scholarly journals On North Pacific Multidecadal Climate Variability

2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (12) ◽  
pp. 2906-2915 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mojib Latif
Keyword(s):  
Climate Variability ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Coupled Model ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Multidecadal Variability ◽  
The North ◽  
Atmosphere General Circulation Model ◽  
Multidecadal Climate Variability ◽  
The North Pacific

Abstract The multidecadal climate variability in the North Pacific region is investigated by using a 2000-yr-long integration with a coupled ocean–atmosphere general circulation model. It is shown that the multidecadal variability evolves largely independent of the variations in the tropical Pacific, so that this kind of multidecadal variability may be regarded as internal to the North Pacific. The coupled model results suggest that the multidecadal variability can be explained by the dynamical ocean response to stochastic wind stress forcing. Superimposed on the red background variability, a multidecadal mode with a period of about 40 yr is simulated by the coupled model. This mode can be understood through the concept of spatial resonance between the ocean and the atmosphere.

scholarly journals Sensitivity of the Simulated Distributions of Water Masses, CFCs, and Bomb 14C to Parameterizations of Mesoscale Tracer Transports in a Model of the North Pacific

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongfu Xu ◽  
Shigeaki Aoki ◽  
Koh Harada
Keyword(s):  
North Pacific ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Western North Pacific ◽  
North Pacific Ocean ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Water Masses ◽  
Intermediate Water ◽  
North Pacific Intermediate Water ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Pacific

Abstract A basinwide ocean general circulation model of the North Pacific Ocean is used to study the sensitivity of the simulated distributions of water masses, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and bomb carbon-14 isotope (14C) to parameterizations of mesoscale tracer transports. Five simulations are conducted, including a run with the traditional horizontal mixing scheme and four runs with the isopycnal transport parameterization of Gent and McWilliams (GM). The four GM runs use different values of isopycnal and skew diffusivities. Simulated results show that the GM mixing scheme can help to form North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW). Greater isopycnal diffusivity enhances formation of NPIW. Although greater skew diffusivity can also generate NPIW, it makes the subsurface too fresh. Results from simulations of CFC uptake show that greater isopycnal diffusivity generates the best results relative to observations in the western North Pacific. The model generally underestimates the inventories of CFCs in the western North Pacific. The results from simulations of bomb 14C reproduce some observed features. Greater isopycnal diffusivity generates a longitudinal gradient of the inventory of bomb 14C from west to east, whereas greater skew diffusivity makes it reversed. It is considered that the ratio of isopycnal diffusivity to skew diffusivity is important. An increase in isopycnal diffusivity increases storage of passive tracers in the subtropical gyre.

scholarly journals Data Sensitivity of the ECCO State Estimate in a Regional Setting

2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (11) ◽  
pp. 2420-2443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Douglass ◽  
Dean Roemmich ◽  
Detlef Stammer
Keyword(s):  
North Pacific ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
North Pacific Ocean ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Data Consistency ◽  
Consistent Estimate ◽  
Regional Setting ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Pacific

Abstract The Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO) consortium provides a framework in which the adjoint method of data assimilation is applied to a general circulation model to provide a dynamically self-consistent estimate of the time-varying ocean state, which is constrained by observations. In this study, the sensitivity of the solution to the constraints provided by various datasets is investigated in a regional setting in the North Pacific. Four assimilation experiments are performed, which vary by the data used as constraints and the relative weights associated with these data. The resulting estimates are compared to two of the assimilated datasets as well as to data from two time series stations not used as constraints. These comparisons demonstrate that increasing the weights of the subsurface data provides overall improvement in the model–data consistency of the estimate of the state of the North Pacific Ocean. However, some elements of the solution are degraded. This could result from incompatibility between datasets, possibly because of hidden biases, or from errors in the model physics made more evident by the increased weight on subsurface data. The adjustments to the control parameters of surface forcing and initial conditions necessary to obtain the more accurate fit to the data are found to be within prior error bars.

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