Impacts of open-ocean deep convection in the Weddell Sea on coastal and bottom water temperature

Abstract. Deep convection in open ocean polynyas are common sources of error on the representation of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) formation in Ocean General Circulation Models. Even though those events are well described in non-assimilatory ocean simulations, recent appearance of open ocean polynya in Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean Phase II reanalysis product raises a question if this spurious event is also found in state-of-art reanalysis products. In order to answer this question, we evaluate how three recently released high-resolution ocean reanalysis form AABW in their simulations. We found that two of them (ECCO2 and SoSE) create AABW by open ocean deep convection events in Weddell Sea, showing that assimilation of sea ice has not been enough to avoid open ocean polynya appearance. The third reanalysis – My Ocean University Reading – actually creates AABW by a rather dynamically accurate mechanism, depicting both continental shelf convection, and exporting of Dense Shelf Water to open ocean. Although the accuracy of the AABW formation in this reanalysis allows an advance in represent this process, the differences found between the real ocean and the simulated one suggests that ocean reanalysis still need substantial improvements to accurately represent AABW formation.

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On deep convection events and Antarctic Bottom Water formation in ocean reanalysis products

Ocean Science ◽

10.5194/os-13-851-2017 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 13 (6) ◽

pp. 851-872 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Wilton Aguiar ◽

Mauricio M. Mata ◽

Rodrigo Kerr

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Bottom Water ◽

Deep Convection ◽

Open Ocean ◽

Weddell Sea ◽

Ocean Dynamics ◽

Antarctic Bottom Water ◽

Ocean Reanalysis ◽

Reanalysis Product ◽

Warm Deep Water

Abstract. Open ocean deep convection is a common source of error in the representation of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) formation in ocean general circulation models. Although those events are well described in non-assimilatory ocean simulations, the recent appearance of a massive open ocean polynya in the Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean Phase II reanalysis product (ECCO2) raises questions on which mechanisms are responsible for those spurious events and whether they are also present in other state-of-the-art assimilatory reanalysis products. To investigate this issue, we evaluate how three recently released high-resolution ocean reanalysis products form AABW in their simulations. We found that two of the products create AABW by open ocean deep convection events in the Weddell Sea that are triggered by the interaction of sea ice with the Warm Deep Water, which shows that the assimilation of sea ice is not enough to avoid the appearance of open ocean polynyas. The third reanalysis, My Ocean University Reading UR025.4, creates AABW using a rather dynamically accurate mechanism. The UR025.4 product depicts both continental shelf convection and the export of Dense Shelf Water to the open ocean. Although the accuracy of the AABW formation in this reanalysis product represents an advancement in the representation of the Southern Ocean dynamics, the differences between the real and simulated processes suggest that substantial improvements in the ocean reanalysis products are still needed to accurately represent AABW formation.

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Reconstructing bottom water temperatures from measurements of temperature and thermal diffusivity in marine sediments

Ocean Science Discussions ◽

10.5194/osd-11-2391-2014 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 2391-2422

Author(s):

F. Miesner ◽

A. Lechleiter ◽

C. Müller

Keyword(s):

Steady State ◽

Heat Flow ◽

Water Temperature ◽

Marine Sediments ◽

Bottom Water ◽

Measured Data ◽

Temperature History ◽

Artificial Data ◽

Bottom Water Temperature ◽

Steady State Heat

Abstract. Temperature fields in marine sediments are studied for various purposes. Often, the target of research is the steady state heat flow as a (possible) source of energy but there are also studies attempting to reconstruct bottom water temperature variations to understand more about climate history. The bottom water temperature propagates into the sediment to different depths, depending on the amplitude and period of the deviation. The steady state heat flow can only be determined when the bottom water temperature is constant while the bottom water temperature history can only be reconstructed when the deviation has an amplitude large enough or the measurements are taken in great depths. In this work, the aim is to reconstruct recent bottom water temperature history such as the last two years. To this end, measurements to depths of up to 6 m shall be adequate and amplitudes smaller than 1 K should be reconstructable. First, a commonly used forward model is introduced and analyzed: knowing the bottom water temperature deviation in the last years and the thermal properties of the sediments, the forward model gives the sediment temperature field. Next, an inversion operator and two common inversion schemes are introduced. The analysis of the inversion operator and both algorithms is kept short, but sources for further reading are given. The algorithms are then tested for artificial data with different noise levels and for two example data sets, one from the German North Sea and one from the Davis Strait. Both algorithms show good and stable results for artificial data. The achieved results for measured data have low variances and match to the observed oceanographic settings. Lastly, the desired and obtained accuracy are discussed. For artificial data, the presented method yields satisfying results. However, for measured data the interpretation of the results is more difficult as the exact form of the bottom water deviation is not known. Nevertheless, the presented inversion method seems rather promising due to its accuracy and stability for artificial data. Continuing to work on the development of more sophisticated models for the bottom water temperature, we hope to cover more different oceanographic settings in the future.

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