scholarly journals Role of eddies in the interannual variability of Hadley cell strength

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (22) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Caballero
2022 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rei Chemke

AbstractBy modulating the distribution of heat, precipitation and moisture, the Hadley cell holds large climate impacts at low and subtropical latitudes. Here we show that the interannual variability of the annual mean Hadley cell strength is ~ 30% less in the Northern Hemisphere than in the Southern Hemisphere. Using a hierarchy of ocean coupling experiments, we find that the smaller variability in the Northern Hemisphere stems from dynamic ocean coupling, which has opposite effects on the variability of the Hadley cell in the Southern and Northern Hemispheres; it acts to increase the variability in the Southern Hemisphere, which is inversely linked to equatorial upwelling, and reduce the variability in the Northern Hemisphere, which shows a direct relation with the subtropical wind-driven overturning circulation. The important role of ocean coupling in modulating the tropical circulation suggests that further investigation should be carried out to better understand the climate impacts of ocean-atmosphere coupling at low latitudes.


2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 1083-1103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamish A. Ramsay ◽  
Lance M. Leslie ◽  
Peter J. Lamb ◽  
Michael B. Richman ◽  
Mark Leplastrier

Abstract This study investigates the role of large-scale environmental factors, notably sea surface temperature (SST), low-level relative vorticity, and deep-tropospheric vertical wind shear, in the interannual variability of November–April tropical cyclone (TC) activity in the Australian region. Extensive correlation analyses were carried out between TC frequency and intensity and the aforementioned large-scale parameters, using TC data for 1970–2006 from the official Australian TC dataset. Large correlations were found between the seasonal number of TCs and SST in the Niño-3.4 and Niño-4 regions. These correlations were greatest (−0.73) during August–October, immediately preceding the Australian TC season. The correlations remain almost unchanged for the July–September period and therefore can be viewed as potential seasonal predictors of the forthcoming TC season. In contrast, only weak correlations (<+0.37) were found with the local SST in the region north of Australia where many TCs originate; these were reduced almost to zero when the ENSO component of the SST was removed by partial correlation analysis. The annual frequency of TCs was found to be strongly correlated with 850-hPa relative vorticity and vertical shear of the zonal wind over the main genesis areas of the Australian region. Furthermore, correlations between the Niño SST and these two atmospheric parameters exhibited a strong link between the Australian region and the Niño-3.4 SST. A principal component analysis of the SST dataset revealed two main modes of Pacific Ocean SST variability that match very closely with the basinwide patterns of correlations between SST and TC frequencies. Finally, it is shown that the correlations can be increased markedly (e.g., from −0.73 to −0.80 for the August–October period) by a weighted combination of SST time series from weakly correlated regions.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio M. Vicente-Serrano ◽  
Raquel Nieto ◽  
Luis Gimeno ◽  
Cesar Azorin-Molina ◽  
Anita Drumond ◽  
...  

Abstract. We analyzed changes in surface relative humidity (RH) at the global scale from 1979 to 2014 using both observations and ERA-Interim dataset. We compared the variability and trends of RH with those of land evapotranspiration and ocean evaporation in moisture source areas across a range of selected regions worldwide. The sources of moisture for each particular region were identified by integrating different observational data and model outputs into a lagrangian approach. The aim was to account for the possible role of changes in air temperature over land, in comparison to sea surface temperature (SST), on RH variability. Results demonstrate a strong agreement between the interannual variability of RH and the interannual variability of precipitation and land evapotranspiration in regions with continentally-originated humidity. In contrast, albeit with the dominant positive trend of air temperature/SST ratio in the majority of the analyzed regions, the interannual variability of RH in the target regions did not show any significant correlation with this ratio over the source regions. Also, we did not find any significant association between the interannual variability of oceanic evaporation in the oceanic humidity source regions and RH in the target regions. Our findings stress the need for further investigation of the role of both dynamic and radiative factors in the evolution of RH over continental regions at different spatial scales.


Ecology ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 93 (1) ◽  
pp. 180-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine M. Hulshof ◽  
James C. Stegen ◽  
Nathan G. Swenson ◽  
Carolyn A. F. Enquist ◽  
Brian J. Enquist

2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 1125-1144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Zurita-Gotor

Abstract This work investigates the role played by the divergent circulation for meridional eddy momentum transport in the tropical atmosphere. It is shown that the eddy momentum flux in the deep tropics arises primarily from correlations between the divergent eddy meridional velocity and the rotational eddy zonal velocity. Consistent with previous studies, this transport is dominated by the stationary wave component, associated with correlations between the zonal structure of the Hadley cell (zonal anomalies in the meridional overturning) and the climatological-mean Rossby gyres. This eddy momentum flux decomposition implies a different mechanism of eddy momentum convergence from the extratropics, associated with upper-level mass convergence (divergence) over sectors with anomalous westerlies (easterlies). By itself, this meridional transport would only increase (decrease) isentropic thickness over regions with anomalous westerly (easterly) zonal flow. The actual momentum mixing is due to vertical (cross isentropic) advection, pointing to the key role of diabatic processes for eddy–mean flow interaction in the tropics.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lekshmi Mudra B ◽  
Thazhe Purayil Sabin ◽  
Raghavan Krishnan

<p>The mid-Holocene (MH) was a warmer period, similar to the end of the 21st century climate under high emission realizations. The Indus valley civilization believed to be flourished under the expense of enhanced south Asian summer monsoon precipitation associated with the northward migration of the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) during the mid-Holocene (MH). However, such an enhanced precipitation is not visible over the northwest India and Pakistan belt in future projection. The role of dynamical and various teleconnection factors behind the enhanced MH precipitation over the Indus valley region is still elusive due to the limitation of course resolution modelling efforts available so far as part of the various phases of Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Projects (PMIP).  To overcome this limitation, we have designed high resolution Paleo-climate simulations using a state-of-the-art variable resolution global climate model (LMDZ: Laboratoire Meteorologie Dynamique and Z stand for zoom) which configured with a 35 km spatial resolution over the South Asian region. We conducted various sensitivity experiments to understand the role of dynamics and teleconnection in enhancing monsoon precipitation over the Indus valley in addition to the MH orbital conditions. Boundary conditions from the PMIP-3, CMIP5 and HadISST datasets utilized for various sensitive experiments. High resolution, clearly demonstrates value addition in simulating the enhanced MH precipitation over Northwest India and adjoining Indus basin associated with the northward migration of the ITCZ and shift in the ascending branch of Hadley cell. We explored the role of various oceanic and atmospheric factors responsible for this enhanced Indus valley precipitation through linearized moisture budget analysis and comparing the relative strength and position of Hadley cell. By further decomposing the thermodynamic and dynamic term into their advection and divergence component, we could demonstrate the role of moisture convergence due to the strengthened atmospheric circulation through the oceanic teleconnection, which additionally  plays a crucial role in enhanced MH precipitation comparing to the dynamical factors. Idealized simulation with the end of 21<sup>st</sup> century warm condition with the MH orbital forcing and various teleconnection patterns affirms that the thermodynamically induced future precipitation and circulation changes, may not be adequate to make a profound shift in the northern limit of the ITCZ towards its MH locale rather producing enhanced precipitation over the north Indian ocean and localized extreme precipitation over Indian landmass.</p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>Indus Valley civilization, Mid-Holocene, Monsoons, Teleconnection, ITCZ and Hadley circulation</p>


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