-induced wind feedback is small but not negligible, and may need to be adequately taken into account in large-scale climate modeling.     

A highly nonlinear coupled mode of decadal variability in a mid-latitude ocean–atmosphere model

This study examines mid-latitude climate variability in a model that couples turbulent oceanic and atmospheric flows through an active oceanic mixed layer. Intrinsic ocean dynamics of the inertial recirculation regions combines with nonlinear atmospheric sensitivity to sea-surface temperature (SST) anomalies to play a dominant role in the variability of the coupled system.Intrinsic low-frequency variability arises in the model atmosphere; when run in a stand-alone mode, it is characterized by irregular transitions between preferred high-latitude and less frequent low-latitude zonal-flow states. When the atmosphere is coupled to the ocean, the low-latitude state occurrences exhibit a statistically significant signal in a broad 5–15-year band. A similar signal is found in the time series of the model ocean's energy in this coupled simulation. Accompanying uncoupled ocean-only and atmosphere-only integrations are characterized by a decrease in the decadal-band variability, relative to the coupled integration; their spectra are indistinguishable from a red spectrum.The time scale of the coupled interdecadal oscillation is set by the nonlinear adjustment of the ocean's inertial recirculations to the high-latitude and low-latitude atmospheric forcing regimes. This adjustment involves, in turn, SST changes resulting in long-term ocean–atmosphere heat-flux anomalies that induce the atmospheric regime transitions.     

A comparison of low-latitude cloud properties and their response to climate change in three AGCMs sorted into regimes using mid-tropospheric vertical velocity

Low-latitude cloud distributions and cloud responses to climate perturbations are compared in near-current versions of three leading U.S. AGCMs, the NCAR CAM 3.0, the GFDL AM2.12b, and the NASA GMAO NSIPP-2 model. The analysis technique of Bony et al. (Clim Dyn 22:71–86, 2004) is used to sort cloud variables by dynamical regime using the monthly mean pressure velocity ω at 500 hPa from 30S to 30N. All models simulate the climatological monthly mean top-of-atmosphere longwave and shortwave cloud radiative forcing (CRF) adequately in all ω-regimes. However, they disagree with each other and with ISCCP satellite observations in regime-sorted cloud fraction, condensate amount, and cloud-top height. All models have too little cloud with tops in the middle troposphere and too much thin cirrus in ascent regimes. In subsidence regimes one model simulates cloud condensate to be too near the surface, while another generates condensate over an excessively deep layer of the lower troposphere. Standardized climate perturbation experiments of the three models are also compared, including uniform SST increase, patterned SST increase, and doubled CO₂ over a mixed layer ocean. The regime-sorted cloud and CRF perturbations are very different between models, and show lesser, but still significant, differences between the same model simulating different types of imposed climate perturbation. There is a negative correlation across all general circulation models (GCMs) and climate perturbations between changes in tropical low cloud cover and changes in net CRF, suggesting a dominant role for boundary layer cloud in these changes. For some of the cases presented, upper-level clouds in deep convection regimes are also important, and changes in such regimes can either reinforce or partially cancel the net CRF response from the boundary layer cloud in subsidence regimes. This study highlights the continuing uncertainty in both low and high cloud feedbacks simulated by GCMs.     

Simulation of salinity variability and the related freshwater flux forcing in the tropical Pacific: An evaluation using the Beijing normal university earth system model (BNU-ESM)

The climatology and interannual variability of sea surface salinity(SSS) and freshwater flux(FWF) in the equatorial Pacific are analyzed and evaluated using simulations from the Beijing Normal University Earth System Model(BNU-ESM).The simulated annual climatology and interannual variations of SSS, FWF, mixed layer depth(MLD), and buoyancy flux agree with those observed in the equatorial Pacific. The relationships among the interannual anomaly fields simulated by BNU-ESM are analyzed to illustrate the climate feedbacks induced by FWF in the tropical Pacific. The largest interannual variations of SSS and FWF are located in the western-central equatorial Pacific. A positive FWF feedback effect on sea surface temperature(SST) in the equatorial Pacific is identified. As a response to El Ni ?no–Southern Oscillation(ENSO),the interannual variation of FWF induces ocean processes which, in turn, enhance ENSO. During El Ni ?no, a positive FWF anomaly in the western-central Pacific(an indication of increased precipitation rates) acts to enhance a negative salinity anomaly and a negative surface ocean density anomaly, leading to stable stratification in the upper ocean. Hence, the vertical mixing and entrainment of subsurface water into the mixed layer are reduced, and the associated El Ni ?no is enhanced. Related to this positive feedback, the simulated FWF bias is clearly reflected in SSS and SST simulations, with a positive FWF perturbation into the ocean corresponding to a low SSS and a small surface ocean density in the western-central equatorial Pacific warm pool.     

Comparison between the Response of the Northwest Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea to Typhoon Megi(2010)

The upper-ocean responses to Typhoon Megi(2010)are investigated using data from ARGO floats and the satellite TMI.The experiments are conducted using a three-dimensional Princeton Ocean Model(POM)to assess the storm,which affected the Northwest Pacific Ocean(NWP)and the South China Sea(SCS).Results show that the upwelling and entrainment experiment together account for 93% of the SST anomalies,where typhoon-induced upwelling may cause strong ocean cooling.In addition,the anomalous SST cooling is stronger in the SCS than in the NWP.The most striking feature of the ocean response is the presence of a two-layer inertial wave in the SCS—a feature that is absent in the NWP.The near-inertial oscillations can be generated as typhoon wakes,which have maximum flow velocity in the surface mixed layer and may last for a few days,after the typhoon's passage.Along the typhoon tracks,the horizontal currents in the upper ocean show a series of alternating negative and positive anomalies emanating from the typhoon.     

Changes in polar amplification in response to increasing warming in CMIP6

由于全球变暖,极地地区的气候经历了明显的变暖放大.在本项研究中,我们根据CMIP6模式的三种变暖情景(SSP1-2,6,SSP2-4.5和SSP5-8.5)下,极地放大变化对各个反馈机制(包括普朗克,温度递减率,云,水蒸气,反照率反馈,CO2强迫,海洋热吸收和大气热传输)的响应进行了分析.结果表明,通过用“辐射核”方法...