scholarly journals Intraseasonal Variability of SST and Precipitation in the Arabian Sea during the Indian Summer Monsoon: Impact of Ocean Mixed Layer Depth

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (21) ◽  
pp. 7889-7910 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuanlong Li ◽  
Weiqing Han ◽  
Wanqiu Wang ◽  
M. Ravichandran

Abstract This study investigates sea surface temperature (SST) and precipitation variations in the eastern Arabian Sea (EAS) induced by the northward-propagating Indian summer monsoon (ISM) intraseasonal oscillations (MISOs) through analyzing satellite observations and the Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR) and performing ocean general circulation model (OGCM) experiments. MISOs in the EAS achieve the largest intensity in the developing stage (May–June) of the ISM. The MISOs induce intraseasonal SST variability primarily through surface heat flux forcing, contributed by both shortwave radiation and turbulent heat flux, and secondarily through mixed layer entrainment. The shallow mixed layer depth (MLD < 40 m) in the developing stage and decaying stage (September–October) of the ISM significantly amplifies the heat flux forcing effect on SST and causes large intraseasonal SST variability. Meanwhile, the high SST (>29°C) in the developing stage leads to enhanced response of MISO convection to SST anomaly. It means that the ocean state of the EAS region during the developing stage favors active two-way air–sea interaction and the formation of the strong first-pulse MISO event. These results provide compelling evidence for the vital role played by the ocean in the MISO mechanisms and have implications for understanding and forecasting the ISM onset. Compared to satellite observation, MISOs in CFSR data have weaker SST variability by ~50% and biased SST–precipitation relation. Reducing these biases in CFSR, which provides initial conditions of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Climate Forecast System version 2 (CFSv2), may help improve the ISM rainfall forecast.

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (17) ◽  
pp. 7697-7714
Author(s):  
Baolan Wu ◽  
Xiaopei Lin ◽  
Lisan Yu

AbstractThe decadal to multidecadal mixed layer variability is investigated in a region south of the Kuroshio Extension (130°E–180°, 25°–35°N), an area where the North Pacific subtropical mode water forms, during 1948–2012. By analyzing the mixed layer heat budget with different observational and reanalysis data, here we show that the decadal to multidecadal variability of the mixed layer temperature and mixed layer depth is covaried with the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO), instead of the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO). The mixed layer temperature has strong decadal to multidecadal variability, being warm before 1970 and after 1990 (AMO positive phase) and cold during 1970–90 (AMO negative phase), and so does the mixed layer depth. The dominant process for the mixed layer temperature decadal to multidecadal variability is the Ekman advection, which is controlled by the zonal wind changes related to the AMO. The net heat flux into the ocean surface Qnet acts as a damping term and it is mainly from the effect of latent heat flux and partially from sensible heat flux. While the wind as well as mixed layer temperature decadal changes related to the PDO are weak in the western Pacific Ocean. Our finding proposes the possible influence of the AMO on the northwestern Pacific Ocean mixed layer variability, and could be a potential predictor for the decadal to multidecadal climate variability in the western Pacific Ocean.


2004 ◽  
Vol 61 (21) ◽  
pp. 2528-2543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn M. Auslander ◽  
Peter R. Bannon

Abstract This study examines the diurnal response of a mixed-layer model of the dryline system to localized anomalies of surface heat flux, topography, mixed-layer depth, and inversion strength. The two-dimensional, mixed-layer model is used to simulate the dynamics of a cool, moist layer east of the dryline capped by an inversion under synoptically quiescent conditions. The modeled domain simulates the sloping topography of the U.S. Great Plains. The importance of this study can be related to dryline bulges that are areas with enhanced convergence that may trigger convection in suitable environmental conditions. All anomalies are represented by a Gaussian function in the horizontal whose amplitude, size, and orientation can be altered. A positive, surface-heat-flux anomaly produces increased mixing that creates a bulge toward the east, while a negative anomaly produces a westward bulge. Anomalies in topography show a similar trend in bulge direction with a peak giving an eastward bulge, and a valley giving a westward bulge. Anomalies in the initial mixed-layer depth yield an eastward bulge in the presence of a minimum and a westward bulge for a maximum. An anomaly in the initial inversion strength results in a westward bulge when the inversion is stronger, and an eastward bulge when the inversion is weak. The bulges observed in this study at 1800 LT ranged from 400 to 600 km along the dryline and from 25 to 80 km across the dryline. When the heating ceases at night, the entrainment and eastward movement of the line stops, and the line surges westward. This westward surge at night has little dependence on the type of anomaly applied. Whether a westward or eastward bulge was present at 1800 LT, the surge travels an equal distance toward the west. However, the inclusion of weak nocturnal friction reduces the westward surge by 100 to 200 km due to mechanical mixing of the very shallow leading edge of the surge. All model runs exhibit peaks in the mixed-layer depth along the dryline at 1800 LT caused by enhanced boundary layer convergence and entrainment of elevated mixed-layer air into the mixed layer. These peaks appear along the section of the dryline that is least parallel to the southerly flow. They vary in amplitude from 4 to 9 km depending on the amplitude of the anomaly. However, the surface-heat-flux anomalies generally result in peaks at the higher end of this interval. It is hypothesized that the formation of these peaks may be the trigger for deep convection along the dryline in the late afternoon.


2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (6) ◽  
pp. 2021-2028 ◽  
Author(s):  
John F. Marra ◽  
Tommy D. Dickey ◽  
Albert J. Plueddemann ◽  
Robert A. Weller ◽  
Christopher S. Kinkade ◽  
...  

Abstract We review bio-optical and physical data from three mooring experiments, the Marine Light–Mixed Layers programme in spring 1989 and 1991 in the Iceland Basin (59°N/21°W), and the Forced Upper Ocean Dynamics Experiment in the central Arabian Sea from October 1994 to 1995 (15.5°N/61.5°E). In the Iceland Basin, from mid-April to mid-June in 1989, chlorophyll-a concentrations are sensitive to small changes in stratification, with intermittent increases early in the record. The spring increase occurs after 20 May, coincident with persistent water column stratification. In 1991, the bloom occurs 2 weeks earlier than in 1989, with a background of strong short-term and diurnal variability in mixed layer depth and minimal horizontal advection. In the Arabian Sea, the mixing response to the northeast and southwest monsoons, plus the response to mesoscale eddies, produces four blooms over the annual cycle. The mixed layer depth in the Arabian Sea never exceeds the euphotic zone, allowing interactions between phytoplankton and grazer populations to become important. For all three mooring experiments, change in water column stratification is key in producing phytoplankton blooms.


2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 283-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shun Ohishi ◽  
Hidenori Aiki ◽  
Tomoki Tozuka ◽  
Meghan F. Cronin

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 365-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boyin Huang ◽  
Yan Xue ◽  
Hui Wang ◽  
Wanqiu Wang ◽  
Arun Kumar

2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 1628-1641 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subodh K. Saha ◽  
Samir Pokhrel ◽  
Hemantkumar S. Chaudhari ◽  
Ashish Dhakate ◽  
Swati Shewale ◽  
...  

2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 1399-1415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard E. Thomson ◽  
Isaac V. Fine

Abstract This paper presents a simple diagnostic model for estimating mixed layer depth based solely on the one-dimensional heat balance equation, the surface heat flux, and the sea surface temperature. The surface fluxes drive heating or cooling of the upper layer whereas the surface temperature acts as a “thermostat” that regulates the vertical extent of the layer. Daily mixed layer depth estimates from the diagnostic model (and two standard bulk mixed layer models) are compared with depths obtained from oceanic profiles collected during the 1956–80 Canadian Weathership program at Station P and more recent (2001–07) profiles from the vicinity of this station from Argo drifters. Summer mixed layer depths from the diagnostic model agree more closely with observed depths and are less sensitive to heat flux errors than those from bulk models. For the Weathership monitoring period, the root-mean-square difference between modeled and observed monthly mean mixed layer depths is ∼6 m for the diagnostic model and ∼10 m for the bulk models. The diagnostic model is simpler to apply than bulk models and sidesteps the need for wind data and turbulence parameterization required by these models. Mixed layer depths obtained from the diagnostic model using NCEP–NCAR reanalysis data reveal that—contrary to reports for late winter—there has been no significant trend in the summer mixed layer depth in the central northeast Pacific over the past 52 yr.


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