Target observation of mesoscale eddies in the ocean

Author(s):  
Lin Jiang ◽  
Wansuo Duan

<p>Previous studies show that the kinetic energy of mesoscale eddies (MEs) accounts for more than 80% of the global ocean energy. The theoretical study and numerical simulation of MEs will enable us to better understand the dynamics of ocean circulation. Weiss and Grooms (2017) found that assimilating uniform observations taken over MEs is much better than assimilating a subset of observations on a regular grid for improving prediction skill of SSH associated with ocean state. In the present study, we use a conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation (CNOP) approach to investigate the sensitivity of the ocean state sea surface height (SSH) predictions on MEs with a two-layer quasi-geostrophic model and show the optimal assimilating scheme. In the study, the CNOPs of SSH predictions are first computed. It is found that, if one regards the regions covered by the grid points with large values of CNOPs as sensitive area of SSH predictions, the sensitive areas are mainly located on MEs. Furthermore, the stronger the MEs, the more the MEs grid points covered by the sensitive area. Especially, these grid points associated with sensitive areas are not uniformly distributed over the MEs. It is obvious that the predictions of SSH are quite sensitive to the initialization of MEs (especially that of the particular region of large values of CNOPs for strong MEs, rather than of the uniformly distributed grid points over MEs). Therefore, an appropriate initialization of MEs is much helpful for improving the prediction accuracy of SSH. And the CNOPs of SSH prediction here may provide useful information on how to improve initialization of MEs.</p>


2009 ◽  
Vol 137 (5) ◽  
pp. 1623-1639 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mu Mu ◽  
Feifan Zhou ◽  
Hongli Wang

Abstract Conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation (CNOP), which is a natural extension of the linear singular vector into the nonlinear regime, is proposed in this study for the determination of sensitive areas in adaptive observations for tropical cyclone prediction. Three tropical cyclone cases, Mindulle (2004), Meari (2004), and Matsa (2005), are investigated. Using the metrics of kinetic and dry energies, CNOPs and the first singular vectors (FSVs) are obtained over a 24-h optimization interval. Their spatial structures, their energies, and their nonlinear evolutions as well as the induced humidity changes are compared. A series of sensitivity experiments are designed to find out what benefit can be obtained by reductions of CNOP-type errors versus FSV-type errors. It is found that the structures of CNOPs may differ much from those of FSVs depending on the constraint, metric, and the basic state. The CNOP-type errors have larger impact on the forecasts in the verification area as well as the tropical cyclones than the FSV-types errors. The results of sensitivity experiments indicate that reductions of CNOP-type errors in the initial states provide more benefits than reductions of FSV-type errors. These results suggest that it is worthwhile to use CNOP as a method to identify the sensitive areas in adaptive observation for tropical cyclone prediction.



2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingyi Liu ◽  
Wuhong Guo ◽  
Baolong Cui ◽  
Kun Liu ◽  
Huiqin Hu

<p>Targeted observation is an appealing procedure to improve oceanic model predictions by taking additional assimilation of collected measurements. However, studies on targeted observation in the oceanic field have been largely based on modeling efforts, and there is a need for field validating observations. Here, we report the preparatory work of a field campaign, which is designed based on the identified sensitive area by the Conditional Nonlinear Optimal Perturbation (CNOP) approach, to improve the short-range summer thermal structures prediction in the Yellow Sea (YS). We firstly simulated the hindcasting (2016-2018) temperature structures in the summertime, and found that the locations of the sensitive areas are generally consistent in space for each hindcast year. Then, we introduced the technique of multiple-assimilation and the definition of time-varying sensitive area, and designed observing strategies for the YS summer campaign. Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) were conducted prior to address the plan on field campaign in the Yellow Sea in August 2019. Results show that, reducing the initial errors in the sensitive area can lead to more improvement on thermal structures prediction than that in other area.</p>



2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 4379-4398
Author(s):  
Christopher Subich ◽  
Pierre Pellerin ◽  
Gregory Smith ◽  
Frederic Dupont

Abstract. As resolutions of ocean circulation models increase, the advective Courant number – the ratio between the distance travelled by a fluid parcel in one time step and the grid size – becomes the most stringent factor limiting model time steps. Some atmospheric models have escaped this limit by using an implicit or semi-implicit semi-Lagrangian formulation of advection, which calculates materially conserved fluid properties along trajectories which follow the fluid motion and end at prescribed grid points. Unfortunately, this formulation is not straightforward in ocean contexts, where the irregular, interior boundaries imposed by the shore and bottom orography are incompatible with traditional trajectory calculations. This work describes the adaptation of the semi-Lagrangian method as an advection module for an operational ocean model. We solve the difficulties of the ocean's internal boundaries by calculating parcel trajectories using a time-exponential formulation, which ensures that all parcel trajectories remain inside the ocean domain despite strong accelerations near the boundary. Additionally, we derive this method in a way that is compatible with the leapfrog time-stepping scheme used in the NEMO-OPA (Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean, Océan Parallélisé) ocean model, and we present simulation results for a simplified test case of flow past a model island and for 10-year free runs of the global ocean on the quarter-degree ORCA025 grid.



1997 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 111-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Achim Stössel

This paper investigates the long-term impact of sea ice on global climate using a global sea-ice–ocean general circulation model (OGCM). The sea-ice component involves state-of-the-art dynamics; the ocean component consists of a 3.5° × 3.5° × 11 layer primitive-equation model. Depending on the physical description of sea ice, significant changes are detected in the convective activity, in the hydrographic properties and in the thermohaline circulation of the ocean model. Most of these changes originate in the Southern Ocean, emphasizing the crucial role of sea ice in this marginally stably stratified region of the world's oceans. Specifically, if the effect of brine release is neglected, the deep layers of the Southern Ocean warm up considerably; this is associated with a weakening of the Southern Hemisphere overturning cell. The removal of the commonly used “salinity enhancement” leads to a similar effect. The deep-ocean salinity is almost unaffected in both experiments. Introducing explicit new-ice thickness growth in partially ice-covered gridcells leads to a substantial increase in convective activity, especially in the Southern Ocean, with a concomitant significant cooling and salinification of the deep ocean. Possible mechanisms for the resulting interactions between sea-ice processes and deep-ocean characteristics are suggested.



Author(s):  
Pontus Lurcock ◽  
Fabio Florindo

Antarctic climate changes have been reconstructed from ice and sediment cores and numerical models (which also predict future changes). Major ice sheets first appeared 34 million years ago (Ma) and fluctuated throughout the Oligocene, with an overall cooling trend. Ice volume more than doubled at the Oligocene-Miocene boundary. Fluctuating Miocene temperatures peaked at 17–14 Ma, followed by dramatic cooling. Cooling continued through the Pliocene and Pleistocene, with another major glacial expansion at 3–2 Ma. Several interacting drivers control Antarctic climate. On timescales of 10,000–100,000 years, insolation varies with orbital cycles, causing periodic climate variations. Opening of Southern Ocean gateways produced a circumpolar current that thermally isolated Antarctica. Declining atmospheric CO2 triggered Cenozoic glaciation. Antarctic glaciations affect global climate by lowering sea level, intensifying atmospheric circulation, and increasing planetary albedo. Ice sheets interact with ocean water, forming water masses that play a key role in global ocean circulation.



2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carine G. van der Boog ◽  
Henk A. Dijkstra ◽  
Julie D. Pietrzak ◽  
Caroline A. Katsman

AbstractDouble-diffusive processes enhance diapycnal mixing of heat and salt in the open ocean. However, observationally based evidence of the effects of double-diffusive mixing on the global ocean circulation is lacking. Here we analyze the occurrence of double-diffusive thermohaline staircases in a dataset containing over 480,000 temperature and salinity profiles from Argo floats and Ice-Tethered Profilers. We show that about 14% of all profiles contains thermohaline staircases that appear clustered in specific regions, with one hitherto unknown cluster overlying the westward flowing waters of the Tasman Leakage. We estimate the combined contribution of double-diffusive fluxes in all thermohaline staircases to the global ocean’s mechanical energy budget as 7.5 GW [0.1 GW; 32.8 GW]. This is small compared to the estimated energy required to maintain the observed ocean stratification of roughly 2 TW. Nevertheless, we suggest that the regional effects, for example near Australia, could be pronounced.



2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 2402
Author(s):  
Weifu Sun ◽  
Jin Wang ◽  
Yuheng Li ◽  
Junmin Meng ◽  
Yujia Zhao ◽  
...  

Based on the optimal interpolation (OI) algorithm, a daily fusion product of high-resolution global ocean columnar atmospheric water vapor with a resolution of 0.25° was generated in this study from multisource remote sensing observations. The product covers the period from 2003 to 2018, and the data represent a fusion of microwave radiometer observations, including those from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager Sounder (SSMIS), WindSat, Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for Earth Observing System sensor (AMSR-E), Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2), and HY-2A microwave radiometer (MR). The accuracy of this water vapor fusion product was validated using radiosonde water vapor observations. The comparative results show that the overall mean deviation (Bias) is smaller than 0.6 mm; the root mean square error (RMSE) and standard deviation (SD) are better than 3 mm, and the mean absolute deviation (MAD) and correlation coefficient (R) are better than 2 mm and 0.98, respectively.



2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 2111-2130
Author(s):  
Woo Geun Cheon ◽  
Jong-Seong Kug

AbstractIn the framework of a sea ice–ocean general circulation model coupled to an energy balance atmospheric model, an intensity oscillation of Southern Hemisphere (SH) westerly winds affects the global ocean circulation via not only the buoyancy-driven teleconnection (BDT) mode but also the Ekman-driven teleconnection (EDT) mode. The BDT mode is activated by the SH air–sea ice–ocean interactions such as polynyas and oceanic convection. The ensuing variation in the Antarctic meridional overturning circulation (MOC) that is indicative of the Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) formation exerts a significant influence on the abyssal circulation of the globe, particularly the Pacific. This controls the bipolar seesaw balance between deep and bottom waters at the equator. The EDT mode controlled by northward Ekman transport under the oscillating SH westerly winds generates a signal that propagates northward along the upper ocean and passes through the equator. The variation in the western boundary current (WBC) is much stronger in the North Atlantic than in the North Pacific, which appears to be associated with the relatively strong and persistent Mindanao Current (i.e., the southward flowing WBC of the North Pacific tropical gyre). The North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) formation is controlled by salt advected northward by the North Atlantic WBC.



2011 ◽  
Vol 65 ◽  
pp. 214-217
Author(s):  
Yao Ge Wang ◽  
Peng Yuan Wang

Interpolation is the core problem of Digital Elevation Model (DEM). The Coons DEM model is better than bilinear interpolation and moving surface fitting. It is constructed by grid boundary curve, the curve interpolates by some adjoining grid points. Its spatial pattern of error is random in global area, there is no significant global spatial autocorrelation, but it is an increasing trend along with the terrain average gradient increases.There is significant local spatial autocorrelation, the spatial pattern of error converges strongly in local areas.



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