The Role of Oceanic Heat Advection in the Evolution of Tropical North and South Atlantic SST Anomalies*

2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (23) ◽  
pp. 6122-6138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory R. Foltz ◽  
Michael J. McPhaden
Keyword(s):  
Surface Flux ◽  
South Atlantic ◽  
Shortwave Radiation ◽  
Heat Advection ◽  
Horizontal Advection ◽  
Latent Heat Loss ◽  
North And South ◽  
Sst Gradient ◽  
Sst Anomalies

Abstract The role of horizontal oceanic heat advection in the generation of tropical North and South Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies is investigated through an analysis of the oceanic mixed layer heat balance. It is found that SST anomalies poleward of 10° are driven primarily by a combination of wind-induced latent heat loss and shortwave radiation. Away from the eastern boundary, horizontal advection damps surface flux–forced SST anomalies due to a combination of mean meridional Ekman currents acting on anomalous meridional SST gradients, and anomalous meridional currents acting on the mean meridional SST gradient. Horizontal advection is likely to have the most significant effect on the interhemispheric SST gradient mode through its impact in the 10°–20° latitude bands of each hemisphere, where the variability in advection is strongest and its negative correlation with the surface heat flux is highest. In addition to the damping effect of horizontal advection in these latitude bands, evidence for coupled wind–SST feedbacks is found, with anomalous equatorward (poleward) SST gradients contributing to enhanced (reduced) westward surface winds and an equatorward propagation of SST anomalies.

scholarly journals Role of Mixed Layer Dynamics in Tropical North Atlantic Interannual Sea Surface Temperature Variability

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (22) ◽  
pp. 8083-8101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allyson Rugg ◽  
Gregory R. Foltz ◽  
Renellys C. Perez
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Sea Surface Temperature ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Shortwave Radiation ◽  
Thermocline Depth ◽  
Equatorial Atlantic ◽  
Tropical North Atlantic ◽  
Sst Anomalies

Abstract This study examines the causes of observed sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the tropical North Atlantic between 1982 and 2015. The emphasis is on the boreal winter and spring seasons, when tropical Atlantic SSTs project strongly onto the Atlantic meridional mode (AMM). Results from a composite analysis of satellite and reanalysis data show important forcing of SST anomalies by wind-driven changes in mixed layer depth and shortwave radiation between 5° and 10°N, in addition to the well-known positive wind–evaporation–SST and shortwave radiation–SST feedbacks between 5° and 20°N. Anomalous surface winds also drive pronounced thermocline depth anomalies of opposite signs in the eastern equatorial Atlantic and intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ; 2°–8°N). A major new finding is that there is strong event-to-event variability in the impact of thermocline depth on SST in the ITCZ region, in contrast to the more consistent relationship in the eastern equatorial Atlantic. Much stronger anomalies of meridional wind stress, thermocline depth, and vertical turbulent cooling are found in the ITCZ region during a negative AMM event in 2009 compared to a negative event in 2015 and a positive event in 2010, despite SST anomalies of similar magnitude in the early stages of each event. The larger anomalies in 2009 led to a much stronger and longer-lived event. Possible causes of the inconsistent relationship between thermocline depth and SST in the ITCZ region are discussed, including the preconditioning role of the winter cross-equatorial SST gradient.

scholarly journals The extreme 2014 flood in south-western Amazon basin: the role of tropical-subtropical South Atlantic SST gradient

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 124007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jhan Carlo Espinoza ◽  
José Antonio Marengo ◽  
Josyane Ronchail ◽  
Jorge Molina Carpio ◽  
Luís Noriega Flores ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amazon Basin ◽  
South Atlantic ◽  
Sst Gradient

scholarly journals An Observation-Based Assessment of Nonlinear Feedback Processes Associated with the Indian Ocean Dipole

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 2880-2890 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenju Cai ◽  
Yun Qiu
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Indian Ocean Dipole ◽  
Shortwave Radiation ◽  
Heating Process ◽  
Evaporative Heat Loss ◽  
Damping Effect ◽  
Temperature Feedback ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
Sst Anomalies

Abstract A well-known feature of the Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) is its positive skewness, with cold sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies over the east pole (IODE) exhibiting a larger amplitude than warm SST anomalies. Several mechanisms have been proposed for this asymmetry, but because of a lack of observations the role of various processes remains contentious. Using Argo profiles and other newly available data, the authors provide an observation-based assessment of the IOD skewness. First, the role of a nonlinear dynamical heating process is reaffirmed, which reinforces IODE cold anomalies but damps IODE warm anomalies. This reinforcing effect is greater than the damping effect, further contributing to the skewness. Second, the existence of a thermocline–temperature feedback asymmetry, whereby IODE cold anomalies induced by a shoaling thermocline are greater than warm anomalies associated with a deepening thermocline, is the primary forcing of the IOD skewness. This thermocline–temperature feedback asymmetry is a part of the nonlinear Bjerknes-like positive feedback loop involving winds, SST, and the thermocline, all displaying a consistent asymmetry with a stronger response when IODE SST is anomalously cold. The asymmetry is enhanced by a nonlinear barrier layer response, with a greater thinning associated with IODE cold anomalies than a thickening associated with IODE warm anomalies. Finally, in response to IODE cool anomalies, rainfall and evaporative heat loss diminish and incoming shortwave radiation increases, which results in damping the cool SST anomalies. The damping increases with IODE cold anomalies. Thus, the IOD skewness is generated in spite of a greater damping effect of the SST–cloud–radiation feedback process.

scholarly journals Relations of the Low-Level Extratropical Cyclones in the Southeast Pacific and South Atlantic to the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (14) ◽  
pp. 4167-4178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Toshie Kayano ◽  
Marcelo Barbio Rosa ◽  
Vadlamudi Brahamananda Rao ◽  
Rita Valéria Andreoli ◽  
Rodrigo Augusto Ferreira de Souza
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation ◽  
Short Wave ◽  
South Atlantic ◽  
Extratropical Cyclones ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Southeastern Pacific ◽  
Long Wave ◽  
North And South ◽  
Sst Anomalies

Abstract The relations of the low-level extratropical cyclones in the southeastern Pacific and South Atlantic with the sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies associated with the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) during the summer and winter of the 1979–93 cold AMO (CAMO) and 2003–17 warm AMO (WAMO) are analyzed. During both seasons and in both AMO phases, the cyclone trajectories defined by cyclone local counts exceeding 10 events per grid box occur approximately in the areas with the AMO-related positive SST anomalies. The cyclone densities in most latitudes during both seasons are higher in the CAMO than in the WAMO. Thus, the cyclone density in the study domain presents a reduction trend during the 1979–2017 period. The large-scale northward SST anomalous gradients between the bands north and south of 40°S increase the long-wave baroclinicity in the midlatitudes in the WAMO, and the southward SST anomalous gradients decrease it in the CAMO. Consequently, the short-wave baroclinicity is higher in the WAMO than in the CAMO in the southeastern Pacific midlatitudes. Thus, the cyclones are more energetic in the WAMO than in the CAMO. In the South Atlantic region off the Argentinean coast, both the barotropic and baroclinic conversion terms are positive, indicating an increase of the kinetic energy of the short waves. The low-level cyclones in the southeastern Pacific and South Atlantic are modulated by the AMO. As far as we know, the relation of the SH low-level extratropical cyclones to the AMO documented here was not studied before.

Observed seasonal regimes of North-South Atlantic Ocean interbasin exchange

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamed D. Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
South Atlantic ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Volume Flux ◽  
The South ◽  
The North ◽  
Basin Scale ◽  
Interbasin Exchange ◽  
North And South

North and South Atlantic lateral volume exchange is a key component of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) embedded in Earth’s climate. Northward AMOC heat transport within this exchange mitigates the large heat loss to the atmosphere in the northern North Atlantic. Because of inadequate climate data, observational basin-scale studies of net interbasin exchange between the North and South Atlantic have been limited. Here ten independent climate datasets, five satellite-derived and five analyses, are synthesized to show that North and South Atlantic climatological net lateral volume exchange is partitioned into two seasonal regimes. From late-May to late-November, net lateral volume flux is from the North to the South Atlantic; whereas from late-November to late-May, net lateral volume flux is from the South to the North Atlantic. This climatological characterization offers a framework for assessing seasonal variations in these basins and provides a constraint for climate models that simulate AMOC dynamics.

scholarly journals Origins of Biases in CMIP5 Models Simulating Northwest Pacific Summertime Atmospheric Circulation Anomalies during the Decaying Phase of ENSO

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (14) ◽  
pp. 5707-5729 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weichen Tao ◽  
Gang Huang ◽  
Renguang Wu ◽  
Kaiming Hu ◽  
Pengfei Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atmospheric Circulation ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Coupled Model ◽  
Tropical Indian Ocean ◽  
Shortwave Radiation ◽  
Cmip5 Models ◽  
Northwest Pacific ◽  
Circulation Anomalies ◽  
Atmospheric Circulation Anomalies ◽  
Sst Anomalies

Abstract The present study documents the biases of summertime northwest Pacific (NWP) atmospheric circulation anomalies during the decaying phase of ENSO and investigates their plausible reasons in 32 models from phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. Based on an intermodel empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-related 850-hPa wind anomalies, the dominant modes of biases are extracted. The first EOF mode, explaining 21.3% of total intermodel variance, is characterized by a cyclone over the NWP, indicating a weaker NWP anticyclone. The cyclone appears to be a Rossby wave response to unrealistic equatorial western Pacific (WP) sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies related to excessive equatorial Pacific cold tongue in the models. On one hand, the cold SST biases increase the mean zonal SST gradient, which further intensifies warm zonal advection, favoring the development and persistence of equatorial WP SST anomalies. On the other hand, they reduce the anomalous convection caused by ENSO-related warming, and the resultant increase in downward shortwave radiation contributes to the SST anomalies there. The second EOF mode, explaining 18.6% of total intermodel variance, features an anticyclone over the NWP with location shifted northward. The related SST anomalies in the Indo-Pacific sector show a tripole structure, with warming in the tropical Indian Ocean and equatorial central and eastern Pacific and cooling in the NWP. The Indo-Pacific SST anomalies are highly controlled by ENSO amplitude, which is determined by the intensity of subtropical cells via the adjustment of meridional and vertical advection in the models.

scholarly journals Role of the Indo-Pacific Interbasin Coupling in Predicting Asymmetric ENSO Transition and Duration

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (9) ◽  
pp. 3321-3335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masamichi Ohba ◽  
Masahiro Watanabe
Keyword(s):  
El Niño ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
La Niña ◽  
La Nina ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Enso Asymmetry ◽  
Sst Anomalies

Warm and cold phases of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) exhibit a significant asymmetry in their transition/duration such that El Niño tends to shift rapidly to La Niña after the mature phase, whereas La Niña tends to persist for up to 2 yr. The possible role of sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the Indian Ocean (IO) in this ENSO asymmetry is investigated using a coupled general circulation model (CGCM). Decoupled-IO experiments are conducted to assess asymmetric IO feedbacks to the ongoing ENSO evolution in the Pacific. Identical-twin forecast experiments show that a coupling of the IO extends the skillful prediction of the ENSO warm phase by about one year, which was about 8 months in the absence of the IO coupling, in which a significant drop of the prediction skill around the boreal spring (known as the spring prediction barrier) is found. The effect of IO coupling on the predictability of the Pacific SST is significantly weaker in the decay phase of La Niña. Warm IO SST anomalies associated with El Niño enhance surface easterlies over the equatorial western Pacific and hence facilitate the El Niño decay. However, this mechanism cannot be applied to cold IO SST anomalies during La Niña. The result of these CGCM experiments estimates that approximately one-half of the ENSO asymmetry arises from the phase-dependent nature of the Indo-Pacific interbasin coupling.

scholarly journals Interannual Variability of Sea Surface Temperature off Java and Sumatra in a Global GCM*

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 2451-2465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Du ◽  
Tangdong Qu ◽  
Gary Meyers
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Sea Surface Temperature ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Heat Budget ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Surface Mixed Layer ◽  
Horizontal Advection ◽  
Cold Anomaly ◽  
Sst Anomalies

Abstract Using results from the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA), this study assesses the mixed layer heat budget to identify the mechanisms that control the interannual variation of sea surface temperature (SST) off Java and Sumatra. The analysis indicates that during the positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) years, cold SST anomalies are phase locked with the season cycle. They may exceed −3°C near the coast of Sumatra and extend as far westward as 80°E along the equator. The depth of the thermocline has a prominent influence on the generation and maintenance of SST anomalies. In the normal years, cooling by upwelling–entrainment is largely counterbalanced by warming due to horizontal advection. In the cooling episode of IOD events, coastal upwelling–entrainment is enhanced, and as a result of mixed layer shoaling, the barrier layer no longer exists, so that the effect of upwelling–entrainment can easily reach the surface mixed layer. Horizontal advection spreads the cold anomaly to the interior tropical Indian Ocean. Near the coast of Java, the northern branch of an anomalous anticyclonic circulation spreads the cold anomaly to the west near the equator. Both the anomalous advection and the enhanced, wind-driven upwelling generate the cold SST anomaly of the positive IOD. At the end of the cooling episode, the enhanced surface thermal forcing overbalances the cooling effect by upwelling/entrainment, and leads to a warming in SST off Java and Sumatra.

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