Impact of Ocean Mean Dynamic Topography on Satellite Data Assimilation

The response of an eddy-permitting ocean model to changes imposed by the use of different mean dynamic topographies (MDT) is analyzed in a multivariate assimilation context, allowing the evaluation of this impact, not only on the surface circulation, but also on the interior ocean representation. The assimilation scheme is a reduced-order sequential Kalman filter (SEEK). In a first set of experiments, high resolution sea surface temperature, along-track sea surface height and sea surface salinity from climatology are assimilated into a 1/3° resolution North and Tropical Atlantic version of the HYCOM model. In a second experiment, in situ profile data are assimilated in addition to the surface measurements.

The first set of experiments illustrates that important differences in the representation of the horizontal model circulation pattern are related to differences in the MDT used. The objective of assimilation is to improve the representation of the 3D ocean state. However, the imperfect representation of the mean dynamic topography appears to be an important limiting factor with regard to the degree of realism obtained in the simulated flow.

Vertical temperature and salinity profiles are key observations to drive a general circulation ocean model toward a more realistic state. The second set of experiments shows that assimilating them in addition to sea surface measurements is a far from trivial exercise. A specific difficulty is due to inconsistencies between the dynamic topography diagnosed from in situ observations and that diagnosed from sea surface height. These two fields obtained from different data sources do not contain exactly the same information. In order to overcome this difficulty, a strategy is proposed and validated.     

Impact of Ocean Mean Dynamic Topography on Satellite Data Assimilation

The response of an eddy-permitting ocean model to changes imposed by the use of different mean dynamic topographies (MDT) is analyzed in a multivariate assimilation context, allowing the evaluation of this impact, not only on the surface circulation, but also on the interior ocean representation. The assimilation scheme is a reduced-order sequential Kalman filter (SEEK). In a first set of experiments, high resolution sea surface temperature, along-track sea surface height and sea surface salinity from climatology are assimilated into a 1/3° resolution North and Tropical Atlantic version of the HYCOM model. In a second experiment, in situ profile data are assimilated in addition to the surface measurements.

The first set of experiments illustrates that important differences in the representation of the horizontal model circulation pattern are related to differences in the MDT used. The objective of assimilation is to improve the representation of the 3D ocean state. However, the imperfect representation of the mean dynamic topography appears to be an important limiting factor with regard to the degree of realism obtained in the simulated flow.

Vertical temperature and salinity profiles are key observations to drive a general circulation ocean model toward a more realistic state. The second set of experiments shows that assimilating them in addition to sea surface measurements is a far from trivial exercise. A specific difficulty is due to inconsistencies between the dynamic topography diagnosed from in situ observations and that diagnosed from sea surface height. These two fields obtained from different data sources do not contain exactly the same information. In order to overcome this difficulty, a strategy is proposed and validated.     

ARGO data assimilation into the ocean dynamics model with high spatial resolution using Ensemble Optimal Interpolation (EnOI)

The article proposes parallel implementation of the Ensemble Optimal Interpolation (EnOI) data assimilation (DA) method in eddy-resolving World Ocean circulation model. The results of DA experiments in North Atlantic with ARGO drifters are compared with the multivariate optimal interpolation (MVOI) DA scheme. The sensitivity of the model error, i.e., the difference between the model and observations depending on the number of ensemble elements, is also assessed and presented. The effectiveness of this method over the MVOI scheme is confirmed. The model outputs with and without assimilation are also compared with independent sea surface temperature data from ARMOR 3d.     

A diagnostic stabilized finite-element ocean circulation model

A stabilized finite-element (FE) algorithm for the solution of oceanic large scale circulation equations and optimization of the solutions is presented. Pseudo-residual-free bubble function (RFBF) stabilization technique is utilized to enforce robustness of the numerics and override limitations imposed by the Babuška–Brezzi condition on the choice of functional spaces. The numerical scheme is formulated on an unstructured tetrahedral 3d grid in velocity–pressure variables defined as piecewise linear continuous functions. The model is equipped with a standard variational data assimilation scheme, capable to perform optimization of the solutions with respect to open lateral boundary conditions and external forcing imposed at the ocean surface. We demonstrate the model performance in applications to idealized and realistic basin-scale flows. Using the adjoint method, the code is tested against a synthetic climatological data set for the South Atlantic ocean which includes hydrology, fluxes at the ocean surface and satellite altimetry. The optimized solution proves to be consistent with all these data sets, fitting them within the error bars.The presented diagnostic tool retains the advantages of existing FE ocean circulation models and in addition (1) improves resolution of the bottom boundary layer due to employment of the 3d tetrahedral elements; (2) enforces numerical robustness through utilization of the RFBF stabilization, and (3) provides an opportunity to optimize the solutions by means of 3d variational data assimilation. Numerical efficiency of the code makes this a desirable tool for dynamically constrained analyses of large datasets.     

The effect of ocean tides on a climate model simulation

We implemented an explicit forcing of the complete lunisolar tides into an ocean model which is part of a coupled atmosphere–hydrology–ocean–sea ice model. An ensemble of experiments with this climate model shows that the model is significantly affected by the induced tidal mixing and nonlinear interactions of tides with low frequency motion. The largest changes occur in the North Atlantic where the ocean current system gets changed on large scales. In particular, the pathway of the North Atlantic Current is modified resulting in improved sea surface temperature fields compared to the non-tidal run. These modifications are accompanied by a more realistic simulation of the convection in the Labrador Sea. The modification of sea surface temperature in the North Atlantic region leads to heat flux changes of up to 50 W/m². The climate simulations indicate that an improvement of the North Atlantic Current has implications for the simulation of the Western European Climate, with amplified temperature trends between 1950 and 2000, which are closer to the observed trends.     

海洋资料同化对气候季节-年际预测技巧及初始场的影响试验

集合卡尔曼滤波(Ensemble Kalman filter, EnKF)是一种国内外广泛使用的海洋资料同化方案, 用集合成员的状态集合表征模式的背景误差协方差, 结合观测误差协方差, 计算卡尔曼增益矩阵, 有效地将观测信息添加到模式初始场中。由于季节、年际预测很大程度上受到初始场的影响, 因此资料同化可以提高模式的预测性能。本文在NUIST-CFS1.0预测系统逐日SST nudging的初始化方案上, 利用EnKF在每个月末将全场(full field)海表温度(sea surface temperature, SST)、温盐廓线(in-situ temperature and salinity profiles, T-S profiles)以及卫星观测海平面高度异常(sea level anomalies, SLA)观测资料同化到模式初始场中, 对比分析了无海洋资料同化以及加入同化后初始场的区别、加入海洋资料同化后模式提前1~24个月预测性能的差异以及对于厄尔尼诺-南方涛动(El Niño-southern oscillation, ENSO)预测技巧的影响。结果表明, 加入海洋资料同化能有效地改进初始场, 并且呈现随深度增加初始场改进越显著的特征。加入同化后, 对全球SST、次表层海水温度的平均预测技巧均有一定的提高, 也表现出随深度增加预测技巧改进越明显的特征。但加入海洋资料同化后, 模式对ENSO的预测技巧有所下降, 可能是由于模式误差的存在, 使得同化后的预测初始场从接近观测的状态又逐渐恢复到与模式动力相匹配的状态, 加剧了赤道太平洋冷舌偏西、中东部偏暖的气候平均态漂移。     

Mixing parameterizations in ocean climate modeling

Results of numerical experiments with an eddy-permitting ocean circulation model on the simulation of the climatic variability of the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean are analyzed. We compare the ocean simulation quality with using different subgrid mixing parameterizations. The circulation model is found to be sensitive to a mixing parametrization. The computation of viscosity and diffusivity coefficients by an original splitting algorithm of the evolution equations for turbulence characteristics is found to be as efficient as traditional Monin–Obukhov parameterizations. At the same time, however, the variability of ocean climate characteristics is simulated more adequately. The simulation of salinity fields in the entire study region improves most significantly. Turbulent processes have a large effect on the circulation in the long-term through changes in the density fields. The velocity fields in the Gulf Stream and in the entire North Atlantic Subpolar Cyclonic Gyre are reproduced more realistically. The surface level height in the Arctic Basin is simulated more faithfully, marking the Beaufort Gyre better. The use of the Prandtl number as a function of the Richardson number improves the quality of ocean modeling.     

气候模式中海洋数据同化对热带降水偏差的影响

本文采用海洋卫星观测海表温度(SST)和海面高度异常(SLA)数据,对国家海洋局第一海洋研究所地球系统模式FIO-ESM(First Institute of Oceanography Earth System Model version 1.0)中海洋模式分量进行了集合调整卡尔曼滤波(EAKF)同化,对比分析了大气环流、湿度和云量对海洋数据同化的响应,探讨了海洋同化对热带降水模拟偏差的影响。结果表明:海洋数据同化能有效改善海表温度和上层海洋热含量的模拟,30°S~30°N纬度带内年平均SST的绝均差降低60%。同化后大气模式模拟的赤道两侧信风得到明显改善,上升气流在赤道以北热带地区增强而在赤道以南热带地区减弱,热带降水模拟的动力结构更为合理,水汽和云量分布也更切合实际。热带年平均降水的空间分布和强度在同化后均得到改善,赤道以南的纬向年平均降水峰值显著降低,降水偏差明显减小,同化后30°S~30°N纬度带内年平均降水绝均差降低35%。     

利用资料同化方法优化观测系统的空间布局:以泰国湾为例

海洋观测费用高昂,设计科学高效的观测系统可以充分发挥观测的效能。本文以泰国湾高频地波雷达观测系统为例,利用数据同化方法对观测系统进行了最优布局。首先基于FVCOM海洋数值模式建立了泰国湾海域高分辨率三维斜压水动力模式,在此基础上利用一种改进的高效集合卡曼滤波同化方法对岸基高频地波雷达表层海流观测系统开展观测效能评估数值实验。通过观测区域的不同组合方式将3个区域的雷达表层海流数据同化到数值模式中,实验结果表明,岸基高频地波雷达表层海流观测系统可有效降低高分辨数值模式的海流模拟误差。但不同观测区域的组合提供的观测数据对改善海流模拟的作用存在明显差别,泰国湾现有观测系统雷达站位布设方式应进一步优化。本文最后给出了研究区域最优观测站位的布局方案,可作为下一步观测系统进行布局调整的指导。     

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.     

Turbulence modeling in ocean circulation problems

A physical formulation of the problem is considered. A mathematical model and a numerical algorithm of the turbulence model as part of the ocean circulation model for simulations for decades are formulated. The model is based on the evolution equations for turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) and the frequency of its viscous dissipation. A numerical solution algorithm for both the circulation model and the turbulence model is based on implicit schemes of splitting with respect to physical processes and geometric coordinates. For the turbulence model, this provided analytical solutions at a splitting step related to TKE generation and dissipation. Numerical experiments have been performed with a model of the joint circulation of the North Atlantic, the Arctic Ocean, and the Bering Sea to reproduce the annual cycle and synoptic disturbances of ocean characteristics. The model has a resolution of 0.25° in latitude and longitude and 40 levels in the vertical, which are compressed toward the surface to reproduce the process of developed turbulence better. The results are compared with observations and with the results of simulations using traditional parameterizations of the upper ocean mixing. It is shown that the model reproduces ocean characteristics correctly, only slightly increasing the computation time in comparison with simple parameterizations. Spatial and temporal characteristics of turbulence are analyzed.     

Modelling hydrographic changes in the Labrador sea over the past five decades

Inter-annual to inter-decadal changes of hydrographic structure and circulation in the subpolar North Atlantic are studied using a coarse resolution ocean circulation model. The study covers 1949 through 2001, inclusive. A “time-mean state nudging” method is applied to assimilate the observed hydrographic climatology into the model. The method significantly reduces model biases in the long-term mean distribution of temperature and salinity, which commonly exist in coarse-resolution ocean models. By reducing the time-mean biases we also significantly improve the model’s representation of inter-annual to inter-decadal variations. In the central Labrador Sea, the model broadly reproduces the heat and salt variations of the Labrador Sea Water (LSW) as revealed by hydrographic observations. Model sensitivity experiments confirm that the low-frequency hydrographic changes in the central Labrador Sea are closely related to changes in the intensity and depth of deep convection. Changes in surface heat flux associated with the winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index play a major role in driving the changes in T–S and sea surface height (SSH). Changes in wind stress play a secondary role in driving these changes but are important in driving the changes in the depth-integrated circulation. The total changes in both SSH and depth-integrated circulation are almost a linear combination of the separate influences of variable buoyancy and momentum fluxes.     

Comparative analysis of the North Atlantic surface circulation reproduced by three different methods

Calculation results are presented for long-term mean annual surface currents in the North Atlantic based on direct drifter measurements and numerical experiments with the ocean general circulation model using both climatic arrays of hydrological data World Ocean Atlas 2009 and Argo profiling data. The calculations show that the technique suggested for model calculations of oceanographic characteristics of the World Ocean with the use of Argo data significantly improves the climatic fields of the temperature and salinity even on a coarse grid. The comparison of the model calculation results with drifter data showed that the temperature and salinity fields found from Argo data with the use of data variational interpolation on a regular grid allow the calculation of realistic currents and can be successfully used as initial conditions in hydrodynamic models of the ocean dynamics.     

An Ensemble Kalman Filter multi-tracer assimilation: Determining uncertain ocean model parameters for improved climate-carbon cycle projections

An Ensemble Kalman Filter is applied to assimilate observed tracer fields in various combinations in the Bern3D ocean model. Each tracer combination yields a set of optimal transport parameter values that are used in projections with prescribed CO₂ stabilization pathways. The assimilation of temperature and salinity fields yields a too vigorous ventilation of the thermocline and the deep ocean, whereas the inclusion of CFC-11 and radiocarbon improves the representation of physical and biogeochemical tracers and of ventilation time scales. Projected peak uptake rates and cumulative uptake of CO₂ by the ocean are around 20% lower for the parameters determined with CFC-11 and radiocarbon as additional target compared to those with salinity and temperature only. Higher surface temperature changes are simulated in the Greenland–Norwegian–Iceland Sea and in the Southern Ocean when CFC-11 is included in the Ensemble Kalman model tuning. These findings highlights the importance of ocean transport calibration for the design of near-term and long-term CO₂ emission mitigation strategies and for climate projections.     

What processes drive the ocean heat transport?

The ocean contributes to regulating the Earth’s climate through its ability to transport heat from the equator to the poles. In this study we use long simulations of an ocean model to investigate whether the heat transport is carried primarily by wind-driven gyres or whether it is dominated by deep circulations associated with abyssal mixing and high latitude convection. The heat transport is computed as a function of temperature classes. In the Pacific and Indian ocean, the bulk of the heat transport is associated with wind-driven gyres confined to the thermocline. In the Atlantic, the thermocline gyres account for only 40% of the total heat transport. The remaining 60% is associated with a circulation reaching down to cold waters below the thermocline. Using a series of sensitivity experiments, we show that this deep heat transport is primarily set by the strength and patterns of surface winds and only secondarily by diabatic processes at high latitudes in the North Atlantic. Abyssal mixing below 2000 m has hardly any impact on ocean heat transport. A major implication is that the role of the ocean in regulating Earth’s climate strongly depends on how surface winds change across different climates in both hemispheres at low and high latitudes.     

A hybrid coordinate ocean model for shelf sea simulation

The general circulation in the North Sea and Skagerrak is simulated using the hybrid coordinate ocean model (HYCOM). Although HYCOM was originally developed for simulations of the open ocean, it has a design which should make it applicable also for coastal and shallow shelf seas. Thus, the objective of this study has been to examine the skills of the present version of HYCOM in a coastal shelf application, and to identify the areas where HYCOM needs to be further developed. To demonstrate the capability of the vertical coordinate in HYCOM, three experiments with different configurations of the vertical coordinate were carried out. In general, the results from these experiments compares quite well with in situ and satellite data, and the water masses and the general circulation in the North Sea and Skagerrak is reproduced in the simulations. Differences between the three experiments are small compared to other errors, which are related to a combined effect of model setup and properties of the vertical mixing scheme. Hence, it is difficult to quantify which vertical coordinate configuration works best for the coastal region. It is concluded that HYCOM can be used for simulations of coastal and shelf seas, and further suggestions for improving the model results are given. Since HYCOM also works well in open ocean and basin scale simulations, it may allow for a realistic modelling of the transition region between the open ocean and coastal shelf seas.     

Evaluation of ocean model ventilation with CFC-11: comparison of 13 global ocean models

We compared the 13 models participating in the Ocean Carbon Model Intercomparison Project (OCMIP) with regards to their skill in matching observed distributions of CFC-11. This analysis characterizes the abilities of these models to ventilate the ocean on timescales relevant for anthropogenic CO₂ uptake. We found a large range in the modeled global inventory (±30%), mainly due to differences in ventilation from the high latitudes. In the Southern Ocean, models differ particularly in the longitudinal distribution of the CFC uptake in the intermediate water, whereas the latitudinal distribution is mainly controlled by the subgrid-scale parameterization. Models with isopycnal diffusion and eddy-induced velocity parameterization produce more realistic intermediate water ventilation. Deep and bottom water ventilation also varies substantially between the models. Models coupled to a sea-ice model systematically provide more realistic AABW formation source region; however these same models also largely overestimate AABW ventilation if no specific parameterization of brine rejection during sea-ice formation is included. In the North Pacific Ocean, all models exhibit a systematic large underestimation of the CFC uptake in the thermocline of the subtropical gyre, while no systematic difference toward the observations is found in the subpolar gyre. In the North Atlantic Ocean, the CFC uptake is globally underestimated in subsurface. In the deep ocean, all but the adjoint model, failed to produce the two recently ventilated branches observed in the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW). Furthermore, simulated transport in the Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) is too sluggish in all but the isopycnal model, where it is too rapid.     

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

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

Deep convection in the ocean general circulation model: Variability on the diurnal,seasonal, and interannual time scales

Features of geographical localization and of temporal variability of convective mixing were examined based on numerical experiments with the general ocean circulation model developed at the Hydrometeorological Research Center of the Russian Federation. The computations were performed using 6-h data on atmospheric forcing, which allows one to simulate the variability in a broad range of time scales—from diurnal to interannual. On the whole, the results of the numerical experiments are consistent with the available scarce observational data available on the deep convection in the North Atlantic. A pronounced regionalization of the deep convection in the open ocean is noted, as well as a significant spatial and temporal intermittence of convective events on time scales from a day to a few days. On the interannual time scale, a correlation is recognized with the variations of the atmospheric forcing and with the hydrophysical conditions in the ocean, in particular, with the cyclonic circulation within the baroclinic layer.     

An OSSE Study for Deep Argo Array using the GFDL Ensemble Coupled Data Assimilation System

An observing system simulation experiment (OSSE) using an ensemble coupled data assimilation system was designed to investigate the impact of deep ocean Argo profile assimilation in a biased numerical climate system. Based on the modern Argo observational array and an artificial extension to full depth, “observations” drawn from one coupled general circulation model (CM2.0) were assimilated into another model (CM2.1). Our results showed that coupled data assimilation with simultaneous atmospheric and oceanic constraints plays a significant role in preventing deep ocean drift. However, the extension of the Argo array to full depth did not significantly improve the quality of the oceanic climate estimation within the bias magnitude in the twin experiment. Even in the “identical” twin experiment for the deep Argo array from the same model (CM2.1) with the assimilation model, no significant changes were shown in the deep ocean, such as in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and the Antarctic bottom water cell. The small ensemble spread and corresponding weak constraints by the deep Argo profiles with medium spatial and temporal resolution may explain why the deep Argo profiles did not improve the deep ocean features in the assimilation system. Additional studies using different assimilation methods with improved spatial and temporal resolution of the deep Argo array are necessary in order to more thoroughly understand the impact of the deep Argo array on the assimilation system.