Embedding a One-column Ocean Model (SIT 1.06) in the Community Atmosphere Model 5.3 (CAM5.3; CAM5–SIT v1.0) to Improve Madden–Julian Oscillation Simulation in Boreal Winter

The effect of the air–sea interaction on the Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO) was investigated using the one-column ocean model Snow–Ice–Thermocline (SIT 1.06) embedded in the Community Atmosphere Model 5.3 (CAM5.3; hereafter CAM5–SIT v1.0). The SIT model with 41 vertical layers was developed to simulate sea surface temperature (SST) and upper-ocean temperature variations with a high vertical resolution that resolves the cool skin and diurnal warm layer and the upper oceanic mixed layer. A series of 30-year sensitivity experiments were conducted in which various model configurations (e.g., coupled versus uncoupled, vertical resolution and depth of the SIT model, coupling domains, and absence of the diurnal cycle) were considered to evaluate the effect of air–sea coupling on MJO simulation. Most of the CAM5–SIT experiments exhibited higher fidelity than the CAM5-alone experiment in characterizing the basic features of the MJO such as spatiotemporal variability and the eastward propagation in boreal winter. The overall MJO simulation performance of CAM5–SIT benefited from (1) better resolving the fine structure of upper-ocean temperature and therefore the air–sea interaction that resulted in more realistic intraseasonal variability in both SST and atmospheric circulation and (2) the adequate thickness and vertical resolution of the oceanic mixed layer. The sensitivity experiments demonstrated the necessity of coupling the tropical eastern Pacific in addition to the tropical Indian Ocean and the tropical western Pacific. Enhanced MJO could be obtained without considering the diurnal cycle in coupling.

On the Physical Origin of the Semiannual 1 Component of Surface Air Temperature over 2 Mid-latitude and Subpolar Oceans

With the understanding that seasonal cycle of the temperature are forced principally by the annually evolving solar irradiance, many previous studies have defined seasonal cycle of surface air temperature (SAT) as the sum of yearly-period sinusoidal component and its harmonics, especially semiannual component. In mid-latitude and subpolar regions, the ratio between the semiannual and annual components of solar irradiance is negligibly small but that of the SAT over oceans is not, which remains to be understood. In this study, a simple energy budget model including main energy sources and sinks of oceanic mixed layer is designed to understand this puzzle. It is revealed that, when the oceanic mixed layer is prescribed as a layer of constant depth, the phase and amplitude of the modeled SAT is not consistent with that of the observation. However, when the annually changing heat capacity of the oceanic mixed layer is included, both the amplitude and phase of the modeled SAT share these of the observed SAT, proving that the semiannual component of SAT over mid-latitude and subpolar oceans is a result of the heat capacity-varying oceanic mixed layer in response to annually evolving solar irradiance.

Enhanced Wind-Driven Downwelling Flow in Warm Oceanic Eddy Features during the Intensification of Tropical Cyclone Isaac (2012): Observations and Theory

Tropical cyclones (TCs) typically produce intense oceanic upwelling underneath the storm’s center and weaker and broader downwelling outside upwelled regions. However, several cases of predominantly downwelling responses over warm, anticyclonic mesoscale oceanic features were recently reported, where the ensuing upper-ocean warming prevented significant cooling of the sea surface, and TCs rapidly attained and maintained major status. Elucidating downwelling responses is critical to better understanding TC intensification over warm mesoscale oceanic features. Airborne ocean profilers deployed over the Gulf of Mexico’s eddy features during the intensification of tropical storm Isaac into a hurricane measured isothermal downwelling of up to 60 m over a 12-h interval (5 m h−1) or twice the upwelling strength underneath the storm’s center. This displacement occurred over a warm-core eddy that extended underneath Isaac’s left side, where the ensuing upper-ocean warming was ~8 kW m−2; sea surface temperatures >28°C prevailed during Isaac’s intensification. Rather than with just Ekman pumping WE, these observed upwelling–downwelling responses were consistent with a vertical velocity Ws = WE − Rogδ(Uh + UOML); Ws is the TC-driven pumping velocity, derived from the dominant vorticity balance that considers geostrophic flow strength (measured by the eddy Rossby number Rog = ζg/f), geostrophic vorticity ζg, Coriolis frequency f, aspect ratio δ = h/Rmax, oceanic mixed layer thickness h, storm’s radius of maximum winds Rmax, total surface stresses from storm motion Uh, and oceanic mixed layer Ekman drift UOML. These results underscore the need for initializing coupled numerical models with realistic ocean states to correctly resolve the three-dimensional upwelling–downwelling responses and improve TC intensity forecasting.