scholarly journals Modulation of SST Interannual Variability in the Agulhas Leakage Region Associated with ENSO

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (19) ◽  
pp. 7089-7102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dian Putrasahan ◽  
Ben P. Kirtman ◽  
Lisa M. Beal
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Interannual Variability ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
South Atlantic ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Enso Cycle ◽  
The South ◽  
Climate System Model ◽  
South Indian

Abstract The Agulhas leakage transports warm and saline water from the Indian Ocean into the South Atlantic Ocean, forming part of the upper returning arm of the meridional overturning circulation, which can influence climate. Ocean–atmosphere interactions and the strength of Agulhas leakage control sea surface temperature (SST) in the Agulhas leakage corridor, which may in turn affect regional climate variability. In a high-resolution run of the Community Climate System Model (version 3.5; CCSM3.5), it is found that the interannual variability of Agulhas leakage SST is linked to El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Anomalous wind stress curl over the south Indian Ocean associated with ENSO excites westward-propagating oceanic Rossby waves that initiate southwestward-propagating anomalies along the coast of Africa. It takes approximately 2 years for this signal to reach the southern tip of South Africa and enter the South Atlantic, where it accounts for 20%–30% of the interannual SSH variability in the Agulhas leakage region. The authors find a similar propagation of anomalies with satellite observations. A similar ENSO cycle along with Rossby wave adjustment is detected in an analogous low-resolution CCSM3.5 run. However, the signal does not propagate all the way along the boundary to affect Agulhas leakage SST. Hence, it is found that high-resolution coupled climate models are necessary to resolve the tropical–subtropical oceanic teleconnection between ENSO and Agulhas leakage SST.

scholarly journals The South Atlantic–South Indian Ocean Pattern: a Zonally Oriented Teleconnection along the Southern Hemisphere Westerly Jet in Austral Summer

Atmosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhongda Lin
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Interannual Variability ◽  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Austral Summer ◽  
South Atlantic ◽  
The South ◽  
South Indian Ocean ◽  
Westerly Jet ◽  
South Indian ◽  
Zonal Wavenumber

Extratropical teleconnections significantly affect the climate in subtropical and mid-latitude regions. Understanding the variability of atmospheric teleconnection in the Southern Hemisphere, however, is still limited in contrast with the well-documented counterpart in the Northern Hemisphere. This study investigates the interannual variability of mid-latitude circulation in the Southern Hemisphere in austral summer based on the ERA-Interim reanalysis dataset during 1980–2016. A stationary mid-latitude teleconnection is revealed along the strong Southern Hemisphere westerly jet over the South Atlantic and South Indian Ocean (SAIO). The zonally oriented SAIO pattern represents the first EOF mode of interannual variability of meridional winds at 200 hPa over the region, with a vertical barotropic structure and a zonal wavenumber of 4. It significantly modulates interannual climate variations in the subtropical Southern Hemisphere in austral summer, especially the opposite change in rainfall and surface air temperature between Northwest and Southeast Australia. The SAIO pattern can be efficiently triggered by divergences over mid-latitude South America and the southwest South Atlantic, near the entrance of the westerly jet, which is probably related to the zonal shift of the South Atlantic Convergence Zone. The triggered wave train is then trapped within the Southern Hemisphere westerly jet waveguide and propagates eastward until it diverts northeastward towards Australia at the jet exit, in addition to portion of which curving equatorward at approximately 50° E towards the southwest Indian Ocean.

scholarly journals The Interannual Variability of Shallow Meridional Overturning Circulation and its association with the South-West Indian Ocean Heat Content variability

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rahul U Pai ◽  
Anant Parekh ◽  
Jasti S. Chowdary ◽  
C. Gnanaseelan
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Interannual Variability ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Heat Content ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Ocean Heat Content ◽  
The South ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
Meridional Overturning

Abstract The present study examines interannual variability of Shallow Meridional Overturning Circulation (SMOC) using century long reanalysis data. The strength of the transport associated with SMOC is calculated by meridional overturning streamfunction. The interannual variability in SMOC is found maximum between the 5oS and 15oS and displaying strong signals after 1940s. A year for which the meridional overturning streamfunction detrended anomaly is greater (lesser) its standard deviation is identified as strong (weak) SMOC year. For strong (weak) SMOC year composite displayed more (less) southward transport (~2.5 Sv) and shown excess (less) subduction over the South Indian Ocean. During strong (weak) years, the excess (less) southward heat transport (~0.25PW) leads to reduction (increase) in the upper 200m Ocean Heat Content (OHC) and sea level over the Southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO). The results obtained are well supported by tide gauge and satellite measured sea level data for the available period. Further analysis reveals that the SMOC variability is primarily driven by change in zonal wind stress south of the equator and displayed association with the Southern Oscillation Index. The Ocean model-based sensitivity experiments confirms that the OHC variability over SWIO is closely associated with the SMOC variability and is primarily driven by local wind forcing as a response to El Niño Southern Oscillation. However, the role of remote forcing from Pacific through Oceanic pathway over SWIO is absent. Study attempts to provide a comprehensive view on the interannual variability of SMOC and its linkage to OHC variability over SWIO during last century.

Interannual Variability in Sea Surface Height at Southern Midlatitudes of the Indian Ocean

2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 1595-1609
Author(s):  
Motoki Nagura ◽  
Michael J. McPhaden
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Interannual Variability ◽  
Sea Surface Height ◽  
Wind Forcing ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
The South ◽  
South Indian Ocean ◽  
Eastern Boundary ◽  
South Indian ◽  
The Indian Ocean

AbstractThis study examines interannual variability in sea surface height (SSH) at southern midlatitudes of the Indian Ocean (10°–35°S). Our focus is on the relative role of local wind forcing and remote forcing from the equatorial Pacific Ocean. We use satellite altimetry measurements, an atmospheric reanalysis, and a one-dimensional wave model tuned to simulate observed SSH anomalies. The model solution is decomposed into the part driven by local winds and that driven by SSH variability radiated from the western coast of Australia. Results show that variability radiated from the Australian coast is larger in amplitude than variability driven by local winds in the central and eastern parts of the south Indian Ocean at midlatitudes (between 19° and 33°S), whereas the influence from eastern boundary forcing is confined to the eastern basin at lower latitudes (10° and 17°S). The relative importance of eastern boundary forcing at midlatitudes is due to the weakness of wind stress curl anomalies in the interior of the south Indian Ocean. Our analysis further suggests that SSH variability along the west coast of Australia originates from remote wind forcing in the tropical Pacific, as is pointed out by previous studies. The zonal gradient of SSH between the western and eastern parts of the south Indian Ocean is also mostly controlled by variability radiated from the Australian coast, indicating that interannual variability in meridional geostrophic transport is driven principally by Pacific winds.

scholarly journals Central-West Argentina Summer Precipitation Variability and Atmospheric Teleconnections

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 1657-1677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo A. Agosta ◽  
Rosa H. Compagnucci
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Vertical Motion ◽  
Summer Precipitation ◽  
Western Indian Ocean ◽  
Stationary Wave ◽  
Precipitation Variability ◽  
South Atlantic ◽  
Spectral Variation ◽  
The South

The interannual-to-multidecadal variability of central-west Argentina (CWA) summer (October–March) precipitation and associated tropospheric circulation are studied in the period 1900–2010. Precipitation shows significant quasi cycles with periods of about 2, 4–5, 6–8, and 16–22 yr. The quasi-bidecadal oscillation is significant from the early 1910s until the mid-1970s and is present in pressure time series over the southwestern South Atlantic. According to the lower-frequency spectral variation, a prolonged wet spell is observed from 1973 to the early 2000s. The precipitation variability shows a reversal trend since then. In that wet epoch, the regionally averaged precipitation has been increased about 24%. The lower-frequency spectral variation is attributed to the climate shift of 1976/77. From the early twentieth century until the mid-1970s, the precipitation variability is associated with barotropic quasi-stationary wave (QSW) propagation from the tropical southern Indian Ocean and the South Pacific, generating vertical motion and moisture anomalies at middle-to-subtropical latitudes east of the Andes over southern South America. The QSW propagation could be related to anomalous convection partly induced by tropical anomalous SSTs in the western Indian Ocean (WIO). It could also be linked to another midlatitude source along the storm tracks, to the east of New Zealand. After 1976/77, the precipitation variability is associated with equatorial symmetric circulation anomalies linked to El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-like warmer conditions. Positive moisture anomalies are consistently observed at lower latitudes in association with inflation of the western flank of the South Atlantic anticyclone. Outside of this, the precipitation variability is unrelated to ENSO.

Climate Model Errors over the South Indian Ocean Thermocline Dome and Their Effect on the Basin Mode of Interannual Variability*

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (8) ◽  
pp. 3093-3098 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gen Li ◽  
Shang-Ping Xie ◽  
Yan Du
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Interannual Variability ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
Model Errors ◽  
South Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
The South ◽  
Easterly Wind ◽  
South Indian ◽  
Wind Bias

Abstract An open-ocean thermocline dome south of the equator is a striking feature of the Indian Ocean (IO) as a result of equatorial westerly winds. Over the thermocline dome, the El Niño–forced Rossby waves help sustain the IO basin (IOB) mode and offer climate predictability for the IO and surrounding countries. This study shows that a common equatorial easterly wind bias, by forcing a westward-propagating downwelling Rossby wave in the southern IO, induces too deep a thermocline dome over the southwestern IO (SWIO) in state-of-the-art climate models. Such a deep SWIO thermocline weakens the influence of subsurface variability on sea surface temperature (SST), reducing the IOB amplitude and possibly limiting the models’ skill of regional climate prediction. To the extent that the equatorial easterly wind bias originates from errors of the South Asian summer monsoon, improving the monsoon simulation can lead to substantial improvements in simulating and predicting interannual variability in the IO.

scholarly journals Cold vs. warm water route – sources for the upper limb of the AMOC revisited in a high-resolution ocean model

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siren Rühs ◽  
Franziska U. Schwarzkopf ◽  
Sabrina Speich ◽  
Arne Biastoch
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Upper Limb ◽  
Cold Water ◽  
Ocean Model ◽  
South Atlantic ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Surface Mixed Layer ◽  
The South ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
North Brazil

Abstract. The northward flow of the upper limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is fed by waters entering the South Atlantic from the Indian Ocean mainly via the Agulhas Current (AC) system and by waters entering from the Pacific through Drake Passage (DP), commonly referred to as the warm and cold water routes, respectively. However, there is no final consensus on the relative importance of these two routes for the upper limb’s volume transport and thermohaline properties. In this study we revisited the AC and DP contributions by performing Lagrangian analyzes between the two source regions and the North Brazil Current (NBC) at 6° S in a realistically forced high-resolution (1/20°) ocean model. Our results agree with the prevailing conception that the AC contribution is the major source for the upper limb transport of the AMOC. However, they also suggest a non-negligible DP contribution of at least 40 %, which is substantially higher than estimates from previous Lagrangian studies with coarser resolution models, but now better matches estimates from Lagrangian observations. Moreover, idealized analyzes of decadal changes in the DP and AC contributions indicate that the ongoing increase in Agulhas leakage indeed may have evoked an increase in the AC contribution to the upper limb of the AMOC while the DP contribution decreased. In terms of thermohaline properties, our study highlights that the AC and DP contributions cannot be unambiguously distinguished by their temperature, as the commonly adopted terminology may imply, but rather by their salinity when entering the South Atlantic. During their transit towards the NBC the bulk of DP waters experiences a net density loss through a net warming, whereas the bulk of AC waters experiences a slight net density gain through a net increase in salinity. Notably, these density changes are nearly completely captured by those Lagrangian particle trajectories that reach the surface mixed layer at least once during their transit, which amount to 66 % and 49 % for DP and AC waters, respectively. This implies that more than half of the water masses supplying the upper limb of the AMOC are actually formed within the South Atlantic, and do not get their characteristic properties in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

scholarly journals Causes of interannual variability of tropospheric ozone over the Southern Ocean

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junhua Liu ◽  
Jose M. Rodriguez ◽  
Stephen D. Steenrod ◽  
Anne R. Douglass ◽  
Jennifer A. Logan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Interannual Variability ◽  
Tropospheric Ozone ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Stratospheric Ozone ◽  
South Atlantic ◽  
Austral Winter ◽  
The South ◽  
Atlantic Region ◽  
South Indian ◽  
South Atlantic Region

Abstract. We examine the relative contribution of processes controlling the interannual variability (IAV) of tropospheric ozone over four sub-regions of the southern hemispheric tropospheric ozone maximum (SHTOM) over a twenty-year period. Our study is based on hindcast simulations from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Global Modeling Initiative – Chemistry transport model (NASA GMI-CTM) of tropospheric and stratospheric chemistry, driven by assimilated Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) meteorological fields. Our analysis shows that over SHTOM region, the IAV of the stratospheric contribution is the most important factor driving the IAV of upper tropospheric ozone (270 hPa), where ozone has a strong radiative effect. Over the south Atlantic region, the contribution from surface emissions to the IAV of ozone exceeds that from stratospheric input at and below 430 hPa. Over the south Indian Ocean, the IAV of stratospheric ozone makes the largest contribution to the IAV of ozone with little or no influence from surface emissions at 270 hPa and 430 hPa in austral winter. Over the tropical south Atlantic region, the contribution from IAV of stratospheric input dominates in austral winter at 270 hPa and drops to less than half but is still significant at 430 hPa. Emission contributions are not significant at these two levels, even during September. The IAV of lightning over this region also contributes to the IAV of ozone in September and December. Over the tropical southeastern Pacific, the contribution of the IAV of stratospheric input is significant at 270 hPa and 430 hPa in austral winter, and emissions have little influence.

Changes in the relationship between spring precipitation in southern China and tropical Pacific-South Indian Ocean SST

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-37
Author(s):  
XiaoJing Jia ◽  
Chao Zhang ◽  
Renguang Wu ◽  
QiFeng Qian
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Southern China ◽  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Western Pacific ◽  
The South ◽  
South Indian Ocean ◽  
South Indian ◽  
The Western Pacific ◽  
Sst Anomalies

AbstractThe present study explores the changed relationship between the interannual variations in spring (April-May) precipitation over southern China (SPSC) and sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the tropical Pacific and South Indian Ocean during the 1960-2017 period. Observational analysis shows that the relation between SPSC and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) was significant before the mid-1980s (P1) and after the early 2000s (P3) but insignificant from the mid-1980s to the early 2000s (P2). In P2, positive anomalous SPSC was significantly correlated with negative anomalous SST in the South Indian Ocean. During this period, an anomalous anticyclone and intensified southwesterly winds tended to appear over tropical India accompanied by a negative anomalous South Indian Ocean SST, which caused anomalous low-level convergence over the western Pacific. As a result, the western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH) tended to weaken and retreat eastward. This resulted in anomalous moisture convergence in southern China, favoring enhanced SPSC. Further analysis shows that the negative South Indian Ocean SST anomalies tended to induce anomalous cross-equatorial vertical circulation where the South Indian Ocean and southern China are controlled by descent and ascent air flow. The ascent motion may also contribute to positive anomalous SPSC. The observed contribution of the South Indian Ocean SST anomalies to the SPSC variation is confirmed by numerical experiments using an atmospheric model. The intensified variance of SST in the South Indian Ocean and the eastward shift of the ENSO-related circulation anomalies over the western tropical Pacific may partly account for the changes in the SST-SPSC relationship.

scholarly journals Cold vs. warm water route – sources for the upper limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation revisited in a high-resolution ocean model

Ocean Science ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 489-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siren Rühs ◽  
Franziska U. Schwarzkopf ◽  
Sabrina Speich ◽  
Arne Biastoch
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Upper Limb ◽  
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Ocean Model ◽  
South Atlantic ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
The South ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Meridional Overturning

Abstract. The northward flow of the upper limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is fed by waters entering the South Atlantic from the Indian Ocean mainly via the Agulhas Current (AC) system and by waters entering from the Pacific through Drake Passage (DP), commonly referred to as the “warm” and “cold” water routes, respectively. However, there is no final consensus on the relative importance of these two routes for the upper limb's volume transport and thermohaline properties. In this study we revisited the AC and DP contributions by performing Lagrangian analyses between the two source regions and the North Brazil Current (NBC) at 6∘ S in a realistically forced high-resolution (1∕20∘) ocean model. Our results agree with the prevailing conception that the AC contribution is the major source for the upper limb transport of the AMOC in the tropical South Atlantic. However, they also suggest a non-negligible DP contribution of around 40 %, which is substantially higher than estimates from previous Lagrangian studies with coarser-resolution models but now better matches estimates from Lagrangian observations. Moreover, idealized analyses of decadal changes in the DP and AC contributions indicate that the ongoing increase in Agulhas leakage indeed may have induced an increase in the AC contribution to the upper limb of the AMOC in the tropics, while the DP contribution decreased. In terms of thermohaline properties, our study highlights the fact that the AC and DP contributions cannot be unambiguously distinguished by their temperature, as the commonly adopted terminology may imply, but rather by their salinity when entering the South Atlantic. During their transit towards the NBC the bulk of DP waters experiences a net density loss through a net warming, whereas the bulk of AC waters experiences a slight net density gain through a net increase in salinity. Notably, these density changes are nearly completely captured by Lagrangian particle trajectories that reach the surface mixed layer at least once during their transit, which amount to 66 % and 49 % for DP and AC waters, respectively. This implies that more than half of the water masses supplying the upper limb of the AMOC are actually formed within the South Atlantic and do not get their characteristic properties in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

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