Moisture transport from the Atlantic to the Pacific basin and its response to North Atlantic cooling and global warming

Atmospheric moisture transport from the Atlantic to the Pacific basin plays an important role in regulating North Atlantic salinity and thus the strength of the thermohaline circulation. Potential changes in the strength of this moisture transport are investigated for two different climate-change scenarios: North Atlantic cooling representative of Heinrich events, and increased greenhouse gas (GHG) forcing. The effect of North Atlantic cooling is studied using a coupled regional model with comparatively high resolution that successfully simulates Central American gap winds and other important aspects of the region. Cooler North Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) in this model leads to a regional decrease of atmospheric moisture but also to an increase in wind speed across Central America via an anomalous pressure gradient. The latter effect dominates, resulting in a 0.13 Sv (1 Sv = 10⁶ m³ s^?1) increase in overall moisture transport to the Pacific basin. In fresh water forcing simulations with four different general circulation models, the wind speed effect is also present but not strong enough to completely offset the effect of moisture decrease except in one model. The influence of GHG forcing is studied using simulations from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change archive. In these simulations atmospheric moisture increases globally, resulting in an increase of moisture transport by 0.25 Sv from the Atlantic to Pacific. Thus, in both scenarios, moisture transport changes act to stabilize the thermohaline circulation. The notion that the Andes effectively block moisture transport from the Atlantic to the Pacific basin is not supported by the simulations and atmospheric reanalyses examined here. This indicates that such a blocking effect does not exist or else that higher resolution is needed to adequately represent the steep orography of the Andes.     

The role of wave energy accumulation in tropical cyclogenesis over the tropical North Atlantic

A hierarchical modeling approach is used to study the process by which interactions of easterly waves with the background flow can result in a reduction in the longitudinal and vertical scale of the waves. Theory suggests that in flows that possess a negative longitudinal gradient (U _x  < 0) there is a reduction of longitudinal and vertical group speeds and an increase in regional wave action density (or “wave energy”). Relative vorticity increases locally leading to an increase in the likelihood of tropical cyclogenesis near the wave axis. Opposite impacts on the structure of the waves is expected in a U _x  > 0 domain. In the simplified framework of a free-surface and divergent shallow water model, Rossby wave properties are tracked through a range of background flow scenarios to determine the important scales of interaction. The importance of wave energy accumulation for tropical cyclogenesis is then studied in a full physics and dynamics model using a nested regional climate model simulation, at 12 km horizontal grid spacing, over the tropical North Atlantic region for the entire 2005 hurricane season. The dynamical environment within which 70% of easterly waves formed tropical cyclones exhibits coherent regions in which easterly winds increase towards the east, consistent with the occurrence of wave energy accumulation.     

Recent changes of the tropical water and energy budget and of midlatitude circulations

Rising atmospheric H₂O content and temperature above the tropical Pacific (Hense et al. 1988) stimulated research on tropical ocean-atmosphere fluxes in the belt 10° S-14° N, based on COADS data for 1949–1979. Increasing sea-surface temperature was accompanied by regionally varying increases in the air-sea temperature and humidity gradients. The apparent rise in wind speed appeared to be only partly biased. Using several assumptions of the wind speed trend, increasing evaporation was found nearly everywhere. The best estimates vary regionally between 7% and 15%, with highest values above the warmest oceans between longitude 66° E and the date line. In the Atlantic, freshening surface waters (Levitus 1989) also suggest an increase of precipitation. Conversion of zonally averaged results into global estimates led to a rise of the energy input into the atmosphere, with a most plausible value of 8–10 W/m². Since large-scale sea-surface warming appears to be induced by the greenhouse effect of CO₂ combined with other trace gases, a powerful feedback mechanism — including H₂O phase changes — should be responsible for the intensification of the hydrological cycle. This energy input of tropical origin seems to be larger — by a factor near 4 — than the dry greenhouse effect. Such a well-founded conjecture of increasing internal/potential energy in the tropics suggests a similar rise of kinetic energy within the extratropical atmospheric circulation. This can be checked on the basis of daily operational hemispheric analyses of the German Weather Service, here using the period October 1961–March 1988. During the cold season they show, at the surface, a deepening of the Icelandic and Aleutian Lows by 6 and 10 hPa, respectively, and at the 50 kPa level an amplification of the baroclinic westerlies by 20–40%. Upper wind observation series have been used to check this strengthening of the westerlies and an expansion of the Aleutian Low. During the warm season, weaker changes in opposite directions are observed. While the observed facts are incompatible with many of the recent climate models, a few models (Wilson and Mitchell 1987, Hansen et al. 1988) using an advanced parameterization of tropical convection support the evolution of a powerful tropical heat source centred within mid-tropospheric layers.     

Projected future changes in tropical cyclone-related wave climate in the North Atlantic

Tropical cyclones are a major hazard for numerous countries surrounding the tropical-to-subtropical North Atlantic sub-basin including the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. Their intense winds, which can exceed 300 km h⁻¹, can cause serious damage, particularly along coastlines where the combined action of waves, currents and low atmospheric pressure leads to storm surge and coastal flooding. This work presents future projections of North Atlantic tropical cyclone-related wave climate. A new configuration of the ARPEGE-Climat global atmospheric model on a stretched grid reaching ~ 14 km resolution to the north-east of the eastern Caribbean is able to reproduce the distribution of tropical cyclone winds, including Category 5 hurricanes. Historical (1984–2013, 5 members) and future (2051–2080, 5 members) simulations with the IPCC RCP8.5 scenario are used to drive the MFWAM (Météo-France Wave Action Model) spectral wave model over the Atlantic basin during the hurricane season. An intermediate 50-km resolution grid is used to propagate mid-latitude swells into a higher 10-km resolution grid over the tropical cyclone main development region. Wave model performance is evaluated over the historical period with the ERA5 reanalysis and satellite altimetry data. Future projections exhibit a modest but widespread reduction in seasonal mean wave heights in response to weakening subtropical anticyclone, yet marked increases in tropical cyclone-related wind sea and extreme wave heights within a large region extending from the African coasts to the North American continent.

     

冬季北大西洋风暴轴的东西变化及其能量诊断

利用NCEP/NCAR再分析资料,定义一个风暴轴经度指数,基于这个指数做合成分析,对冬季北大西洋风暴轴63 a(1948-2010年)的东西变化特征及其能量平衡差异进行了诊断。主要结论如下:(1)北大西洋风暴轴存在明显地东扩和西退。当风暴轴向东扩展时,天气尺度瞬变波可以向下游发展至乌拉尔山以东的亚洲上空;风暴轴西退时,天气尺度瞬变波活动范围向西收缩到15°W以西的大洋上空。(2)能量诊断表明,当风暴轴向东扩展时,涡动动能在高纬度的大西洋东部及西欧上空明显增强。在0°以西的区域,涡动动能的增强主要归因于能量斜压转换过程的增强;而在0°以东区域,涡动动能的增强可能与涡动非地转位势通量引起的"下游发展效应"增强有关。风暴轴向西收缩时,变化相反。     

Questions relative to ITCZ migrations over the tropical Atlantic ocean,sea surface temperature and Senegal River runoff

Summary The ITCZ (Intertropical Convergence Zone) is an important parameter for climatic studies in tropical areas, and meteorological satellite imagery provides an original way to follow its location. Using archive imagery covering the 1971–1987 period, we attempted to study further some of the relationships (suggested by former studies) between ITCZ locations (followed here over the Atlantic ocean at 28°W), and climate anomalies in the Sahel, an area affected by periodic drought for the last seventeen years. We also paid close attention to more frequently studied parameters, such as upper air data, wind at sea level, and sea surface temperature. As for relative drought estimates, we assumed that runoff from the Senegal River was representative of the sahelian area and we observed that its variations were consistent with the Lamb's rainfall index over the 1965–1987 period.Since the onset of the rainy season for West Africa responds to wind changes, we assessed the link between ITCZ and wind at sea level and found the timing of northward ITCZ migration to be highly correlated (r=0.84) with the date of zonal wind stress intensification.On a general point of view, the relationships we found between rainfall amount and ITCZ position anomalies (or SST anomalies) agree with known results of precedent works, though better fit is found with the seventies than the eighties. We think this discrepancy is due in part to the fact that the parameters studied were not identical and, perhaps to a possible change in climatic conditions (on a long term basis, the data show a continuous trend for less intense equatorial upwelling in the gulf of Guinea, and our time series covers a more recent period than referenced works).With a closer look on the first half of the year, it appears that typical (wet/dry) schemes of the ITCZ migration can be evidenced more clearly, than in reporting the northernmost ITCZ location, that we found to be a less significant index: in other words, a sooner (respectively later) northward ITCZ migration corresponds to dry (respectively wet) episodes during the rainy season in sahelian areas. Hence, we propose the speed of ITCZ northwards movement as a parameterization of this event.Moisture content of the lower troposphere revealed that steady anomalies of this parameter may last several years over sahelian areas. Taking into consideration the relative strength African tropical and easterly jets, some limited results were obtained, in regard of climatic anomalies.As first conclusions, moisture transportation over sahelian area (associated with larger negative SST anomalies) is more efficient for wetter rainy season, than the intensity of convective process linked to higher local SST in the equatorial Atlantic area. In joining moisture analysis and ITZ migration (1980–1987 period), wetter rainy seasons were observed each time that positive humidity anomalies coincided with a later northward ITCZ migration (or greater northward ITCZ speed).With 8 Figures     

On the subarctic North Atlantic cooling due to global warming

Various ocean reanalysis data reveal that the subarctic Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) has been cooling during the twentieth century. A similar cooling pattern is found in the doubling CO₂ experiment obtained from the CMIP3 (coupled model intercomparison project third phase) compared to the pre-industrial experiment. Here, in order to investigate the main driver of this cooling, we perform the heat budget analysis on the subarctic Atlantic upper ocean temperature. The net surface heat flux associated with the increased concentration of greenhouse gases heats the subarctic ocean surface. In the most of models, the longwave radiation, latent heat flux, and sensible heat flux exert a warming effect, and the shortwave radiation exerts a cooling effect. On the other hand, the thermal advection by the meridional current reduces the subarctic upper ocean temperature in all models. This cold advection is attributed to the weakening of the meridional overturning circulation, which is related to the reduction in the ocean surface density. In particular, greater warming of the surface air than of the sea surface results in the reduction of surface evaporation and thereby enhanced freshening of the ocean surface water, while precipitation change was smaller than evaporation change. The thermal advections by both the wind-driven Ekman current and the density-driven geostrophic current contribute to cooling in most of the models, where the heat transport by the geostrophic current tends to be larger than that by the Ekman current.     

Tropical versus high latitude freshwater influence on the Atlantic circulation

We investigate the model sensitivity of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) to anomalous freshwater flux in the tropical and northern Atlantic. Forcing in both locations leads to the same qualitative response: a positive freshwater anomaly induces a weakening of the AMOC and a negative freshwater anomaly strengthens the AMOC. Strong differences arise in the temporal characteristics and amplitude of the response. The advection of the tropical anomaly up to the deep water formation area leads to a time delayed response compared to a northern forcing. Thus, in its transient response, the AMOC is less sensitive to a constant anomalous freshwater flux in the tropics than in the north. This difference decreases with time and practically vanishes in equilibrium with constant freshwater forcing. The equilibrium response of the AMOC shows a non-linear dependence on freshwater forcing in both locations, with a stronger sensitivity to positive freshwater forcing. As a consequence, competitive forcing in both regions is balanced when the negative forcing is about 1.5 times larger than the positive forcing. The relaxation time of the AMOC after termination of a freshwater perturbation depends significantly on the AMOC strength itself. A strong overturning exhibits a faster relaxation to its unperturbed state. By means of a set of complementary experiments (pulse-perturbations, constant and stochastic forcing) we quantify these effects and discuss the corresponding time scales and physical processes.     

High and low latitude types of the downstream influences of the North Atlantic Oscillation

Using reanalysis data, we find that the downstream-propagating quasi-stationary Rossby wave train associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) generally propagates along a high (low)-latitude pathway during warm (cold) El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) boreal winters. Consistent with the different propagation directions of the NAO-related downstream wave train, during the warm (cold) ENSO winters, the NAO is associated with significant 300 hPa geopotential height anomalies over eastern Siberia (the Arabian Sea, the east coast of Asia at around 40°N, and the North Pacific), and the near-surface air temperature perturbations associated with the NAO over the high latitudes of Asia are relatively strong (weak). Based on these differences, we argue that the NAO has two distinct types of downstream influence: a high-latitude type and a low-latitude type. Furthermore, we argue that the two types of NAO’s downstream influence are modulated by the intensity of the subtropical potential vorticity (PV) meridional gradient over Africa. When this gradient is weak (strong), as in the warm (cold) ENSO winters, the NAO’s downstream influence tends to be of the high (low)-latitude type. These results are further supported by analysis of intraseasonal NAO events. We separate NAO events into two categories in terms of the intensity of the subtropical PV gradient over Africa. Composites of the NAO events accompanied by a weak (strong) subtropical PV gradient show that the NAO-related downstream wave train tends to propagate along a high (low)-latitude pathway.     

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     

Decadal interactions between the western tropical Pacific and the North Atlantic Oscillation

The relationship between interdecadal variations of tropical sea surface temperature (SST) in the last 120 years and circulation anomalies related to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is investigated in this study. Using an atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM), we confirm observational evidence that variations in the SST gradient in the western tropical Pacific are related to the NAO anomalies on decadal timescale, and may be contributing to the shift towards the positive NAO phase observed in the late 20th century. The role played by the Indian Ocean-NAO teleconnection, advocated in recent studies focused on the last 50 years, is also assessed in the context of the 120-year long record. It is suggested that a positive feedback between the Pacific SST and the hemispheric circulation pattern embedding the decadal NAO signal may act to enhance the internal variability of the coupled ocean–atmosphere system, and justify the stronger teleconnection found in observational data than in SST-forced AGCM experiments.

---

On the role of high latitude ice,snow, and vegetation feedbacks in the climatic response to external forcing changes

A seasonal energy balance climate model containing a detailed treatment of surface and planetary albedo, and in which seasonally varying land snow and sea ice amounts are simulated in terms of a number of explicit physical processes, is used to investigate the role of high latitude ice, snow, and vegetation feedback processes. Feedback processes are quantified by computing changes in radiative forcing and feedback factors associated with individual processes. Global sea ice albedo feedback is 5–8 times stronger than global land snowcover albedo feedback for a 2% solar constant increase or decrease, with Southern Hemisphere cryosphere feedback being 2–5 times stronger than Northern Hemisphere cryosphere feedback.In the absence of changes in ice extent, changes in ice thickness in response to an increase in solar constant are associated with an increase in summer surface melting which is exactly balanced by increased basal winter freezing, and a reduction in the upward ocean-air flux in summer which is exactly balanced by an increased flux in winter, with no change in the annual mean ocean-air flux. Changes in the mean annual ocean-air heat flux require changes in mean annual ice extent, and are constrained to equal the change in meridional oceanic heat flux convergence in equilibrium. Feedback between ice extent and the meridional oceanic heat flux obtained by scaling the oceanic heat diffusion coefficient by the ice-free fraction regulates the feedback between ice extent and mean annual air-sea heat fluxes in polar regions, and has a modest effect on model-simulated high latitude temperature change.Accounting for the partial masking effect of vegetation on snow-covered land reduces the Northern Hemisphere mean temperature response to a 2% solar constant decrease or increase by 20% and 10%, respectively, even though the radiative forcing change caused by land snowcover changes is about 3 times larger in the absence of vegetational masking. Two parameterizations of the tundra fraction are tested: one based on mean annual land air temperature, and the other based on July land air temperature. The enhancement of the mean Northern Hemisphere temperature response to solar constant changes when the forest-tundra ecotone is allowed to shift with climate is only 1/3 to 1/2 that obtained by Otterman et al. (1984) when the mean annual parameterization is used here, and only 1/4 to 1/3 as large using the July parameterization.The parameterized temperature dependence of ice and snow albedo is found to enhance the global mean temperature response to a 2% solar constant increase by only 0.04 °C, in sharp contrast to the results of Washington and Meehl (1986) obtained with a mean annual model. However, there are significant differences in the method used here and in Washington and Meehl to estimate the importance of this feedback process. When their approach is used in a mean annual version of the present model, closer agreement to their results is obtained.     

Association between tropospheric temperature and tropical cyclone peak intensity over the North Pacific and North Atlantic

台风作为一种灾害性天气,其破坏性大小与自身强度有很大的关系.因此,本项研究利用NCEP-NCAR和MERRA再分析数据,考查了北大西洋,西北太平洋,东北太平洋台风强度峰值与对流层温度的关系.台风强度峰值与大气温度的相关系数,以及极大和极小台风强度峰值下大气温度的差值,共同显示:北大西洋台风强度峰值受到对流层顶低温和对流...     

Interdecadal changes in the storm track activity over the North Pacific and North Atlantic

Analysis of NCEP-NCAR I reanalysis data of 1948–2009 and ECMWF ERA-40 reanalysis data of 1958–2001 reveals several significant interdecadal changes in the storm track activity and mean flow-transient eddy interaction in the extratropics of Northern Hemisphere. First, the most remarkable transition in the North Pacific storm track (PST) and the North Atlantic storm track (AST) activities during the boreal cold season (from November to March) occurred around early-to-mid 1970s with the characteristics of global intensification that has been noticed in previous studies. Second, the PST activity in midwinter underwent decadal change from a weak regime in the early 1980s to a strong regime in the late 1980s. Third, during recent decade, the PST intensity has been enhanced in early spring whereas the AST intensity has been weakened in midwinter. Finally, interdecadal change has been also noted in the relationship between the PST and AST activities and between the storm track activity and climate indices. The variability of storm track activity is well correlated with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and North Atlantic Oscillation prior to the early 1980s, but this relationship has disappeared afterward and a significant linkage between the PST and AST activity has also been decoupled. For a better understanding of the mid-1970s’ shift in storm track activity and mean flow-transient eddy interaction, further investigation is made by analyzing local barotropic and baroclinic energetics. The intensification of global storm track activity after the mid-1970s is mainly associated with the enhancement of mean meridional temperature gradient resulting in favorable condition for baroclinic eddy growth. Consistent with the change in storm track activity, the baroclinic energy conversion is significantly increased in the North Pacific and North Atlantic. The intensification of the PST and AST activity, in turn, helps to reinforce the changes in the middle-to-upper tropospheric circulation but acts to interfere with the changes in the low-tropospheric temperature field.     

Global response to tropical diabatic heating variability in boreal winter

Global teleconnections associated with tropical convective activities were investigated, based on monthly data of 29 Northern Hemisphere winters: December, January, February, and March (DJFM). First, EOF analyses were performed on the outgoing long-wave radiation (OLR) data to characterize the convective ac- tivity variability in the tropical Indian Ocean and the western Pacific. The first EOF mode of the convective activity was highly correlated with the ENSO. The second EOF mode had an east-west dipole structure, and the third EOF mode had three convective activity centers. Two distinct teleconnection patterns were identified that were associated, respectively, with the second and third EOF modes. A global primitive equation model was used to investigate the physical mechanism that causes the global circulation anoma- lies. The model responses to anomalous tropical thermal forcings that mimic the EOF patterns matched the general features of the observed circulation anomalies well, and they were mainly controlled by linear processes. The importance of convective activities in the tropical Indian Ocean and western Pacific to the extended- and long-range forecasting capability in the extratropics is discussed.     

Effects of perturbation type on tropical cyclone size over tropical North Western Pacific and Atlantic

Climate Dynamics - In authors’ previous studies, the role of distinctive mean states in the western North Pacific (WNP) and North Atlantic (NA) in affecting tropical cyclone (TC) size was...     

Surface fluxes of momentum and mechanical energy over the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans

Summary Using 6-hourly data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research reanalysis set (1958–1997) we have determined the winter and summer mean fluxes of momentum and mechanical energy into the Northern Hemisphere (NH) oceans. We have also diagnosed the contribution made to these by the mean wind speed and the covariances due to the temporal variability. In both seasons the greatest oceanic flux of momentum is found in the region to the south of Greenland and Iceland. The contributions to the total made by the transient term exhibited maxima in the north central Pacific and Atlantic and in winter, and accounts for about 15% of the mean stress in both extratropical ocean basins and both seasons. The rate at which mechanical energy is imparted to the ocean shows a similar spatial structure. The fluxes are typically three times larger in winter, and about one third of the input is associated with the transient part of the low level wind. The spatial and temporal structure of the part of fluxes contributed by the temporal variability shows a strong relationship with mean cyclone depth, a parameter known to represent an unbiased measure of cyclone activity. The fluxes exhibit significant positive winter trends (many of which are significant) over the extratropical Pacific and in the Atlantic north of about 40° N, and these have been found to result from reinforcing trends in the components associated with the mean wind speed and the temporally varying part. The changes are broadly in line with those in observed significant wave height over the northern oceans in recent decades, and are closely related to secular increases in the mean depth of cyclones. Positive trends in the number of extreme cyclones in key regions of the Pacific and Atlantic have been found. The trend is significant in the relevant part of the Pacific, but whether the increase in the Atlantic subregion should be regarded as above the noise is seen to depend on how such extremes are defined. We discuss how conclusions drawn in specific studies may depend critically on how cyclones and extreme events are characterized. Received November 2, 2001 Revised December 24, 2001