scholarly journals Climatology and Variability of Precipitation in the Twentieth-Century Reanalysis

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (15) ◽  
pp. 5964-5981 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong Eun Lee ◽  
Michela Biasutti

Abstract The performance of the Twentieth-Century Reanalysis (20CR) in reproducing observed monthly mean precipitation over the global domain is compared to that of comprehensive reanalyses that also assimilate upper-air and satellite observations [the Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR), ECMWF Interim Re-Analysis (ERA-Interim), and NCEP–U.S. Department of Energy reanalysis (NCEP2)] and to that of an atmospheric general circulation model (GCM) ensemble simulation [Global Ocean Global Atmosphere (GOGA)] that is forced with observed sea surface temperature (SST). Wintertime rainfall variability in the midlatitude continents and storm tracks is captured with great accuracy, similar to the comprehensive reanalyses, but summertime rainfall is not, probably in consequence of the greater importance of convection in the summer season. Over the tropics, the accuracy of all reanalyses is much less than over the midlatitudes. Over tropical land, the performance of 20CR is better than NCEP2 and similar to ERA-Interim and CFSR, but over the tropical oceans the most recent reanalyses perform significantly better. Across the twentieth century, the clearest gain from the assimilation of a denser observational dataset is the expansion of the area of good skill. A comparison of the accuracy and ensemble spread in the 20CR and GOGA ensembles highlights regions where SST forcing is a stronger source of skill than data assimilation for 20CR. In contrast, for some tropical regions such as the Sahel, the assimilation of sea level pressure is effective in constraining precipitation values—but model biases in the teleconnections with global SST limit the performance of 20CR.

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (18) ◽  
pp. 7060-7079 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas M. J. Hall ◽  
Hervé Douville ◽  
Laurent Li

Abstract A primitive equation model is used to investigate the role of the tropics in generating seasonal-mean anomalies in the extratropics. A nudging technique is applied to guide selected tropical regions toward 40-yr European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Re-Analysis (ERA-40) and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)/Department of Energy Reanalysis (NCEP-2). The time-independent linear response to these tropical anomalies is calculated for extratropical basic states taken from reanalysis climatologies and also from the climatological states of Action de Recherche Petite Echelle Grande Echelle (ARPEGE) and Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMDZ) general circulation model simulations. For summer case studies, time-independent linear solutions show that some seasonal anomalies can be attributed to linear wave propagation from the tropics, especially for lower extratropical latitudes. If nudging is applied to the anomaly part of the tropical flow, the linear response shows little dependence on the basic state. Regional tropical nudging experiments display a global extratropical response. The persistent European summer anomaly in 2003 is partly attributable to a linear response to both Central American and West African monsoon circulations. The African region also triggers a wave train along the Asian subtropical jet. The model is then used in “simple GCM” mode to obtain extratropical responses that include a contribution from transient eddies. Tropical nudging improves the simple GCM's stationary wave climatology, and transient eddy forcing can produce substantial seasonal anomalies at high latitudes with better correspondence to some observed cases, especially in the Western Hemisphere, with stronger communication between the Asian monsoon and North America.


2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 809-818 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Xu ◽  
M. Werner ◽  
M. Butzin ◽  
G. Lohmann

Abstract. The stable water isotopes H218O and HDO are incorporated as passive tracers into the oceanic general circulation model MPI-OM, and a control simulation under present-day climate conditions is analyzed in detail. Both δ18O and δD distributions at the ocean surface and deep ocean are generally consistent with available observations on the large scale. The modelled δD-δ 18O relations in surface waters slightly deviates from the slope of the global meteoric water line in most basins, and a much steeper slope is detected in Arctic Oceans. The simulated deuterium excess of ocean surface waters shows small variations between 80° S and 55° N, and a strong decrease north of 55° N. The model is also able to capture the quasi-linear relationship between δ18O and salinity S, as well as δD and S, as seen in observational data. Both in the model results and observations, the surface δ−S relations show a steeper slope in extra-tropical regions than in tropical regions, which indicates relatively more addition of isotopically depleted water at high latitudes.


2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 277-307
Author(s):  
X. Xu ◽  
M. Werner ◽  
M. Butzin ◽  
G. Lohmann

Abstract. The stable water isotopes H218O and HDO are incorporated as passive tracers into the oceanic general circulation model MPI-OM, and a control simulation under present-day climate conditions is analyzed in detail. Both δ18O and δD distributions at the ocean surface and deep ocean are generally consistent with available observations on the large scale. The modelled δD-δ18O relations in surface waters slightly deviates from the slope of the global meteoric water line in most basins, and a much steeper slope is detected in Arctic Oceans. The simulated deuterium excess of ocean surface waters shows small variations between 80° S and 55° N, and a strong decrease north of 55° N. The model is also able to capture the quasi-linear relationship between δ18O and salinity S, as well as δD and S, as seen in observational data. Both in the model results and observations, the surface δ–S relations show a steeper slope in extra-tropical regions than in tropical regions, which indicates relatively more addition of isotopically depleted water at high latitudes.


1997 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 111-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Achim Stössel

This paper investigates the long-term impact of sea ice on global climate using a global sea-ice–ocean general circulation model (OGCM). The sea-ice component involves state-of-the-art dynamics; the ocean component consists of a 3.5° × 3.5° × 11 layer primitive-equation model. Depending on the physical description of sea ice, significant changes are detected in the convective activity, in the hydrographic properties and in the thermohaline circulation of the ocean model. Most of these changes originate in the Southern Ocean, emphasizing the crucial role of sea ice in this marginally stably stratified region of the world's oceans. Specifically, if the effect of brine release is neglected, the deep layers of the Southern Ocean warm up considerably; this is associated with a weakening of the Southern Hemisphere overturning cell. The removal of the commonly used “salinity enhancement” leads to a similar effect. The deep-ocean salinity is almost unaffected in both experiments. Introducing explicit new-ice thickness growth in partially ice-covered gridcells leads to a substantial increase in convective activity, especially in the Southern Ocean, with a concomitant significant cooling and salinification of the deep ocean. Possible mechanisms for the resulting interactions between sea-ice processes and deep-ocean characteristics are suggested.


2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 765-771 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Jochum ◽  
Clara Deser ◽  
Adam Phillips

Abstract Atmospheric general circulation model experiments are conducted to quantify the contribution of internal oceanic variability in the form of tropical instability waves (TIWs) to interannual wind and rainfall variability in the tropical Pacific. It is found that in the tropical Pacific, along the equator, and near 25°N and 25°S, TIWs force a significant increase in wind and rainfall variability from interseasonal to interannual time scales. Because of the stochastic nature of TIWs, this means that climate models that do not take them into account will underestimate the strength and number of extreme events and may overestimate forecast capability.


2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 1581-1598 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Mariotti ◽  
L. Bopp ◽  
A. Tagliabue ◽  
M. Kageyama ◽  
D. Swingedouw

Abstract. Marine sediments records suggest large changes in marine productivity during glacial periods, with abrupt variations especially during the Heinrich events. Here, we study the response of marine biogeochemistry to such an event by using a biogeochemical model of the global ocean (PISCES) coupled to an ocean-atmosphere general circulation model (IPSL-CM4). We conduct a 400-yr-long transient simulation under glacial climate conditions with a freshwater forcing of 0.1 Sv applied to the North Atlantic to mimic a Heinrich event, alongside a glacial control simulation. To evaluate our numerical results, we have compiled the available marine productivity records covering Heinrich events. We find that simulated primary productivity and organic carbon export decrease globally (by 16% for both) during a Heinrich event, albeit with large regional variations. In our experiments, the North Atlantic displays a significant decrease, whereas the Southern Ocean shows an increase, in agreement with paleo-productivity reconstructions. In the Equatorial Pacific, the model simulates an increase in organic matter export production but decreased biogenic silica export. This antagonistic behaviour results from changes in relative uptake of carbon and silicic acid by diatoms. Reasonable agreement between model and data for the large-scale response to Heinrich events gives confidence in models used to predict future centennial changes in marine production. In addition, our model allows us to investigate the mechanisms behind the observed changes in the response to Heinrich events.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moritz Kreuzer ◽  
Ronja Reese ◽  
Willem Huiskamp ◽  
Stefan Petri ◽  
Torsten Albrecht ◽  
...  

<p>The past and future evolution of the Antarctic Ice Sheet is largely controlled by interactions between the ocean and floating ice shelves. To investigate these interactions, coupled ocean and ice sheet model configurations are required. Previous modelling studies have mostly relied on high resolution configurations, limiting these studies to individual glaciers or regions over short time scales of decades to a few centuries. To study global and long term interactions, we developed a framework to couple the dynamic ice sheet model PISM with the global ocean general circulation model MOM5 via the ice-shelf cavity module PICO. Since ice-shelf cavities are not resolved by MOM5, but parameterized with the box model PICO, the framework allows the ice sheet and ocean model to be run at resolution of 16 km and 3 degrees, respectively. We present first results from our coupled setup and discuss stability, feedbacks, and interactions of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and the global ocean system on millennial time scales.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-57
Author(s):  
Kai Logemann ◽  
Leonidas Linardakis ◽  
Peter Korn ◽  
Corinna Schrum

AbstractThe global tide is simulated with the global ocean general circulation model ICON-O using a newly developed tidal module, which computes the full tidal potential. The simulated coastal M2 amplitudes, derived by a discrete Fourier transformation of the output sea level time series, are compared with the according values derived from satellite altimetry (TPXO-8 atlas). The experiments are repeated with four uniform and sixteen irregular triangular grids. The results show that the quality of the coastal tide simulation depends primarily on the coastal resolution and that the ocean interior can be resolved up to twenty times lower without causing considerable reductions in quality. The mesh transition zones between areas of different resolutions are formed by cell bisection and subsequent local spring optimisation tolerating a triangular cell’s maximum angle up to 84°. Numerical problems with these high-grade non-equiangular cells were not encountered. The results emphasise the numerical feasibility and potential efficiency of highly irregular computational meshes used by ICON-O.


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