Role of sea surface temperature and soil-moisture feedback in the 1998 Oklahoma–Texas drought

Nature ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 408 (6814) ◽  
pp. 842-844 ◽  
Author(s):  
Song-You Hong ◽  
Eugenia Kalnay
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Sea Surface Temperature ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Soil Moisture Feedback

scholarly journals Amazon Basin climate under global warming: the role of the sea surface temperature

2008 ◽  
Vol 363 (1498) ◽  
pp. 1753-1759 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phil P Harris ◽  
Chris Huntingford ◽  
Peter M Cox
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Sea Surface Temperature ◽  
Amazon Basin ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Combined Effect ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Carbon Cycle Model

The Hadley Centre coupled climate–carbon cycle model (HadCM3LC) predicts loss of the Amazon rainforest in response to future anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, the atmospheric component of HadCM3LC is used to assess the role of simulated changes in mid-twenty-first century sea surface temperature (SST) in Amazon Basin climate change. When the full HadCM3LC SST anomalies (SSTAs) are used, the atmosphere model reproduces the Amazon Basin climate change exhibited by HadCM3LC, including much of the reduction in Amazon Basin rainfall. This rainfall change is shown to be the combined effect of SSTAs in both the tropical Atlantic and the Pacific, with roughly equal contributions from each basin. The greatest rainfall reduction occurs from May to October, outside of the mature South American monsoon (SAM) season. This dry season response is the combined effect of a more rapid warming of the tropical North Atlantic relative to the south, and warm SSTAs in the tropical east Pacific. Conversely, a weak enhancement of mature SAM season rainfall in response to Atlantic SST change is suppressed by the atmospheric response to Pacific SST. This net wet season response is sufficient to prevent dry season soil moisture deficits from being recharged through the SAM season, leading to a perennial soil moisture reduction and an associated 30% reduction in annual Amazon Basin net primary productivity (NPP). A further 23% NPP reduction occurs in response to a 3.5°C warmer air temperature associated with a global mean SST warming.

scholarly journals Role of sea surface temperature responses in simulation of the climatic effect of mineral dust aerosol

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 6049-6062 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Yue ◽  
H. Liao ◽  
H. J. Wang ◽  
S. L. Li ◽  
J. P. Tang
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Sea Surface Temperature ◽  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Mineral Dust ◽  
Dust Aerosol ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Climatic Effect ◽  
Radiative Effects ◽  
Climate Simulations

Abstract. Mineral dust aerosol can be transported over the nearby oceans and influence the energy balance at the sea surface. The role of dust-induced sea surface temperature (SST) responses in simulations of the climatic effect of dust is examined by using a general circulation model with online simulation of mineral dust and a coupled mixed-layer ocean model. Both the longwave and shortwave radiative effects of mineral dust aerosol are considered in climate simulations. The SST responses are found to be very influential on simulated dust-induced climate change, especially when climate simulations consider the two-way dust-climate coupling to account for the feedbacks. With prescribed SSTs and dust concentrations, we obtain an increase of 0.02 K in the global and annual mean surface air temperature (SAT) in response to dust radiative effects. In contrast, when SSTs are allowed to respond to radiative forcing of dust in the presence of the dust cycle-climate interactions, we obtain a global and annual mean cooling of 0.09 K in SAT by dust. The extra cooling simulated with the SST responses can be attributed to the following two factors: (1) The negative net (shortwave plus longwave) radiative forcing of dust at the surface reduces SST, which decreases latent heat fluxes and upward transport of water vapor, resulting in less warming in the atmosphere; (2) The positive feedback between SST responses and dust cycle. The dust-induced reductions in SST lead to reductions in precipitation (or wet deposition of dust) and hence increase the global burden of small dust particles. These small particles have strong scattering effects, which enhance the dust cooling at the surface and further reduce SSTs.

scholarly journals A numerical study of the windstorm Klaus: sensitivity to sea surface temperature

2014 ◽  
Vol 57 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazario Tartaglione ◽  
Rodrigo Caballero
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Sea Surface Temperature ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Moisture Convergence ◽  
Convective Precipitation ◽  
Limited Area ◽  
Weather Forecasts

<p>This article investigates the role of sea surface temperature (SST) as well as the effects of evaporation and moisture convergence on the evolution of cyclone Klaus, which occurred on January 23 and 24, 2009. To elucidate the role of sea surface temperature (SST) and air–sea fluxes in the dynamics of the cyclone, ten hydrostatic mesoscale simulations were performed by Bologna Limited Area Model (BOLAM). The first one was a control experiment with European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) SST analysis. The nine following simulations are sensitivity experiments where the SST are obtained by adding a constant value by 1 to 9 K to the ECMWF field. Results show that a warmer sea increases the surface latent heat fluxes and the moisture convergence, favoring the development of convection in the storm. Convection is affected immediately by the increased SST. Later on, drop of mean sea level pressure (MSLP) occurs together with increasing of surface winds. The cyclone trajectory is not sensitive to change in SST differently from MSLP and convective precipitation.</p>

Recent changes in tropical freezing heights and the role of sea surface temperature

Nature ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 383 (6596) ◽  
pp. 152-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry F. Diaz ◽  
Nicholas E. Graham
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Sea Surface Temperature ◽  
Sea Surface
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