scholarly journals Influence of the Rossby waves on the seasonal cycle in the tropical Atlantic

1999 ◽  
Vol 104 (C12) ◽  
pp. 29591-29598 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristofer Döös
2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (11) ◽  
pp. 2691-2705 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wim-Paul Breugem ◽  
Wilco Hazeleger ◽  
Reindert J. Haarsma

Abstract A model study has been made of the mechanisms of the meridional mode in the northern tropical Atlantic (NTA) and the response to a doubling of atmospheric CO2. The numerical model consists of an atmospheric general circulation model (GCM) coupled to a passive mixed layer model for the ocean. Results from two simulations are shown: a control run with present-day atmospheric CO2 and a run with a doubled CO2 concentration. The results from the control run show that the wind–evaporation–SST (WES) feedback is confined to the deep NTA. Furthermore, the temporal evolution of the meridional mode is phase locked with the seasonal cycle of the climatological intertropical convergence zone (CITCZ). The WES feedback is positive in boreal winter and spring when the CITCZ is located close to the equator but negative in summer and fall when the CITCZ shifts toward the north of the deep NTA. Similarly, the damping of the SST anomalies in the deep NTA by moisture-induced evaporation anomalies is much stronger in summer and fall than in winter and spring, related to a change in anomalous moisture transport. The results from the double-CO2 run show a substantial northward shift of the CITCZ in boreal winter and spring but little change in summer and fall. The change in the CITCZ can be explained by strong warming at the high northern latitudes in combination with a seasonally dependent WES feedback with accompanying changes in moisture transport in the deep NTA. The latter indicates that the change in the CITCZ is subject to phase locking with the seasonal cycle of the CITCZ itself. The meridional mode in the double-CO2 run weakens by 10%–20%. This originates from the weakening of the positive WES feedback in the deep NTA, which in turn is attributed to the northward shift of the CITCZ; because in the double-CO2 run the CITCZ stays south of the deep NTA for a shorter time period, the positive WES feedback in the deep NTA acts less long, and damping by moisture-induced evaporation anomalies starts earlier than in the control run.


2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (20) ◽  
pp. 8169-8188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory R. Foltz ◽  
Claudia Schmid ◽  
Rick Lumpkin

Abstract The seasonal cycle of the mixed layer heat budget in the northeastern tropical Atlantic (0°–25°N, 18°–28°W) is quantified using in situ and satellite measurements together with atmospheric reanalysis products. This region is characterized by pronounced latitudinal movements of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) and strong meridional variations of the terms in the heat budget. Three distinct regimes within the northeastern tropical Atlantic are identified. The trade wind region (15°–25°N) experiences a strong annual cycle of mixed layer heat content that is driven by approximately out-of-phase annual cycles of surface shortwave radiation (SWR), which peaks in boreal summer, and evaporative cooling, which reaches a minimum in boreal summer. The surface heat-flux-induced changes in the mixed layer heat content are damped by a strong annual cycle of cooling from vertical turbulent mixing, estimated from the residual in the heat balance. In the ITCZ core region (3°–8°N) a weak seasonal cycle of mixed layer heat content is driven by a semiannual cycle of SWR and damped by evaporative cooling and vertical turbulent mixing. On the equator the seasonal cycle of mixed layer heat content is balanced by an annual cycle of SWR that reaches a maximum in October and a semiannual cycle of turbulent mixing that cools the mixed layer most strongly during May–July and November. These results emphasize the importance of the surface heat flux and vertical turbulent mixing for the seasonal cycle of mixed layer heat content in the northeastern tropical Atlantic.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shunya Koseki ◽  
Lander Rodriguez Crespo ◽  
Noel Keenlyside

<p>Most state-of-the-art earth system model still exhibit large biases in the tropical Atlantic. This study aims to investigate how the physical bias influences the marine biogeochemical processes in the tropical Atlantic using Norwegian Earth System Model (NorESM). We assess four different configurations of NorESM: NorESM version 1is taken as benchmark (NorESM-CTL), a version of this model with a physical bias correction using anomaly coupling (NorESM-AC), and NorESM version 2 with low and medium atmospheric resolution (NorESM-LM/NorESM-MM) is also utilized.</p><p> </p><p>With respect to NorESM-CTL, the annual-mean sea surface temperature (SST) bias is improved largely in NorESM-AC and NorESM-MM in the equatorial Atlantic and southeast Atlantic. On the other hand, the improvement of seasonal cycle of SST can be seen in NorESM-AC and the two versions of NorESM2; development of Atlantic Cold Tongue (ACT) is realistic in terms of location and timing. Corresponding to the ACT seasonal cycle, the primary production in the equatorial Atlantic is also improved and in particular, the Atlantic summer bloom is well represented in NorESM-AC and NorESM-MM even though the amount of production is still much smaller than satellite observations. This realistic summer bloom can be related to the well-represented shallow thermocline and associated nitrate supply from the subsurface ocean at the equator.</p>


2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (8) ◽  
pp. 2197-2212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kwang-Yul Kim ◽  
Joon-Woo Roh

Abstract The first three principal modes of wintertime surface temperature variability in Seoul, South Korea (37.33°N, 126.59°E), are extracted from the 1979–2008 observed records via cyclostationary EOF (CSEOF) analysis. The first mode represents the seasonal cycle, the principle physical mechanism of which is associated with the continent–ocean sea level pressure contrast. The second mode mainly describes the overall wintertime warming or cooling. The third mode depicts subseasonal fluctuations of surface temperature. Sea level pressure anomalies to the west of South Korea (eastern China) and those with an opposite sign to the east of South Korea (Japan) are a major physical factor both for the second mode and the third mode. These sea level pressure anomalies with opposite signs alter the amount of warm air to the south of South Korea, which changes the surface temperature in South Korea. The PC time series of the seasonal cycle is significantly correlated with the East Asian winter monsoon index and exhibits a conspicuous downward trend. The PC time series of the second mode exhibits a positive trend. These trends imply that the wintertime surface temperature in South Korea has increased and the seasonal cycle has weakened gradually over the past 30 yr; the sign of greenhouse warming is clear in both PC time series. The ∼7-day oscillations are a major component of high-frequency variability in much of the analysis domain and are a manifestation of Rossby waves. Rossby waves aloft result in the concerted variation of physical variables in the atmospheric column. Due to the stronger mean zonal wind, the disturbances by Rossby waves propagate eastward at ∼8–12 m s−1; the passing of Rossby waves with alternating signs produces the ∼7-day temperature oscillations in South Korea.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julien Jouanno ◽  
Rachid Benshila ◽  
Léo Berline ◽  
Antonin Soulié ◽  
Marie-Hélène Radenac ◽  
...  

Abstract. The Tropical Atlantic is facing a massive proliferation of Sargassum since 2011, with severe environmental and socioeconomic impacts. The development of Sargassum modelling is essential to clarify the link between Sargassum distribution and environmental conditions, and to lay the groundwork for a seasonal forecast on the scale of the Tropical Atlantic basin. We developed a modelling framework based on the NEMO ocean model, which integrates transport by currents and waves, physiology of Sargassum with varying internal nutrients quota, and considers stranding at the coast. The model is initialized from basin scale satellite observations and performance was assessed over the Sargassum year 2017. Model parameters are calibrated through the analysis of a large ensemble of simulations, and the sensitivity to forcing fields like riverine nutrients inputs, atmospheric deposition, and waves is discussed. Overall, results demonstrate the ability of the model to reproduce and forecast the seasonal cycle and large-scale distribution of Sargassum biomass.


1984 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 802-804 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. G. H. Philander ◽  
R. C. Pacanowski

2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
pp. 2458-2482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Shaman ◽  
Steven K. Esbensen ◽  
Eric D. Maloney

Abstract The nature of the teleconnection linking ENSO variability with Atlantic basin tropical storm formation is investigated. Solutions of the linearized barotropic vorticity equation forced with August–October El Niño event divergence produce upper-tropospheric vorticity anomalies over the Sahel and at the mouth of the North African–Asian (NAA) jet over the tropical Atlantic. These responses are similar in magnitude and orientation to observed ENSO vorticity variability for this region. Further investigation reveals that the vorticity anomalies over the subtropical Atlantic develop primarily in response to very low wavenumber, westward-propagating stationary Rossby waves excited by El Niño–related convective activity over the equatorial Pacific Ocean. However, the dynamics of this teleconnection change as the Atlantic basin hurricane season progresses. In August and September the response is dominated by the westward-propagating stationary Rossby waves that alter vorticity within the NAA jet and to its south. The upper-tropospheric nondivergent zonal wind anomalies produced by these vorticity anomalies are similar in pattern to observed zonal wind and vertical zonal wind shear anomalies, which suppress Atlantic basin tropical cyclogenesis. By October, eastward-propagating signals also develop over the tropical Atlantic Ocean in response to El Niño conditions. Over the main development region of Atlantic basin tropical cyclogenesis, these eastward-propagating Rossby waves appear to destructively interfere with the vorticity changes produced by the westward-propagating Rossby waves within the NAA jet. In addition, the NAA jet has shifted south by October. Consequently, the resultant upper-tropospheric nondivergent zonal wind perturbations for October are weak and suggest that ENSO should have little effect on rates of Atlantic basin tropical cyclogenesis during October. Statistical analyses of monthly ENSO-related changes in Atlantic basin tropical storm formation support this hypothesis.


2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (23) ◽  
pp. 8057-8074 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Yu ◽  
Weiqing Han ◽  
David Gochis

Abstract Atmospheric intraseasonal variability in the tropical Atlantic is analyzed using satellite winds, outgoing longwave radiation (OLR), and reanalysis products during 2000–08. The analyses focus on assessing the effects of dominant intraseasonal atmospheric convective processes, the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO), and Rossby waves on surface wind and convection of the tropical Atlantic Ocean and African monsoon area. The results show that contribution from each process varies in different regions. In general, the MJO events dominate the westward-propagating Rossby waves in affecting strong convection in the African monsoon region. The Rossby waves, however, have larger contributions to convection in the western Atlantic Ocean. Both the westward- and eastward-propagating signals contribute approximately equally in the central Atlantic basin. The effects of intraseasonal signals have evident seasonality. Both convection amplitude and the number of strong convective events associated with the MJO are larger during November–April than during May–October in all regions. Convection associated with Rossby wave events is stronger during November–April for all regions, and the numbers of Rossby wave events are higher during November–April than during May–October in the African monsoon region, and are comparable for the two seasons in the western and central Atlantic basins. Of particular interest is that the MJOs originating from the Indo-Pacific Ocean can be enhanced over the tropical Atlantic Ocean while they propagate eastward, amplifying their impacts on the African monsoon. On the other hand, Rossby waves can originate either in the eastern equatorial Atlantic or West African monsoon region, and some can strengthen while they propagate westward, affecting surface winds and convection in the western Atlantic and Central American regions.


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