The Structure and Evolution of Extratropical Cyclones, Fronts, Jet Streams, and the Tropopause in the GEOS General Circulation Model

2001 ◽  
Vol 82 (9) ◽  
pp. 1853-1868 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. L. Conaty ◽  
J. C. Jusem ◽  
L. Takacs ◽  
D. Keyser ◽  
R. Atlas
Keyword(s):  
General Circulation Model ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Potential Temperature ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Extratropical Cyclones ◽  
Jet Streams ◽  
The North

The realism of extratropical cyclones, fronts, jet streams, and the tropopause in the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) general circulation model (GCM), implemented in assimilation and simulation modes, is evaluated from climatological and case-study perspectives using the GEOS-1 reanalysis climatology and applicable conceptual models as benchmarks for comparison. The latitude-longitude grid spacing of the datasets derived from the GEOS GCM ranges from 2° × 2.5° to 0.5° × 0.5°. Frontal systems in the higher-resolution datasets are characterized by horizontal potential temperature gradients that are narrower in scale and larger in magnitude than their lower-resolution counterparts, and various structural features in the Shapiro–Keyser cyclone model are replicated with reasonable fidelity at 1° × 1° resolution. The remainder of the evaluation focuses on a 3-month Northern Hemisphere winter simulation of the GEOS GCM at 1° × 1° resolution. The simulation realistically reproduces various large-scale circulation features related to the North Pacific and Atlantic jet streams when compared with the GEOS-1 reanalysis climatology, and conforms closely to a conceptualization of the zonally averaged troposphere and stratosphere proposed originally by Napier Shaw and revised by Hoskins. An extratropical cyclone that developed over the North Atlantic Ocean in the simulation features surface and tropopause evolutions corresponding to the Norwegian cyclone model and to the LC2 life cycle proposed by Thorncroft et al., respectively. These evolutions are related to the position of the developing cyclone with respect to upper-level jets identified in the time-mean and instantaneous flow fields. This article concludes with the enumeration of several research opportunities that may be addressed through the use of state-of-the-art GCMs possessing sufficient resolution to represent mesoscale phenomena and processes explicitly.

scholarly journals Effects of Tropical Cyclones on Ocean Heat Transport in a High-Resolution Coupled General Circulation Model

2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (16) ◽  
pp. 4368-4384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico Scoccimarro ◽  
Silvio Gualdi ◽  
Alessio Bellucci ◽  
Antonella Sanna ◽  
Pier Giuseppe Fogli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Heat Transport ◽  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
General Circulation Model ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Ocean Heat Transport ◽  
Coupled General Circulation Model

Abstract In this paper the interplay between tropical cyclones (TCs) and the Northern Hemispheric ocean heat transport (OHT) is investigated. In particular, results from a numerical simulation of the twentieth-century and twenty-first-century climates, following the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) twentieth-century run (20C3M) and A1B scenario protocols, respectively, have been analyzed. The numerical simulations have been performed using a state-of-the-art global atmosphere–ocean–sea ice coupled general circulation model (CGCM) with relatively high-resolution (T159) in the atmosphere. The CGCM skill in reproducing a realistic TC climatology has been assessed by comparing the model results from the simulation of the twentieth century with available observations. The model simulates tropical cyclone–like vortices with many features similar to the observed TCs. Specifically, the simulated TCs exhibit realistic structure, geographical distribution, and interannual variability, indicating that the model is able to capture the basic mechanisms linking the TC activity with the large-scale circulation. The cooling of the surface ocean observed in correspondence of the TCs is well simulated by the model. TC activity is shown to significantly increase the poleward OHT out of the tropics and decrease the poleward OHT from the deep tropics on short time scales. This effect, investigated by looking at the 100 most intense Northern Hemisphere TCs, is strongly correlated with the TC-induced momentum flux at the ocean surface, where the winds associated with the TCs significantly weaken (strengthen) the trade winds in the 5°–18°N (18°–30°N) latitude belt. However, the induced perturbation does not impact the yearly averaged OHT. The frequency and intensity of the TCs appear to be substantially stationary through the entire 1950–2069 simulated period, as does the effect of the TCs on the OHT.

scholarly journals Large-Scale Controls on Atlantic Tropical Cyclone Activity on Seasonal Time Scales

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (18) ◽  
pp. 6727-6749 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young-Kwon Lim ◽  
Siegfried D. Schubert ◽  
Oreste Reale ◽  
Andrea M. Molod ◽  
Max J. Suarez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclone ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Vertical Wind Shear ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
The North ◽  
Predictive Skill ◽  
The North Atlantic

Abstract Interannual variations in seasonal tropical cyclone (TC) activity (e.g., genesis frequency and location, track pattern, and landfall) over the Atlantic are explored by employing observationally constrained simulations with the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System, version 5 (GEOS-5), atmospheric general circulation model. The climate modes investigated are El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), and the Atlantic meridional mode (AMM). The results show that the NAO and AMM can strongly modify and even oppose the well-known ENSO impacts, like in 2005, when a strong positive AMM (associated with warm SSTs and a negative SLP anomaly over the western tropical Atlantic) led to a very active TC season with enhanced TC genesis over the Caribbean Sea and a number of landfalls over North America, under a neutral ENSO condition. On the other end, the weak TC activity during 2013 (characterized by weak negative Niño index) appears caused by a NAO-induced positive SLP anomaly with enhanced vertical wind shear over the tropical North Atlantic. During 2010, the combined impact of the three modes produced positive SST anomalies across the entire low-latitudinal Atlantic and a weaker subtropical high, leading to more early recurvers and thus fewer landfalls despite enhanced TC genesis. The study provides evidence that TC number and track are very sensitive to the relative phases and intensities of these three modes and not just to ENSO alone. Examination of seasonal predictability reveals that the predictive skill of the three modes is limited over tropics to subtropics, with the AMM having the highest predictability over the North Atlantic, followed by ENSO and NAO.

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