scholarly journals Response of tropical Pacific interannual variability to decadal entrainment temperature change in a hybrid coupled model

2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rong-Hua Zhang ◽  
David G. DeWitt
2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 853-879 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rong-Hua Zhang ◽  
Antonio J. Busalacchi

Abstract The impacts of freshwater flux (FWF) forcing on interannual variability in the tropical Pacific climate system are investigated using a hybrid coupled model (HCM), constructed from an oceanic general circulation model (OGCM) and a simplified atmospheric model, whose forcing fields to the ocean consist of three components. Interannual anomalies of wind stress and precipitation minus evaporation, (P − E), are calculated respectively by their statistical feedback models that are constructed from a singular value decomposition (SVD) analysis of their historical data. Heat flux is calculated using an advective atmospheric mixed layer (AML) model. The constructed HCM can well reproduce interannual variability associated with ENSO in the tropical Pacific. HCM experiments are performed with varying strengths of anomalous FWF forcing. It is demonstrated that FWF can have a significant modulating impact on interannual variability. The buoyancy flux (QB) field, an important parameter determining the mixing and entrainment in the equatorial Pacific, is analyzed to illustrate the compensating role played by its two contributing parts: one is related to heat flux (QT) and the other to freshwater flux (QS). A positive feedback is identified between FWF and SST as follows: SST anomalies, generated by El Niño, nonlocally induce large anomalous FWF variability over the western and central regions, which directly influences sea surface salinity (SSS) and QB, leading to changes in the mixed layer depth (MLD), the upper-ocean stability, and the mixing and the entrainment of subsurface waters. These oceanic processes act to enhance the SST anomalies, which in turn feedback to the atmosphere in a coupled ocean–atmosphere system. As a result, taking into account anomalous FWF forcing in the HCM leads to an enhanced interannual variability and ENSO cycles. It is further shown that FWF forcing is playing a different role from heat flux forcing, with the former acting to drive a change in SST while the latter represents a passive response to the SST change. This HCM-based modeling study presents clear evidence for the role of FWF forcing in modulating interannual variability in the tropical Pacific. The significance and implications of these results are further discussed for physical understanding and model improvements of interannual variability in the tropical Pacific ocean–atmosphere system.


2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 4605-4626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuan Gao ◽  
Rong-Hua Zhang ◽  
Kristopher B. Karnauskas ◽  
Lei Zhang ◽  
Feng Tian

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuaifeng Song ◽  
Xiaodong Yan

Abstract In the context of global warming, the frequency and intensity of extreme weather and climate events are increasing. However, the impact of these changes that is directly felt by people is the day-to-day temperature change. Extreme temperature changes between neighboring days (ETCNs) carry substantial disease risks and socioeconomic impacts. Evaluative studies of ETCN events with global circulation models (GCMs) remain unknown in China. This study quantitatively evaluates the performances of 36 GCMs and the multi-model ensemble (MME) of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6 (CMIP6) in simulating the extreme cooling (EC) and extreme warming (EW) events of two consecutive days as defined by relative thresholds. Moreover, we select the optimal models in different regions at the seasonal and annual scales in China, providing theoretical support for the frequency projection and modeling improvement of ETCN events. The results showed that from 1981 to 2013, the annual average EW events and EC events in China showed increasing but not statistically significant trends, and the frequency of EW events was higher than that of EC events. EW events mostly occurred in spring, while EC events mostly occurred in autumn. Additionally, the performances of the CMIP6 models are quite different between EC and EW events. The simulations of EC events are generally more reliable than those of EW events, and the models can also capture the annual cycle of EC events well. Furthermore, the CMIP6 models overestimate the frequencies of EW and EC events but underestimate the frequency of EC events in autumn. The CMIP6 models exhibit poor performance in simulating the trend of and interannual variability in ETCN events and can only simulate the decreasing trend in autumn. Finally, according to the overall ranking of the CMIP6 models, GFDL-ESSM4 and EC-Earth3-Veg-LR achieve the best performance in simulating EW and EC events, respectively. The CMIP6 MME only effectively improved the capabilities of the models to simulate winter EC events in the WNW region. In terms of the trend of and interannual variability in ETCN events, individual models exhibited better performances than the CMIP6 ensemble.


2010 ◽  
Vol 138 (5) ◽  
pp. 1715-1737 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rong-Hua Zhang ◽  
Guihua Wang ◽  
Dake Chen ◽  
A. J. Busalacchi ◽  
E. C. Hackert

Abstract Freshwater flux (FWF) forcing–induced feedback has not been represented adequately in many coupled ocean–atmosphere models of the tropical Pacific. Previously, various approximations have been made in representing the FWF forcing in climate modeling. In this article, using a hybrid coupled model (HCM), sensitivity experiments are performed to examine the extent to which this forcing and related feedback effects can contribute to tropical biases in interannual simulations of the tropical Pacific. The total FWF into the ocean, represented by precipitation (P) minus evaporation (E), (P − E), is separated into its climatological part and interannual anomaly part: FWFTotal = (P − E)clim + FWFinter. The former can be prescribed (seasonally varying); the latter can be captured using an empirical model linking with large-scale sea surface temperature (SST) variability. Four cases are considered with different FWFinter specifications: interannual (P − E) forcing [FWFinter = (P − E)inter], interannual P forcing (FWFinter = Pinter), interannual E forcing (FWFinter = −Einter), and climatological (P − E) forcing (FWFinter = 0.0), respectively. The HCM-based experiments indicate that different FWFinter approximations can modulate interannual variability in a substantial way. The HCM with the interannual (P − E) forcing, in which a positive SST − (P − E)inter feedback is included explicitly, has a reasonably realistic simulation of interannual variability. When FWFinter is approximated in some ways, the simulated interannual variability can be modulated significantly: it is weakened with the climatological (P − E) forcing and is even more damped with the interannual E forcing, but is exaggerated with the interannual P forcing. Quantitatively, taking the interannual (P − E) forcing run as a reference, the Niño-3 SST variance can be reduced by about 12% and 26% in the climatological (P − E) forcing run and interannual E forcing run, respectively, but overestimated by 11% in the Pinter forcing run. It is demonstrated that FWF can be a clear bias source for coupled model simulations in the tropical Pacific.


Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 548
Author(s):  
Jinhu Yang ◽  
Qiang Zhang ◽  
Guoyang Lu ◽  
Xiaoyun Liu ◽  
Youheng Wang ◽  
...  

During the second half of the 20th century, eastern Northwest China experienced a warming and drying climate change. To determine whether this trend has continued or changed during the present century, this study systematically analyzes the characteristics of warming and dry–wet changes in eastern Northwest China based on the latest observational data and World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) collection data. The results show that eastern Northwest China has warmed continuously during the past 60 years with a sudden temperature change occurring in the late 1990s. However, the temperature in the 2000s decreased slowly, and that in the 2010s showed a warming trend. The amount of precipitation began to increase in the late 1990s, which indicates a contemporary climate transition from warm-dry to warm-wet in eastern Northwest China. The contribution of precipitation to humidity is significantly more than that of temperature. Long-term and interannual variations dominate the temperature change, with the contribution of the former much stronger than that of the latter. However, interannual variation dominates the precipitation change. The warming accelerates from period to period, and the temperature spatial consistently increased during the three most recent climatic periods. The precipitation decreased from 1961–1990 to 1981–2010, whereas its spatial consistency increased from 1981–2010 to 1991–2019. The significant warming and humidification which began in the late 1990s and is expected to continue until the end of the 21st century in the medium emission scenario. However, the current sub-humid climate will not easily be changed. The warming could cause a climate transition from warm temperate to subtropical by 2040. The dry-to-wet climate transition in eastern Northwest China could be related to a synergistic enhancement of the East Asian summer monsoon and the westerly circulation. This research provides a scientific decision-making basis for implementing western development strategies, ecological protection, and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin Area as well as that for ecological construction planning and water resource management of eastern Northwest China.


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