The effects on water mass formation of surface mixed layer timedependence and entrainment fluxes

An air-sea buoyancy flux out of the ocean between the surface outcroppings of different isopycnals must be balanced by a convergence of advective and diffusive fluxes of buoyancy across those isopycnals (Walin, 1982; Tziperman, 1986; Garrett et al., 1995). For steady conditions, the diapycnal diffusive flux due to vertical mixing in the surface mixed layer is very small, so that the advective buoyancy flux dominates (Speer, 1993; Garrett et al., 1995). The associated advective buoyancy flux can then be used to estimate the volume flux of water out of the base of the surface mixed layer. The resulting thermodynamic algorithm provides a valuable estimate of water mass formation in the ocean.In contrast, for the time-dependent real ocean with horizontal and vertical gradients of the horizontal buoyancy gradient, diurnal and seasonal mixed layer deepening and entrainment in the presence of a buoyancy jump at the base of the mixed layer contributes to the annual volume flux out of the base of the deepest (wintertime) mixed layer. The mismatch between the predictions of the ideal algorithm and measured rates of water mass formation (Speer, 1997) may thus be partly due to mixed layer processes rather than diapycnal mixing in the thermocline.     

Southern Ocean transformation in a coupled model with and without eddy mass fluxes

A coupled air–sea general circulation model is used to simulate the global circulation. Different parameterizations of lateral mixing in the ocean by eddies, horizontal, isopycnal, and isopycnal plus eddy advective flux, are compared from the perspective of water mass transformation in the Southern Ocean. The different mixing physics imply different buoyancy equilibria in the surface mixed layer, different transformations, and therefore a variety of meridional overturning streamfunctions. The coupled‐model approach avoids strong artificial water mass transformation associated with relaxation to prescribed mixed layer conditions. Instead, transformation results from the more physical non‐local, nonlinear interdependence of sea‐surface temperature, air–sea fluxes, and circulation in the model's atmosphere and ocean. The development of a stronger mid‐depth circulation cell and associated upwelling when eddy fluxes are present, is examined. The strength of overturning is diagnosed in density coordinates using the transformation framework.     

A note on boundary conditions for salt and freshwater balances

The derivation of surface boundary conditions for salt and freshwater budgets, in the presence of an imbalance of evaporation and precipitation, is revisited in order to: (i) clarify the physical concepts involved and (ii) derive consistent approximations. Proper surface boundary conditions can be obtained by assuming that the air–sea interface is a material surface for the salt continuum. This requires all the mass exchange at the air–sea interface to be fulfilled by the freshwater continuum. The need of diffusive fluxes is crucial for this assumption to hold. If the air–sea interface varies in time (either by seawater advection, an imbalance of evaporation minus precipitation, or a combination of both) there must be a corresponding salt flux, in order for the transport across such moving surface to be nil. Here it is essential to distinguish the flux vector of a property from its transport across a (possibly moving) surface. Only in a motionless ocean surface approximation, which includes the classical rigid lid approximation, the advective and diffusive salt fluxes perpendicular to the surface cancel out exactly.     

Upper ocean high resolution regional modeling of the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal

In this paper, effort is made to demonstrate the quality of high-resolution regional ocean circulation model in realistically simulating the circulation and variability properties of the northern Indian Ocean(10°S–25°N,45°–100°E) covering the Arabian Sea(AS) and Bay of Bengal(BoB). The model run using the open boundary conditions is carried out at 10 km horizontal resolution and highest vertical resolution of 2 m in the upper ocean.The surface and sub-surface structure of hydrographic variables(temperature and salinity) and currents is compared against the observations during 1998–2014(17 years). In particular, the seasonal variability of the sea surface temperature, sea surface salinity, and surface currents over the model domain is studied. The highresolution model's ability in correct estimation of the spatio-temporal mixed layer depth(MLD) variability of the AS and BoB is also shown. The lowest MLD values are observed during spring(March-April-May) and highest during winter(December-January-February) seasons. The maximum MLD in the AS(BoB) during December to February reaches 150 m (67 m). On the other hand, the minimum MLD in these regions during March-April-May becomes as low as 11–12 m. The influence of wind stress, net heat flux and freshwater flux on the seasonal variability of the MLD is discussed. The physical processes controlling the seasonal cycle of sea surface temperature are investigated by carrying out mixed layer heat budget analysis. It is found that air-sea fluxes play a dominant role in the seasonal evolution of sea surface temperature of the northern Indian Ocean and the contribution of horizontal advection, vertical entrainment and diffusion processes is small. The upper ocean zonal and meridional volume transport across different sections in the AS and BoB is also computed. The seasonal variability of the transports is studied in the context of monsoonal currents.     

Comparison of the nonlocal transport characteristics of a series of one-dimensional oceanic boundary layer models

Seven one-dimensional oceanic boundary layer models are investigated to assess the possible nonlocal transport characteristics of mass and heat in the upper ocean. The dynamical models have been chosen from the diffusion and bulk types currently in use plus two modifications of the transilient type that have been used extensively for atmospheric work by Stull. The models are forced using wind speed and insolation conditions recorded during a 9-day oceanographic cruise near Bermuda in March 1993 during the decline of the spring bloom. The attenuation of sunlight in the upper ocean is calculated using a full spectral model for downwelling irradiance. The vertical heat transport characteristics are reported and compared. A series of spectral diagnostic tests (Green's function analysis, process spectra, and overall mixing lengths) reveal significant differences in the vertical transport characteristics of the models that are not observed in commonly used diagnostics such as sea surface temperature or mixed layer depth. Age spectra (or modal time since last surface contact) are calculated from Green's functions and reveal how a water mass can be cut off from the surface within a short time period. The large differences in the vertical mixing characteristics of the upper ocean boundary layer models have potential implications on the vertical distributions of short-lived chemical tracers and phytoplankton.     

南太平洋和南印度洋亚南极模态水潜沉率的长期变化趋势

亚南极模态水(sub-Antarctic mode water,SAMW)的潜沉过程与全球变暖减缓现象密切相关。为了增进对亚南极模态水长期变化特征的认识,使用一个高分辨率长时间序列的海洋模式数据对SAMW的潜沉率变化趋势的空间分布进行了系统地分析。结果显示,在1958~2016年间,SAMW的潜沉量在南太平洋和南印度洋在长时间段上存在着相反的趋势变化,即在南太平洋增大,在南印度洋减少,这与已有研究结果相符。但进一步的分析发现,SAMW潜沉量的空间分布存在着明显的差异。在南印度洋,其北部潜沉区的潜沉率仅有很微弱的上升趋势,而位于南部潜沉区的潜沉率则有明显的下降趋势。与此同时,在南太平洋中,其西部潜沉区的潜沉率趋势非常小,而东部潜沉区的水的潜沉有明显上升的长期趋势。总体而言,密度较大的SAMW潜沉水团比密度较小的潜沉水团表现出更显著的长期变化的趋势。南部变化趋势明显的潜沉水量大概占总潜沉水量的60%,由此可知SAMW的总体趋势更多地来自其南部密度更大的潜沉区的贡献。进一步的分析表明,SAMW潜沉区的混合层的长期变化趋势与潜沉率的长期变化趋势之间存在较为一致的空间分布。其中,在南太平洋,东侧潜沉区的混合层的长期增大趋势,主要由于风应力增大的作用,而西侧潜沉区的混合层的长期减小趋势,则主要因为海表浮力强迫的控制;在南印度洋,南侧潜沉区的潜沉率长期减小趋势更多的是受到浮力强迫的影响,而西北部的潜沉率长期增加趋势则主要由风应力增强导致的。     

Natural air–sea flux of CO2 in simulations of the NASA-GISS climate model: Sensitivity to the physical ocean model formulation

Results from twin control simulations of the preindustrial CO₂ gas exchange (natural flux of CO₂) between the ocean and the atmosphere are presented here using the NASA-GISS climate model, in which the same atmospheric component (modelE2) is coupled to two different ocean models, the Russell ocean model and HYCOM. Both incarnations of the GISS climate model are also coupled to the same ocean biogeochemistry module (NOBM) which estimates prognostic distributions for biotic and abiotic fields that influence the air–sea flux of CO₂. Model intercomparison is carried out at equilibrium conditions and model differences are contrasted with biases from present day climatologies. Although the models agree on the spatial patterns of the air–sea flux of CO₂, they disagree on the strength of the North Atlantic and Southern Ocean sinks mainly because of kinematic (winds) and chemistry (pCO₂) differences rather than thermodynamic (SST) ones. Biology/chemistry dissimilarities in the models stem from the different parameterizations of advective and diffusive processes, such as overturning, mixing and horizontal tracer advection and to a lesser degree from parameterizations of biogeochemical processes such as gravitational settling and sinking. The global meridional overturning circulation illustrates much of the different behavior of the biological pump in the two models, together with differences in mixed layer depth which are responsible for different SST, DIC and nutrient distributions in the two models and consequently different atmospheric feedbacks (in the wind, net heat and freshwater fluxes into the ocean).     

Effects of the surface wave-induced mixing on circulation in an isopycnal-coordinate oceanic circulation model

The influence of the nonbreaking surface wave-induced mixing under the mixed layer on the oceanic circulation was investigated using an isopycnal-coordinate oceanic circulation model. The effect of the wave-induced mixing within the mixed layer was eliminated via a bulk mixed layer model. The results show that the wave-induced mixing can penetrate through the mixed layer and into the oceanic interior. The wave-induced mixing under the mixed layer has an important effect on the distribution of temperature of the upper ocean at middle and high latitudes in summer, especially the structure of the seasonal thermocline. Moreover, the wave-induced mixing can affect the oceanic circulation, such as western boundary currents and the North Equatorial Currents through changes of sea surface height associated with the variation of the thermal structure of the upper ocean.     

“暖池”表层对大气局地强迫的响应特征

利用湍流动能垂直混合模式和ＴＯＧＡ－ＣＯＡＲＥ加强观测期的观测资料,对“暖池”上混合层的垂直混合过程进行数值试验和数值模拟,分析表层温度、盐度的变化特征。结果表明：ＴＫＥ模式可以较好地模拟混层,尤其是表层温度、盐度对大气局地强迫的响应;太阳辐射是热源,感热、潜热通量等会造成“暖池”上混合层的温度降低,“暖池”对大气释放热量;降水有利于“淡水盖”形成和维持,从则使层结稳定,ＳＳＴ升高。但在气温低于海     

Effect of surface wave breaking on the surface boundary layer of temperature in the Yellow Sea in summer

Near-surface enhancement of turbulent mixing and vertical mixing coefficient for temperature owing to the effect of surface wave breaking is investigated using a two-dimensional (2-D) ocean circulation model with a tidal boundary condition in an idealized shelf sea. On the basis of the 2-D simulation, the effect of surface wave breaking on surface boundary layer deepening in the Yellow Sea in summer is studied utilizing a 3-D ocean circulation model. A well-mixed temperature surface layer in the Yellow Sea can be successfully reconstructed when the effect of surface wave breaking is considered. The diagnostic analysis of the turbulent kinetic energy equation shows that turbulent mixing is enhanced greatly in the Yellow Sea in summer by surface wave breaking. In addition, the diagnostic analysis of momentum budget and temperature budget also show that surface wave breaking has an evident contribution to the turbulent mixing in the surface boundary layer. We therefore conclude that surface wave breaking is an important factor in determining the depth of the surface boundary layer of temperature in the Yellow Sea in summer.     

Effect of air-sea temperature difference on the momentum exchange between air and sea for fetch-limited cases

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Impacts of sea spray on the boundary layer structure of Typhoon Imbudo

High winds in a typhoon over the ocean can produce substantial amounts of spray in the lower part of the atmospheric boundary layer, which can modify the transfer of momentum, heat, and moisture across the air-sea interface. However, the consequent effects on the boundary layer structure and the evolution of the typhoon are largely unknown. The focus of this paper is on the role of sea spray on the storm intensity and the structure of the atmospheric boundary layer. The case study is Typhoon Imbudo in July 2003. The results show that sea spray tends to intensify storms by increasing the sea surface heat fluxes. Moreover, the effects of sea spray are mainly felt in boundary layer. Spray evaporation causes the atmospheric boundary layer to experience cooling and moistening. Sea spray can cause significant effects on the structure of boundary layer. The boundary-layer height over the eyewall area east to the center of Typhoon Imbudo was increased with a maximum up to about 550 m due to sea spray, which is closely related with the enhancements of the heat fluxes, upward motions, and horizontal winds in this region due to sea spray.     

The role of surface waves in the ocean mixed layer

Previously, most ocean circulation models have overlooked the role of the surface waves. As a result, these models have produced insufficient vertical mixing, with an under - prediction of the ,nixing layer （ML） depth and an over - prediction of the sea surface temperature （SST）, particularly during the summer season. As the ocean surface layer determines the lower boundary conditions of the atmosphere, this deficiency has severely limited the performance of the coupled ocean - atmospheric models and hence the climate studies. To overcome this shortcoming, a new parameterization for the wave effects in the ML model that will correct this systematic error of insufficient mixing. The new scheme has enabled the mixing layer to deepen, the surface excessive heating to be corrected, and an excellent agreement with observed global climatologic data. The study indicates that the surface waves are essential for ML formation, and that they are the primer drivers of the upper ocean dynamics; therefore, they are critical for climate studies.     

Effect of Stokes drift on upper ocean mixing

Stokes drift is the main source of vertical vorticity in the ocean mixed layer. In the ways of Coriolis - Stokes forcing and Langmuir circulations, Stokes drift can substantially affect the whole mixed layer. A modified Mellor-Yamada 2. 5 level turbulence closure model is used to parameterize its effect on upper ocean mixing conventionally. Results show that comparing surface heating with wave breaking, Stokes drift plays the most important role in the entire ocean mixed layer, especially in the subsurface layer. As expected, Stokes drift elevates both the dissipation rate and the turbulence energy in the upper ocean mixing. Also, ilffluence of the surface heating, wave breaking and wind speed on Stokes drift is investigated respectively. Research shows that it is significant and important to assessing the Stokes drift into ocean mixed layer studying. The laboratory observations are supporting numerical experiments quantitatively.     

Parameterization of vertical mixing in the Weddell Sea

A series of vertical mixing schemes implemented in a circumpolar coupled ice–ocean model of the BRIOS family is validated against observations of hydrography and sea ice coverage in the Weddell Sea. Assessed parameterizations include the Richardson number-dependent Pacanowski–Philander scheme, the Mellor–Yamada turbulent closure scheme, the K-profile parameterization, a bulk mixed layer model and the ocean penetrative plume scheme (OPPS). Combinations of the Pacanowski–Philander parameterization or the OPPS with a simple diagnostic model depending on the Monin–Obukhov length yield particularly good results. In contrast, experiments using a constant diffusivity and the traditional convective adjustment cannot reproduce the observations. An underestimation of wind-driven mixing in summer leads to an accumulation of salt in the winter water layer, inducing deep convection in the central Weddell Sea and a homogenization of the water column. Large upward heat fluxes in these simulations lead to the formation of unrealistic, large polynyas in the central Weddell Sea after only a few years of integration. Furthermore, spurious open-ocean convection affects the basin-scale circulation and leads to a significant overestimation of meridional overturning rates. We conclude that an adequate parameterization of both wind-induced mixing and buoyancy-driven convection is crucial for realistic simulations of processes in seasonally ice-covered seas.     

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.     

Large eddy simulations of mixed layer instabilities and sampling strategies

Recognizing the potential role played by submesoscale processes in both the energy cascade in the ocean and biogeochemical transport, we conduct a series of large eddy simulations of isolated mixed layer instabilities. The primary objective is to generate freely evolving velocity and density fields representative of submesoscale flows and then use these to examine potential observational sampling strategies. Mixed layer instabilities are explored in two parameter regimes: a strongly-stratified regime which results in a system with surface-intensified eddies and high vertical shear, and a weakly-stratified regime exhibiting weaker, smaller scale eddies that penetrate across the entire domain depth as Taylor columns. Analysis of a variety of mixing measures derived from both particle and tracer based sampling strategies indicates the differing importance of vertical processes in the two flow regimes.     

海浪破碎对海洋上混合层中湍能量收支的影响

海浪破碎产生一向下输入的湍动能通量,在近海表处形成一湍流生成明显增加的次层,加强了海洋上混合层中的湍流垂向混合。为了研究海浪破碎对混合层中湍能量收支的影响,文中分析了海浪破碎对海洋上混合层中湍流生成的影响机制,采用垂向一维湍封闭混合模式,通过改变湍动能方程的上边界条件,引入了海浪破碎产生的湍动能通量,并分别对不同风速下海浪破碎的影响进行了数值研究,分析了混合层中湍能量收支的变化。当考虑海浪破碎影响时,近海表次层中的垂直扩散项和耗散项都有显著的增加,该次层中被耗散的湍动能占整个混合层中耗散的总的湍能量的92.0%,比无海浪破碎影响的结果增加了近1倍;由于平均流场切变减小,混合层中的湍流剪切生成减小了3.5%,形成一种存在于湍动能的耗散和垂直扩散之间的局部平衡关系。在该次层以下,局部平衡关系与壁层定律的结论一致,即湍动能的剪切生成与耗散相平衡。研究结果表明,海浪破碎在海表产生的湍动能通量影响了海洋上混合层中的各项湍能量收支间的局部平衡关系。     

The diffusive component of particulate organic carbon export in the North Atlantic estimated from SeaWiFS ocean color

The diffusive component of the particulate organic carbon (POC) export from the ocean's surface layer has been estimated using a combination of the mixed layer model and SeaWiFS ocean color data. The calculations were carried out for several example sites located in the North Atlantic over a 10-year time period (1998–2007). Satellite estimates of surface POC derived from ocean color were applied as an input to the model driven by local surface heat and momentum fluxes. For each year of the examined period, the diffusive POC flux was estimated at a 200 m depth. The highest flux is generally observed in the spring and fall seasons, when surface waters are weakly stratified. In addition, the model results demonstrate significant interannual and geographical variability of the flux. The highest diffusive POC flux occurs in the northern North Atlantic and the lowest in the subtropical region. The interannual variability of the diffusive POC flux is associated with mixed layer dynamics and underscores the importance of atmospheric forcing for POC export from the surface layer to the ocean's interior.     

Effects of surface waves and sea spray on air–sea fluxes during the passage of Typhoon Hagupit

Air–sea exchange plays a vital role in the development and maintenance of tropical cyclones(TCs). Although studies have suggested the dependence of air–sea fluxes on surface waves and sea spray, how these processes modify those fluxes under TC conditions have not been sufficiently investigated based on in-situ observations.Using continuous meteorological and surface wave data from a moored buoy in the northern South China Sea,this study examines the effects of surface waves and sea spray on air–sea fluxes during the passage of Typhoon Hagupit. The mooring was within about 40 km of the center of Hagupit. Surface waves could increase momentum flux to the ocean by about 15%, and sea spray enhanced both sensible and latent heat fluxes to the atmosphere,causing Hagupit to absorb 500 W/m~2 more heat flux from the ocean. These results have powerful implications for understanding TC–ocean interaction and improving TC intensity forecasting.