scholarly journals Improving the Altimeter-Derived Surface Currents Using Sea Surface Temperature (SST) Data: A Sensitivity Study to SST Products

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 1601 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniele Ciani ◽  
Marie-Hélène Rio ◽  
Bruno Buongiorno Nardelli ◽  
Hélène Etienne ◽  
Rosalia Santoleri

Measurements of ocean surface topography collected by satellite altimeters provide geostrophic estimates of the sea surface currents at relatively low resolution. The effective spatial and temporal resolution of these velocity estimates can be improved by optimally combining altimeter data with sequences of high resolution interpolated (Level 4) Sea Surface Temperature (SST) data, improving upon present-day values of approximately 100 km and 15 days at mid-latitudes. However, the combined altimeter/SST currents accuracy depends on the area and input SST data considered. Here, we present a comparative study based on three satellite-derived daily SST products: the Remote Sensing Systems (REMSS, 1/10 ∘ resolution), the UK Met Office OSTIA (1/20 ∘ resolution), and the Multiscale Ultra-High resolution SST (1/100 ∘ resolution). The accuracy of the marine currents computed with our synergistic approach is assessed by comparisons with in-situ estimated currents derived from a global network of drifting buoys. Using REMSS SST, the meridional currents improve up to more than 20% compared to simple altimeter estimates. The maximum global improvements for the zonal currents are obtained using OSTIA SST, and reach 6%. Using the OSTIA SST also results in slight improvements (≃1.3%) in the zonal flow estimated in the Southern Ocean (45 ∘ S to 70 ∘ S). The homogeneity of the input SST effective spatial resolution is identified as a crucial requirement for an accurate surface current reconstruction. In our analyses, this condition was best satisfied by the lower resolution SST products considered.

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (20) ◽  
pp. 8061-8080 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyodae Seo

Abstract During the southwest monsoons, the Arabian Sea (AS) develops highly energetic mesoscale variability associated with the Somali Current (SC), Great Whirl (GW), and cold filaments (CF). The resultant high-amplitude anomalies and gradients of sea surface temperature (SST) and surface currents modify the wind stress, triggering the so-called mesoscale coupled feedbacks. This study uses a high-resolution regional coupled model with a novel coupling procedure that separates spatial scales of the air–sea coupling to show that SST and surface currents are coupled to the atmosphere at distinct spatial scales, exerting distinct dynamic influences. The effect of mesoscale SST–wind interaction is manifested most strongly in wind work and Ekman pumping over the GW, primarily affecting the position of GW and the separation latitude of the SC. If this effect is suppressed, enhanced wind work and a weakened Ekman pumping dipole cause the GW to extend northeastward, delaying the SC separation by 1°. Current–wind interaction, in contrast, is related to the amount of wind energy input. When it is suppressed, especially as a result of background-scale currents, depth-integrated kinetic energy, both the mean and eddy, is significantly enhanced. Ekman pumping velocity over the GW is overly negative because of a lack of vorticity that offsets the wind stress curl, further invigorating the GW. Moreover, significant changes in time-mean SST and evaporation are generated in response to the current–wind interaction, accompanied by a noticeable southward shift in the Findlater Jet. The significant increase in moisture transport in the central AS implies that air–sea interaction mediated by the surface current is a potentially important process for simulation and prediction of the monsoon rainfall.


2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 3123-3139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasumasa Miyazawa ◽  
Hiroshi Murakami ◽  
Toru Miyama ◽  
Sergey Varlamov ◽  
Xinyu Guo ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tongwen Wu ◽  
Rucong Yu ◽  
Yixiong Lu ◽  
Weihua Jie ◽  
Yongjie Fang ◽  
...  

Abstract. BCC-CSM2-HR is a high-resolution version of the Beijing Climate Center (BCC) Climate System Model. Its development is on the basis of the medium-resolution version BCC-CSM2-MR which is the baseline for BCC participation to the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6). This study documents the high-resolution model, highlights major improvements in the representation of atmospheric dynamic core and physical processes. BCC-CSM2-HR is evaluated for present-day climate simulations from 1971 to 2000, which are performed under CMIP6-prescribed historical forcing, in comparison with its previous medium-resolution version BCC-CSM2-MR. We focus on basic atmospheric mean states over the globe and variabilities in the tropics including the tropic cyclones (TCs), the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), and the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) in the stratosphere. It is shown that BCC-CSM2-HR keeps well the global energy balance and can realistically reproduce main patterns of atmosphere temperature and wind, precipitation, land surface air temperature and sea surface temperature. It also improves in the spatial patterns of sea ice and associated seasonal variations in both hemispheres. The bias of double intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), obvious in BCC-CSM2-MR, is almost disappeared in BCC-CSM2-HR. TC activity in the tropics is increased with resolution enhanced. The cycle of ENSO, the eastward propagative feature and convection intensity of MJO, the downward propagation of QBO in BCC-CSM2-HR are all in a better agreement with observation than their counterparts in BCC-CSM2-MR. We also note some weakness in BCC-CSM2-HR, such as the excessive cloudiness in the eastern basin of the tropical Pacific with cold Sea Surface Temperature (SST) biases and the insufficient number of tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic.


2021 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bambang Sukresno ◽  
Dinarika Jatisworo ◽  
Rizki Hanintyo

Sea surface temperature (SST) is an important variable in oceanography. One of the SST data can be obtained from the Global Observation Mission-Climate (GCOM-C) satellite. Therefore, this data needs to be validated before being applied in various fields. This study aimed to validate SST data from the GCOM-C satellite in the Indonesian Seas. Validation was performed using the data of Multi-sensor Ultra-high Resolution sea surface temperature (MUR-SST) and in situ sea surface temperature Quality Monitor (iQuam). The data used are the daily GCOM-C SST dataset from January to December 2018, as well as the daily dataset from MUR-SST and iQuam in the same period. The validation process was carried out using the three-way error analysis method. The results showed that the accuracy of the GCOM-C SST was 0.37oC.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 269-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfonso Senatore ◽  
Luca Furnari ◽  
Giuseppe Mendicino

Abstract. Operational meteo-hydrological forecasting chains are affected by many sources of uncertainty. In coastal areas characterized by complex topography, with several medium-to-small size catchments, quantitative precipitation forecast becomes even more challenging due to the interaction of intense air–sea exchanges with coastal orography. For such areas, which are quite common in the Mediterranean Basin, improved representation of sea surface temperature (SST) space–time patterns can be particularly important. The paper focuses on the relative impact of different resolutions of SST representation on regional operational forecasting chains (up to river discharge estimates) over coastal Mediterranean catchments, with respect to two other fundamental options while setting up the system, i.e. the choice of the forcing general circulation model (GCM) and the possible use of a three-dimensional variational assimilation (3D-Var) scheme. Two different kinds of severe hydro-meteorological events that affected the Calabria region (southern Italy) in 2015 are analysed using the WRF-Hydro atmosphere–hydrology modelling system in its uncoupled version. Both of the events are modelled using the 0.25∘ resolution global forecasting system (GFS) and the 16 km resolution integrated forecasting system (IFS) initial and lateral atmospheric boundary conditions, which are from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), applying the WRF mesoscale model for the dynamical downscaling. For the IFS-driven forecasts, the effects of the 3D-Var scheme are also analysed. Finally, native initial and lower boundary SST data are replaced with data from the Medspiration project by Institut Français de Recherche pour L'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)/Centre European Remote Sensing d'Archivage et de Traitement (CERSAT), which have a 24 h time resolution and a 2.2 km spatial resolution. Precipitation estimates are compared with both ground-based and radar data, as well as discharge estimates with stream gauging stations' data. Overall, the experiments highlight that the added value of high-resolution SST representation can be hidden by other more relevant sources of uncertainty, especially the choice of the general circulation model providing the boundary conditions. Nevertheless, in most cases, high-resolution SST fields show a non-negligible impact on the simulation of the atmospheric boundary layer processes, modifying flow dynamics and/or the amount of precipitated water; thus, this emphasizes the fact that uncertainty in SST representation should be duly taken into account in operational forecasting in coastal areas.


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Susanto ◽  
Jiayi Pan ◽  
Adam Devlin

Tidal mixing in the coastal waters of Hong Kong was investigated using a combination of in situ observations and high-resolution satellite-derived sea surface temperature (SST) data. An indicator of tide-induced mixing is a fortnightly (spring-neap cycle) signature in SST due to nonlinear interactions between the two principal diurnal and the two principal semi-diurnal tides. Both semi-diurnal and diurnal tides have strong tidal amplitudes and currents near Hong Kong. As a result, both the near-fortnightly (Mf) and fortnightly (MSf) tides are enhanced due to nonlinear tidal signal interactions. In addition, these fortnightly tidal signals are modulated by seasonal variability, with the maximum seasonal modulation of fortnightly tides occurring during the monsoon transition periods in May and October. The largest fortnightly signals are found in the southwestern part of the Pearl River estuary. Tidal constituent properties vary by space and depth, and high-resolution SST plays a pivotal role in resolving the spatial characteristics of tidal mixing.


Ocean Science ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.-M. Lellouche ◽  
O. Le Galloudec ◽  
M. Drévillon ◽  
C. Régnier ◽  
E. Greiner ◽  
...  

Abstract. Since December 2010, the MyOcean global analysis and forecasting system has consisted of the Mercator Océan NEMO global 1/4° configuration with a 1/12° nested model over the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The open boundary data for the nested configuration come from the global 1/4° configuration at 20° S and 80° N. The data are assimilated by means of a reduced-order Kalman filter with a 3-D multivariate modal decomposition of the forecast error. It includes an adaptive-error estimate and a localization algorithm. A 3-D-Var scheme provides a correction for the slowly evolving large-scale biases in temperature and salinity. Altimeter data, satellite sea surface temperature and in situ temperature and salinity vertical profiles are jointly assimilated to estimate the initial conditions for numerical ocean forecasting. In addition to the quality control performed by data producers, the system carries out a proper quality control on temperature and salinity vertical profiles in order to minimise the risk of erroneous observed profiles being assimilated in the model. This paper describes the recent systems used by Mercator Océan and the validation procedure applied to current MyOcean systems as well as systems under development. The paper shows how refinements or adjustments to the system during the validation procedure affect its quality. Additionally, we show that quality checks (in situ, drifters) and data sources (satellite sea surface temperature) have as great an impact as the system design (model physics and assimilation parameters). The results of the scientific assessment are illustrated with diagnostics over the year 2010 mainly, assorted with time series over the 2007–2011 period. The validation procedure demonstrates the accuracy of MyOcean global products, whose quality is stable over time. All monitoring systems are close to altimetric observations with a forecast RMS difference of 7 cm. The update of the mean dynamic topography corrects local biases in the Indonesian Throughflow and in the western tropical Pacific. This improves also the subsurface currents at the Equator. The global systems give an accurate description of water masses almost everywhere. Between 0 and 500 m, departures from in situ observations rarely exceed 1 °C and 0.2 psu. The assimilation of an improved sea surface temperature product aims to better represent the sea ice concentration and the sea ice edge. The systems under development are still suffering from a drift which can only be detected by means of a 5-yr hindcast, preventing us from upgrading them in real time. This emphasizes the need to pursue research while building future systems for MyOcean2 forecasting.


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