cold tongue
Recently Published Documents


TOTAL DOCUMENTS

157
(FIVE YEARS 29)

H-INDEX

40
(FIVE YEARS 1)

2022 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Sherman ◽  
Ajit Subramaniam ◽  
Maxim Y. Gorbunov ◽  
Ana Fernández-Carrera ◽  
Rainer Kiko ◽  
...  

In the Equatorial Atlantic nitrogen availability is assumed to control phytoplankton dynamics. However, in situ measurements of phytoplankton physiology and productivity are surprisingly sparse in comparison with the North Atlantic. In addition to the formation of the Equatorial cold tongue in the boreal summer, tropical instability waves (TIWs) and related short-term processes may locally cause episodic events of enhanced nutrient supply to the euphotic layer. Here, we assess changes in phytoplankton photophysiology in response to such episodic events as well as short-term nutrient addition experiments using a pair of custom-built fluorometers that measure chlorophyll a (Chl a) variable fluorescence and fluorescence lifetimes. The fluorometers were deployed during a transatlantic cruise along the Equator in the fall of 2019. We hypothesized that the Equatorial Atlantic is nitrogen-limited, with an increasing degree of limitation to the west where the cold tongue is not prominent, and that infrequent nitrate injection by TIW related processes are the primary source alleviating this limitation. We further hypothesized phytoplankton are well acclimated to the low levels of nitrogen, and once nitrogen is supplied, they can rapidly utilize it to stimulate growth and productivity. Across three TIW events encountered, we observed increased productivity and chlorophyll a concentration concurrent with a decreased photochemical conversion efficiency and overall photophysiological competency. Moreover, the observed decrease in photosynthetic turnover rates toward the western section suggested a 70% decrease in growth rates compared to their maximum values under nutrient-replete conditions. This decrease aligned with the increased growth rates observed following 24 h incubation with added nitrate in the western section. These results support our hypotheses that nitrogen is the limiting factor in the region and that phytoplankton are in a state of balanced growth, waiting to “body surf” waves of nutrients which fuel growth and productivity.


Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1689
Author(s):  
Min Wu ◽  
Li Qi

This study investigates the evolution of the sea surface temperature (SST) over the cold tongue (CT) region in the central South China Sea (SCS) during various El Niño events. A significant and distinct double-peak warming evolution can occur during EP El Niño and CP El Niño events, with the former being more remarkable and robust than the latter. Further analyses show that the weak and insignificant CT SST anomaly in CP El Niño events is influenced by some CP El Niño events in which the warm sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) is located west of 175° E (WCP El Niño). The response of CT SSTA mainly depends on the warm SSTA location of CP El Niño. The different corresponding mechanisms in winter, spring and summer are discussed respectively in this work. Further analysis reveals that the weak and insignificant SST anomaly over the CT region in CP El Niño events is caused by the faint SSTA response during the WCP El Niño events. The results of this study call attention to the response of the SCS climate in both atmosphere and ocean to the diversity of ENSO, especially the CP El Niño.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenping Jiang ◽  
Hainan Gong ◽  
Ping Huang ◽  
Lin Wang ◽  
Gang Huang ◽  
...  

Abstract The influence of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on the East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) is investigated based on the outputs of phase 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) models and compared to that in phase 5 (CMIP5). Results show that the CMIP6 models generally reproduce the ENSO-EAWM teleconnection more realistically than the CMIP5 models, although they still somewhat underestimate the ENSO-EAWM teleconnection than observed. Based on the inter-model spread of ENSO-EAWM teleconnection simulated in the CMIP5/CMIP6 models, we reveal that the commonly underestimated ENSO-EAWM teleconnection among the models can be traced back to the excessive cold tongue bias in the equatorial western Pacific. A model with a stronger climatological cold tongue favors generating a more westward extension of the ENSO-related SST anomaly pattern, which in turn forces an anomalous cyclonic circulation over the Northwest Pacific (NWP). It offsets the anticyclonic anomalies in the NWP triggered by the warm ENSO-related SST anomalies in the tropical Indian Ocean and the central-eastern Pacific and weakens the ENSO-EAWM teleconnection. Compared with the CMIP5 models, CMIP6 models better simulate SST mean state and the resultant ENSO-EAWM teleconnection. The present results suggest that substantial efforts should be made to reduce the bias in the mean-state SST for further improving the simulation and projection of the East Asian-western Pacific winter climate.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaofang Feng ◽  
Liguang Wu

AbstractConsistent with the northward migration of the annual mean latitude of tropical cyclone (TC) lifetime maximum intensity (LMI), the basin-wide mean location of TC formation shifted northward in the western North Pacific (WNP) basin over the past four decades. Whether such a shift was related to the anthropogenic influence is important to understanding the response of TC activity to climate change. Instead of detecting the effects of individual environmental factors on this shift, here we focus on the interdecadal variability of the monsoon trough (MT), within which most TCs in the WNP basin occur, and its roles in the shift of the basin-wide mean location of TC formation using 60-year reanalysis data. Interdecadal variations of the MT exhibit two main modes: one associated with the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO) and the other associated with the interdecadal Pacific oscillation (IPO). In addition, the north–south shift of the mean latitude of TC formation is accompanied by east–west extension of the tropical upper tropospheric trough (TUTT) and the tropical eastern Pacific cold tongue indicated by the east–west contrast of sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies. The poleward shift of the mean TC formation latitude is closely associated with the IPO mode of the MT. The westward retreat of the northwest-to-southeast-oriented MT and the accompanied westward extension of the TUTT reduced TC formation in the eastern part of the WNP basin when the cold tongue shifted westward. It is indicated that the observed poleward shift of TC formation was mainly attributed to natural variability in recent decades.


2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 1575-1593
Author(s):  
D. A. Cherian ◽  
D. B. Whitt ◽  
R. M. Holmes ◽  
R.-C. Lien ◽  
S. D. Bachman ◽  
...  

AbstractThe equatorial Pacific cold tongue is a site of large heat absorption by the ocean. This heat uptake is enhanced by a daily cycle of shear turbulence beneath the mixed layer—“deep-cycle turbulence”—that removes heat from the sea surface and deposits it in the upper flank of the Equatorial Undercurrent. Deep-cycle turbulence results when turbulence is triggered daily in sheared and stratified flow that is marginally stable (gradient Richardson number Ri ≈ 0.25). Deep-cycle turbulence has been observed on numerous occasions in the cold tongue at 0°, 140°W, and may be modulated by tropical instability waves (TIWs). Here we use a primitive equation regional simulation of the cold tongue to show that deep-cycle turbulence may also occur off the equator within TIW cold cusps where the flow is marginally stable. In the cold cusp, preexisting equatorial zonal shear uz is enhanced by horizontal vortex stretching near the equator, and subsequently modified by horizontal vortex tilting terms to generate meridional shear υz off of the equator. Parameterized turbulence in the sheared flow of the cold cusp is triggered daily by the descent of the surface mixing layer associated with the weakening of the stabilizing surface buoyancy flux in the afternoon. Observational evidence for off-equatorial deep-cycle turbulence is restricted to a few CTD casts, which, when combined with shear from shipboard ADCP data, suggest the presence of marginally stable flow in TIW cold cusps. This study motivates further observational campaigns to characterize the modulation of deep-cycle turbulence by TIWs both on and off the equator.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-51
Author(s):  
Michela Biasutti ◽  
Rick D. Russotto ◽  
Aiko Voigt ◽  
Charles C. Blackmon-Luca

AbstractThe Tropical Rain belts with an Annual cycle and Continent Model Intercomparison Project (TRACMIP) ensemble includes slab-ocean aquaplanet controls and experiments with a highly idealized tropical continent: modified aquaplanet grid cells with increased evaporative resistance, increased albedo, reduced heat capacity, and no ocean heat transport (zero Q-flux). In the annual mean, an equatorial cold tongue develops west of the continent and induces dry anomalies and a split in the oceanic ITCZ. Ocean cooling is initiated by advection of cold, dry air from the winter portion of the continent; warm, humid anomalies in the summer portion are restricted to the continent by anomalous surface convergence. The surface energy budget suggests that ocean cooling persists and intensifies because of a positive feedback between a colder surface, drier and colder air, reduced downwelling long wave (LW) flux, and enhanced net surface LW cooling (LW feedback). A feedback between wind, evaporation, and SST (WES feedback) also contributes to the establishment and maintenance of the cold tongue. Simulations with a grayradiation model and simulations that diverge from protocol (with negligible winter cooling) confirm the importance of moist-radiative feedbacks and of rectification effects on the seasonal cycle. This mechanism coupling the continental and oceanic climate might be relevant to the double ITCZ bias. The key role of the LW feedback suggests that the study of interactions between monsoons and oceanic ITCZs requires full-physics models and a hierarchy of land models that considers evaporative processes alongside heat capacity as a defining characteristic of land.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fanny Chenillat ◽  
Julien Jouanno ◽  
Serena Illig ◽  
Founi Mesmin Awo ◽  
Gaël Alory ◽  
...  

<div><span>Surface chlorophyll-<em>a </em>concentration (CHL-<em>a</em>) remotely observed by satellite shows a marked seasonal and interannual variability in the Tropical Atlantic, with potential consequences on the marine trophic web. Seasonal and interannual CHL-<em>a </em>variability peaks in boreal summer and shows maxima in the equatorial Atlantic region at 10˚W, spreading from 0 to 30˚W. In this study, we analyze how the remotely-sensed surface CHL-<em>a </em>responds to the leading climate modes affecting the interannual equatorial Atlantic variability over the 1998-2018 period, namely the Atlantic Zonal Mode (AZM) and the North Tropical Atlantic Mode (NTA, also known as the Atlantic Meridional Mode). The AZM is characterized by anomalous warming (or cooling) along the eastern equatorial band. In contrast, the NTA is characterized by an interhemispheric pattern of the sea surface temperature (SST), with anomalous warm (cold) conditions in the north tropical Atlantic region and weak negative (positive) SST anomalies south of the equator. We show that both modes significantly drive the interannual Tropical Atlantic surface CHL-<em>a </em>variability, with different timings and contrasted modulation on the eastern and western portions of the cold tongue area. Our results also reveal that the NTA slightly dominates (40%) the summer tropical Atlantic interannual variability over the last two decades, most probably because of a positive phase of the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation. For each mode of variability, we analyze an event characterized by an extreme negative sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly in the Atlantic equatorial band. Both modes are associated with a positive CHL-<em>a </em>anomaly at the equator. In 2002, a negative phase of the NTA led to cold SST anomaly and high positive CHL-<em>a </em>in the western portion of the cold tongue, peaking in June-July and lasting until the end of the year. In contrast, in 2005, a negative phase of the AZM drove cool temperature and positive CHL-<em>a </em>in the eastern equatorial band, with a peak in May-June and almost no signature after August. Such contrasted year to year conditions can affect the marine ecosystem by changing temporal and spatial trophic niches for pelagic predators, thus inducing significant variations for ecosystem functioning and fisheries.</span></div>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara Collier ◽  
Jamie Kettleborough ◽  
Adam Scaife ◽  
Leon Hermanson ◽  
Philip Davis

<p>It is well known that climate models commonly show biases in the Tropical Atlantic including reduced cold tongue development in the boreal summer. This work investigates whether these biases are present in the Met Office Seasonal Forecast System (GloSea5) at seasonal lead times and the impact they have on teleconnections to the North Atlantic, a key area for forecasting for Northern Europe.</p><p>GloSea5 hindcasts covering the period 1993 – 2016 are analysed for winter and summer start dates and biases are calculated with comparison to ERA Interim for sea surface temperature, near surface winds and upper tropospheric winds, and the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) for Rainfall Rate. In contrast to fully developed climate model biases, enhanced cold tongue development is found in the summer months, and a general cold bias occurs in the SST in both winter and summer. This shows that biases in initialised forecasts do not simply asymptote to the climate model error but show more complex behaviour including a change in the sign of the bias. Easterly winds are found to be strengthened throughout and signs of a double Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) are observed in the winter season. The ITCZ in both seasons is shown to be a narrower band of heavier rain in GloSea5 compared to the GPCP.  We investigate how these tropical biases propagate into the North Atlantic and change the forecast biases there.</p>


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document