Effect of tropical instability waves on the eastern tropical Pacific basin: damping of TIWs in a high-resolution ocean circulation model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Maillard ◽  
Julien Boucharel ◽  
Lionel Renault
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Heat Budget ◽  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Eastern Tropical Pacific ◽  
Instability Waves ◽  
Tropical Instability Waves ◽  
Equatorial Wave ◽  
Modelling Studies ◽  
The Impact

<p>Tropical instability waves (TIWs) are oceanic cusp-like features propagating westward along the northern front of the tropical pacific cold tongue. Observational and modelling studies suggest that TIWs may have a large impact on the eastern tropical Pacific background state from seasonal to interannual time-scales, through heat advection and mixing. However, observations are coarse or limited to surface data, and modelling studies are often based on the comparison of low- vs. high-resolution simulations. In this study, we perform a set of regional high-resolution ocean simulations (CROCO 1/12°) in which we strongly damp (NUDG-RUN) or not (CTRL-RUN) TIWs propagation, by nudging the mixed layer meridional current velocities in the TIWs active region toward their climatological values. We first show that this approach do not alter the model internal physics, in particular related to the equatorial wave dynamics. The impact of TIWs on the oceanic mean state (zonal current and heat budget) is then assessed by comparing CTRL-RUN to NUDG-RUN. This approach allows quantifying for the first time the rectified effect of TIWs without degrading the model horizontal resolution, and may lead to a better understanding of ENSO asymmetry and the development of accurate TIWs parameterizations in Earth system models.</p>

scholarly journals U.K. HiGEM: The New U.K. High-Resolution Global Environment Model—Model Description and Basic Evaluation

2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 1861-1896 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. C. Shaffrey ◽  
I. Stevens ◽  
W. A. Norton ◽  
M. J. Roberts ◽  
P. L. Vidale ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Model Description ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Environmental Model ◽  
Instability Waves ◽  
Tropical Instability Waves ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Tropical Pacific

Abstract This article describes the development and evaluation of the U.K.’s new High-Resolution Global Environmental Model (HiGEM), which is based on the latest climate configuration of the Met Office Unified Model, known as the Hadley Centre Global Environmental Model, version 1 (HadGEM1). In HiGEM, the horizontal resolution has been increased to 0.83° latitude × 1.25° longitude for the atmosphere, and 1/3° × 1/3° globally for the ocean. Multidecadal integrations of HiGEM, and the lower-resolution HadGEM, are used to explore the impact of resolution on the fidelity of climate simulations. Generally, SST errors are reduced in HiGEM. Cold SST errors associated with the path of the North Atlantic drift improve, and warm SST errors are reduced in upwelling stratocumulus regions where the simulation of low-level cloud is better at higher resolution. The ocean model in HiGEM allows ocean eddies to be partially resolved, which dramatically improves the representation of sea surface height variability. In the Southern Ocean, most of the heat transports in HiGEM is achieved by resolved eddy motions, which replaces the parameterized eddy heat transport in the lower-resolution model. HiGEM is also able to more realistically simulate small-scale features in the wind stress curl around islands and oceanic SST fronts, which may have implications for oceanic upwelling and ocean biology. Higher resolution in both the atmosphere and the ocean allows coupling to occur on small spatial scales. In particular, the small-scale interaction recently seen in satellite imagery between the atmosphere and tropical instability waves in the tropical Pacific Ocean is realistically captured in HiGEM. Tropical instability waves play a role in improving the simulation of the mean state of the tropical Pacific, which has important implications for climate variability. In particular, all aspects of the simulation of ENSO (spatial patterns, the time scales at which ENSO occurs, and global teleconnections) are much improved in HiGEM.

Eddies and Tropical Instability Waves in the eastern tropical Pacific: A review

2006 ◽  
Vol 69 (2-4) ◽  
pp. 218-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia S. Willett ◽  
Robert R. Leben ◽  
Miguel F. Lavín
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Eastern Tropical Pacific ◽  
Instability Waves ◽  
Tropical Instability Waves

A Modeling Study of the Impact of Tropical Instability Waves on the Heat Budget of the Eastern Equatorial Pacific

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 847-865 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christophe E. R. Menkes ◽  
Jérôme G. Vialard ◽  
Sean C. Kennan ◽  
Jean-Philippe Boulanger ◽  
Gurvan V. Madec
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Heat Budget ◽  
Vertical Mixing ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Cold Tongue ◽  
Instability Waves ◽  
Horizontal Advection ◽  
Vertical Advection ◽  
Tropical Instability Waves ◽  
The Impact

Abstract A numerical simulation is used to investigate the mixed layer heat balance of the tropical Pacific Ocean including the equatorial cold tongue and the region of vortices associated with tropical instability waves (TIWs). The study is motivated by a need to quantify the effects that TIWs have on the climatological heat budget of the cold tongue mixed layer; there has been some discrepancy between observations indicating very large equatorward heat transport by TIWs and models that disagree on the full three-dimensional budget. Validation of the model reveals that the TIW-induced circulation patterns are realistic but may have amplitudes about 15% weaker than those in the observations. The SST budget within tropical instabilities is first examined in a frame of reference moving with the associated tropical instability vortices (TIVs). Zonal advection of temperature anomalies and meridional advection of temperature by current anomalies dominate horizontal advection. These effects strongly heat the cold cusps and slightly cool the downwelling areas located at the leading edge of the vortices. Cooling by vertical mixing is structured at the vortex scale and almost compensates for horizontal advective heating in the cold cusps. In contrast to some previous studies, TIW-induced vertical advection is found to be negligible in the SST budget. Cooling by this term is only significant below the mixed layer. The effect of TIWs on the climatological heat budget is then investigated for the region bounded by 2°S–6°N, 160°–90°W, where instabilities are most active. TIW-induced horizontal advection leads to a warming of 0.84°C month−1, which is of the same order as the 0.77°C month−1 warming effect of atmospheric fluxes, while the mean currents and vertical mixing cool the upper ocean by −0.59°C month−1 and −1.06°C month−1, respectively. The cooling effect of TIW-induced vertical advection is also negligible in the long-term surface layer heat budget and only becomes significant below the mixed layer. The results above, and in particular the absence of cancellation between horizontal and vertical TIW-induced eddy advection, are robust in three other sensitivity experiments involving different mixing parameterizations and increased vertical resolution.

Tropical Atmospheric Variability Forced by Oceanic Internal Variability

2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 765-771 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Jochum ◽  
Clara Deser ◽  
Adam Phillips
Keyword(s):  
General Circulation ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Rainfall Variability ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Internal Variability ◽  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Atmospheric Variability ◽  
Instability Waves ◽  
Tropical Instability Waves ◽  
The Tropical Pacific

Abstract Atmospheric general circulation model experiments are conducted to quantify the contribution of internal oceanic variability in the form of tropical instability waves (TIWs) to interannual wind and rainfall variability in the tropical Pacific. It is found that in the tropical Pacific, along the equator, and near 25°N and 25°S, TIWs force a significant increase in wind and rainfall variability from interseasonal to interannual time scales. Because of the stochastic nature of TIWs, this means that climate models that do not take them into account will underestimate the strength and number of extreme events and may overestimate forecast capability.

scholarly journals High-resolution modeling of the Eastern Tropical Pacific oxygen minimum zone: Sensitivity to the tropical oceanic circulation

2014 ◽  
Vol 119 (8) ◽  
pp. 5515-5532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivonne Montes ◽  
Boris Dewitte ◽  
Elodie Gutknecht ◽  
Aurélien Paulmier ◽  
Isabelle Dadou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Oxygen Minimum Zone ◽  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Oceanic Circulation ◽  
Eastern Tropical Pacific ◽  
Minimum Zone ◽  
Oxygen Minimum

scholarly journals Brief Communication: Evidence of a developing Polynya off Commonwealth Bay, East Antarctica, triggered by grounding of iceberg

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Fogwill ◽  
Erik van Sebille ◽  
Eva A. Cougnon ◽  
Chris S. M. Turney ◽  
Steve R. Rintoul ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Bottom Water ◽  
High Salinity ◽  
Shelf Water ◽  
Antarctic Bottom Water ◽  
Ocean Modelling ◽  
Glacier Tongue ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The dramatic calving of the Mertz Glacier Tongue in 2010, triggered by the impact of iceberg B09B, reshaped the oceanographic regime across the Mertz Polynya and Commonwealth Bay, regions where high salinity shelf water (HSSW) is formed, the precursor to Antarctic bottom water (AABW). Here we compare post-calving observations with high-resolution ocean modelling which suggest that this reconfiguration has led to the development of a new polynya off Commonwealth Bay, where HSSW production continues by the grounding of B09B. Our findings demonstrate how local changes in icescape can impact formation of AABW, with implications for large-scale ocean circulation and climate.

scholarly journals Spectral signatures of the tropical Pacific dynamics from model and altimetry: A focus on the meso/submesoscale range

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Tchilibou ◽  
Lionel Gourdeau ◽  
Rosemary Morrow ◽  
Guillaume Serazin ◽  
Bughsin Djath ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Internal Waves ◽  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Equatorial Region ◽  
Internal Tides ◽  
Spectral Energy ◽  
Instability Waves ◽  
Tropical Instability Waves ◽  
Geostrophic Turbulence ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
The Tropical Pacific

Abstract. The processes that contribute to the flat Sea Surface Height (SSH) wavenumber spectral slopes observed in the tropics by satellite altimetry are examined in the tropical Pacific. The tropical dynamics are first investigated with a 1/12° global model. The equatorial region from 10° N–10° S is dominated by Tropical Instability Waves with a peak of energy at 1000 km wavelength, strong anisotropy, and a cascade of energy from 600 km down to smaller scales. The off-equatorial regions from 10–20° latitude are characterized by a narrower mesoscale range, typical of mid latitudes. In the tropics, the spectral taper window and segment lengths need to be adjusted to include these larger energetic scales. The equatorial and off-equatorial regions of the 1/12° model have surface kinetic energy spectra consistent with quasi-geostrophic turbulence. The balanced component of the dynamics slightly flatten the EKE spectra, but modeled SSH wavenumber spectra maintain a steep slope that does not match the observed altimetric spectra. A second analysis is based on 1/36° high-frequency regional simulations in the western tropical Pacific, with and without explicit tides, where we find a strong signature of internal waves and internal tides that act to increase the smaller-scale SSH spectral energy power and flattening the SSH wavenumber spectra, in agreement with the altimetric spectra. The coherent M2 baroclinic tide is the dominant signal at ~ 140 km wavelength. At short scales, wavenumber SSH spectra are dominated by incoherent internal tides and internal waves which extend up to 200 km in wavelength. These incoherent internal waves impact on space scales observed by today's alongtrack altimetric SSH, and also on the future SWOT 2D swath observations, raising the question of altimetric observability of the shorter mesoscale structures in the tropics.

scholarly journals Impact of tropical instability waves-induced SST forcing on the atmosphere in the tropical Pacific, evaluated using CAM5.1

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 186-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rong-Hua Zhang ◽  
Zhongxian Li ◽  
Jieshun Zhu ◽  
Xianbiao Kang ◽  
Jinzhong Min
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Instability Waves ◽  
Tropical Instability Waves ◽  
Sst Forcing ◽  
The Tropical Pacific
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