scholarly journals Seasonal and Spatial Variability of Near-Inertial Kinetic Energy from Historical Moored Velocity Records

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (8) ◽  
pp. 2022-2037 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew H. Alford ◽  
Maya Whitmont

Abstract Temporal and spatial patterns of near-inertial kinetic energy (KEmoor) are investigated in a database of 2480 globally distributed, moored current-meter records (deployed on 690 separate moorings) and compared with the distribution of wind-forced mixed-layer energy flux FML. By computing KEmoor using short (30 day) multitaper spectral windows, the seasonal cycle is resolved. Clear winter enhancement by a factor of 4–5 is seen in the Northern Hemisphere for latitudes 25°–45° at all depths <4500 m, in close agreement with the magnitude, phase, and latitudinal dependence of the seasonal cycle of FML. In the Southern Hemisphere, data coverage is poorer, but a weaker seasonal cycle (a factor of 2) in both KEmoor and FML is still resolvable between 35° and 50°. When Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin (WKB) scaled using climatological buoyancy-frequency profiles, summer KEmoor is approximately constant in depth while showing a clear decrease by a factor of 4–5 from 500 to 3500 m in winter. Spatial coverage is sufficient in the Northern Hemisphere to resolve broad KEmoor maxima in the western portion of each ocean basin in winter, generally collocated with FML maxima associated with storm forcing. The ratio of depth-integrated KEmoor to FML gives a replenishment time scale, which is about 10 days in midlatitudes, consistent with 1) previous estimates of the dissipation time scale of the internal wave continuum and 2) the presence of a seasonal cycle. Its increase to ≈70–80 days at lower latitudes is a possible signature of equatorward propagation of near-inertial waves. The seasonal modulation of the magnitude of KEmoor, its similarity to that in FML, and the depth decay and western intensification in winter but not in summer are consistent with a primarily wind-forced near-inertial field for latitudes poleward of ≈25°.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrike Herzschuh ◽  
Thomas Böhmer ◽  
Xianyong Cao ◽  
Raphael Herbert ◽  
Anne Dallmeyer ◽  
...  

<p>Future precipitation levels under a warming climate remain uncertain because current climate models have largely failed to reproduce observed variations in temperature-precipitation correlations. Our analyses of Holocene proxy-based temperature-precipitation correlations from 1647 Northern Hemisphere extratropical pollen records reveal a significant latitudinal dependence, temporal variations between the early, middle, and late Holocene, and differences between short and long timescales. These proxy-based variations are largely consistent with patterns obtained from transient climate simulations for the Holocene. Temperature-precipitation correlations increase from short to long time-scales. While high latitudes and subtropical monsoon areas show mainly stable positive correlations throughout the Holocene, the mid-latitude pattern is temporally and spatially more variable. In particular, we identified a reversal to negative temperature-precipitation correlations in the eastern North American and European mid-latitudes during the mid-Holocene that mainly related to slowed down westerlies and a switch to moisture-limited convection under a warm climate. We conclude that the effect of climate change on land areas is more complex than the commonly assumed “wetter climate in a warmer world”. Future predictions need to consider that warming related precipitation change is time-scale dependent.</p>


1986 ◽  
Vol 91 (D7) ◽  
pp. 7809-7815 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey H. Zautner ◽  
Linda M. Whittaker ◽  
Lyle H. Horn

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jocelyn C. Turnbull ◽  
Sara E. Mikaloff Fletcher ◽  
India Ansell ◽  
Gordon Brailsford ◽  
Rowena Moss ◽  
...  

Abstract. We present 60 years of Δ14CO2 measurements from Wellington, New Zealand (41° S, 175° E). The record has been extended and fully revised. New measurements have been used to evaluate the existing record and to replace original measurements where warranted. This is the earliest atmospheric Δ14CO2 record and records the rise of the 14C "bomb spike", the subsequent decline in Δ14CO2 as bomb 14C moved throughout the carbon cycle and increasing fossil fuel CO2 emissions further decreased atmospheric Δ14CO2. The initially large seasonal cycle in the 1960s reduces in amplitude and eventually reverses in phase, resulting in a small seasonal cycle of about 2 ‰ in the 2000s. The seasonal cycle at Wellington is dominated by the seasonality of cross-tropopause transport, and differs slightly from that at Cape Grim, Australia, which is influenced by anthropogenic sources in winter. Δ14CO2 at Cape Grim and Wellington show very similar trends, with significant differences only during periods of known measurement uncertainty. In contrast, Northern Hemisphere clean air sites show a higher and earlier bomb 14C peak, consistent with a 1.4-year interhemispheric exchange time. From the 1970s until the early 2000s, the Northern and Southern Hemisphere Δ14CO2 were quite similar, apparently due to the balance of 14C-free fossil fuel CO2 emissions in the north and 14C-depleted ocean upwelling in the south. The Southern Hemisphere sites show a consistent and marked elevation above the Northern Hemisphere sites since the early 2000s, which is most likely due to reduced upwelling of 14C-depleted and carbon-rich deep waters in the Southern Ocean. This developing Δ14CO2 interhemispheric gradient is consistent with recent studies that indicate a reinvigorated Southern Ocean carbon sink since the mid-2000s, and suggests that upwelling of deep waters plays an important role in this change.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theertha Kariyathan ◽  
Wouter Peters ◽  
Julia Marshall ◽  
Ana Bastos ◽  
Markus Reichstein

<p>Carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) is an important greenhouse gas, and it accounts for about 20% of the present-day anthropogenic greenhouse effect. Atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> is cycled between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere through various land-surface processes and thus links the atmosphere and terrestrial biosphere through positive and negative feedback. Since multiple trace gas elements are linked by common biogeochemical processes, multi-species analysis is useful for reinforcing our understanding and can help in partitioning CO<sub>2</sub> fluxes. For example, in the northern hemisphere, CO<sub>2</sub> has a distinct seasonal cycle mainly regulated by plant photosynthesis and respiration and it has a distinct negative correlation with the seasonal cycle of the δ<sup>13</sup>C isotope of CO<sub>2</sub>, due to a stronger isotopic fractionation associated with terrestrial photosynthesis. Therefore, multi-species flask-data measurements are useful for the long-term analysis of various green-house gases. Here we try to infer the complex interaction between the atmosphere and the terrestrial biosphere by multi-species analysis using atmospheric flask measurement data from different NOAA flask measurement sites across the northern hemisphere.</p><p>This study focuses on the long-term changes in the seasonal cycle of CO<sub>2</sub> over the northern hemisphere and tries to attribute the observed changes to driving land-surface processes through a combined analysis of the δ<sup>13</sup>C seasonal cycle. For this we generate metrics of different parameters of the CO<sub>2</sub> and δ<sup>13</sup>C seasonal cycle like the seasonal cycle amplitude given by the peak-to-peak difference of the cycle (indicative of the amount of CO<sub>2</sub> taken up by terrestrial uptake),  the intensity of plant productivity inferred from the slope of the seasonal cycle during the growing season , length of growing season and the start of the growing season. We analyze the inter-relation between these metrics and how they change across latitude and over time. We hypothesize that the CO<sub>2 </sub>seasonal cycle amplitude is controlled both by the intensity of plant productivity and period of the active growing season and that the timing of the growing season can affect the intensity of plant productivity. We then quantify these relationships, including their variation over time and latitudes and describe the effects of an earlier start of the growing season on the intensity of plant productivity and the CO<sub>2</sub> uptake by plants.</p>


1999 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. S. Wheater ◽  
T. J. Jolley ◽  
C. Onof ◽  
N. Mackay ◽  
R. E. Chandler

Abstract. Appropriate representation of hydrological processes within atmospheric General Circulation Models (GCMs) is important with respect to internal model dynamics (e.g. surface feedback effects on atmospheric fluxes, continental runoff production) and to simulation of terrestrial impacts of climate change. However, at the scale of a GCM grid-square, several methodological problems arise. Spatial disaggregation of grid-square average climatological parameters is required in particular to produce appropriate point intensities from average precipitation. Conversely, aggregation of land surface heterogeneity is necessary for grid-scale or catchment scale application. The performance of grid-based hydrological models is evaluated for two large (104km2) UK catchments. Simple schemes, using sub-grid average of individual land use at 40 km scale and with no calibration, perform well at the annual time-scale and, with the addition of a (calibrated) routing component, at the daily and monthly time-scale. Decoupling of hillslope and channel routing does not necessarily improve performance or identifiability. Scale dependence is investigated through application of distribution functions for rainfall and soil moisture at 100 km scale. The results depend on climate, but show interdependence of the representation of sub-grid rainfall and soil moisture distribution. Rainfall distribution is analysed directly using radar rainfall data from the UK and the Arkansas Red River, USA. Among other properties, the scale dependence of spatial coverage upon radar pixel resolution and GCM grid-scale, as well as the serial correlation of coverages are investigated. This leads to a revised methodology for GCM application, as a simple extension of current procedures. A new location-based approach using an image processing technique is then presented, to allow for the preservation of the spatial memory of the process.


2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (8) ◽  
pp. 2457-2481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yusuke Kawaguchi ◽  
Shigeto Nishino ◽  
Jun Inoue ◽  
Katsuhisa Maeno ◽  
Hiroki Takeda ◽  
...  

AbstractThe Arctic Ocean is known to be quiescent in terms of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) associated with internal waves. To investigate the current state of TKE in the seasonally ice-free Chukchi Plateau, Arctic Ocean, this study performed a 3-week, fixed-point observation (FPO) using repeated microstructure, hydrographic, and current measurements in September 2014. During the FPO program, the microstructure observation detected noticeable peaks of TKE dissipation rate ε during the transect of an anticyclonic eddy moving across the FPO station. Particularly, ε had a significant elevation in the lower halocline layer, near the critical level, reaching the order of 10−8 W kg−1. The ADCP-measured current displayed energetic near-inertial internal waves (NIWs) propagating via the stratification at the top and bottom of the anticyclone. According to spectral analyses of horizontal velocity, the waves had almost downward energy propagation, and its current amplitude reached ~10 cm s−1. The WKB scaling, incorporating vertical variations of relative vorticity, suggests that increased wave energy near the two pycnoclines was associated with diminishing group velocity at the corresponding depths. The finescale parameterization using observed near-inertial velocity and buoyancy frequency successfully reproduced the characteristics of observed ε, supporting that the near-inertial kinetic energy can be effectively dissipated into turbulence near the critical layer. According to a mixed layer slab model, a rapidly moving storm that has passed over in the first week likely delivered the bulk of NIW kinetic energy, eventually captured by the vortex, into the surface water.


2019 ◽  
Vol 223 ◽  
pp. 01066
Author(s):  
A.S. Umar ◽  
C. Simenel ◽  
S. Ayik ◽  
K. Godbey

We discuss the equilibration dynamics and time–scales for various quantities that are connected to the experimentally observable entities. These include the study of mass, isospin, and total kinetic energy (TKE)equilibration time–scales as well as the time–scale for fluctuations.


Radiocarbon ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 1239-1259 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Southon

Some of the most valuable paleoclimate archives yet recovered are the multi-proxy records from the Greenland GISP2 and GRIP ice cores. The crucial importance of these data arises in part from the strong correlations that exist between the Greenland δ18O records and isotopic or other proxies in numerous other Northern Hemisphere paleoclimate sequences. These correlations could, in principle, allow layer-counted ice-core chronologies to be transferred to radiocarbon-dated paleoclimate archives, thus providing a 14C calibration for the Last Glacial Maximum and Isotope Stage 3, back to the instrumental limits of the 14C technique. However, this possibility is confounded by the existence of numerous different chronologies, as opposed to a single (or even a “best”) ice-core time scale. This paper reviews how the various chronologies were developed, summarizes the differences between them, and examines ways in which further research may allow a 14C calibration to be established.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen Yi ◽  
Xianghui Xue ◽  
Iain M. Reid ◽  
Damian J. Murphy ◽  
Chris M. Hall ◽  
...  

Abstract. The existing distribution of meteor radars located from high- to low-latitude regions provides a favourable temporal and spatial coverage for investigating the climatology of the global mesopause density. In this study, we report the climatology of the mesopause density estimated using multiyear observations from nine meteor radars, namely, the Davis Station (68.6° S, 77.9° E), Svalbard (78.3° N, 16° E) and Tromsø (69.6° N, 19.2° E) meteor radars located at high latitudes, the Mohe (53.5° N, 122.3° E), Beijing (40.3° N, 116.2° E), Mengcheng (33.4° N, 116.6° E) and Wuhan (30.5° N, 114.6° E) meteor radars located in the mid-latitudes, and the Kunming (25.6° N, 103.8° E) and Darwin (12.3° S, 130.8° E) meteor radars located at low latitudes. The daily mean density was estimated using ambipolar diffusion coefficients derived from the meteor radars and temperatures from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) on board the Aura satellite. The seasonal variations in the Davis Station meteor radar densities in the southern polar mesopause are mainly dominated by an annual oscillation (AO). The mesopause densities observed by the Svalbard and Tromsø meteor radars at high latitudes and the Mohe and Beijing meteor radars at high mid-latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere show mainly an AO and a relatively weak semiannual oscillation (SAO). The mesopause densities observed by the Mengcheng and Wuhan meteor radars at lower mid-latitudes and the Kunming and Darwin meteor radars at low latitudes show mainly an AO. The SAO is evident in the Northern Hemisphere, especially at high latitudes, and its largest amplitude, which is detected at the Tromsø meteor radar, is comparable to the AO amplitudes. These observations indicate that the mesopause densities over the southern and northern high latitudes exhibit a clear seasonal asymmetry. The maxima of the yearly variations in the mesopause densities display a clear temporal variation across the spring equinox as the latitude decreases; these latitudinal variation characteristics may be related to latitudinal changes influenced by gravity wave forcing. In addition to an AO, the mesopause densities over low latitudes also clearly show a variation with a periodicity of 30–60 days related to the Madden-Julian oscillation in the subtropical troposphere.


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