scholarly journals Coupling of Convective Momentum Transport with Convective Heating in Global Climate Simulations

2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 1334-1349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoqing Wu ◽  
Liping Deng ◽  
Xiaoliang Song ◽  
Guang Jun Zhang

Abstract The effects of convective momentum transport (CMT) on global climate simulations are examined in this study. Comparison between two sets of 20-yr (1979–98) integration using the NCAR Community Climate Model version 3 (CCM3) illustrates that the inclusion of CMT in the convection scheme systematically modifies the climate mean state over the equatorial region. The convective momentum tendencies slow down the equatorward flow at higher latitudes near the surface and weaken the equatorial convergence and convection. This reduces the convective heating and drying around the equator and produces an improved meridional distribution within the upward branch of the Hadley circulation. The major heating peak during the boreal winter is moved to south of the equator at about 10°S, which is closer to the heat budget residuals of the ECMWF reanalysis data. The responses of meridional wind to the reduced heating result in the secondary meridional circulation within the intertropical convergence zone.

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (19) ◽  
pp. 5034-5047 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoliang Song ◽  
Xiaoqing Wu ◽  
Guang Jun Zhang ◽  
Raymond W. Arritt

Abstract A simplified general circulation model (GCM), consisting of a complete dynamical core, simple specified physics, and convective momentum transport (CMT) forcing, is used to understand the effects of CMT on climate simulations with a focus on the role of convective heating in the response of circulation to the CMT forcing. It is found that the convective heating dominates the meridional circulation response and dynamical processes dominate the zonal wind response to the CMT forcing in the tropics; the simplified model reproduces some of the key features of CMT-induced circulation changes observed in the full GCM in the tropics. These results suggest that the CMT-induced zonal and meridional circulation changes in the tropics in the full GCM are dominated by dynamical processes and the convective heating, respectively. Inclusion of the CMT in the model induces a marked change in convective heating, which negatively correlates with the change in vertical velocity, indicating the existence of CMT-induced convective heating–circulation feedback. The sensitivity experiment with the removal of mean convective heating feedback demonstrates that the convective heating affects the response of the meridional circulation to the CMT forcing through the CMT-induced convective heating–circulation feedback.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-69
Author(s):  
Zane Martin ◽  
Clara Orbe ◽  
Shuguang Wang ◽  
Adam Sobel

AbstractObservational studies show a strong connection between the intraseasonal Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO) and the stratospheric quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO): the boreal winter MJO is stronger, more predictable, and has different teleconnections when the QBO in the lower stratosphere is easterly versus westerly. Despite the strength of the observed connection, global climate models do not produce an MJO-QBO link. Here the authors use a current-generation ocean-atmosphere coupled NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies global climate model (Model E2.1) to examine the MJO-QBO link. To represent the QBO with minimal bias, the model zonal mean stratospheric zonal and meridional winds are relaxed to reanalysis fields from 1980-2017. The model troposphere, including the MJO, is allowed to freely evolve. The model with stratospheric nudging captures QBO signals well, including QBO temperature anomalies. However, an ensemble of nudged simulations still lacks an MJO-QBO connection.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Krapp ◽  
Robert M. Beyer ◽  
Stephen L. Edmundson ◽  
Paul J. Valdes ◽  
Andrea Manica

AbstractCurated global climate data have been generated from climate model outputs for the last 120,000 years, whereas reconstructions going back even further have been lacking due to the high computational cost of climate simulations. Here, we present a statistically-derived global terrestrial climate dataset for every 1,000 years of the last 800,000 years. It is based on a set of linear regressions between 72 existing HadCM3 climate simulations of the last 120,000 years and external forcings consisting of CO2, orbital parameters, and land type. The estimated climatologies were interpolated to 0.5° resolution and bias-corrected using present-day climate. The data compare well with the original HadCM3 simulations and with long-term proxy records. Our dataset includes monthly temperature, precipitation, cloud cover, and 17 bioclimatic variables. In addition, we derived net primary productivity and global biome distributions using the BIOME4 vegetation model. The data are a relevant source for different research areas, such as archaeology or ecology, to study the long-term effect of glacial-interglacial climate cycles for periods beyond the last 120,000 years.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 1659-1675 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min-Seop Ahn ◽  
Daehyun Kim ◽  
Yoo-Geun Ham ◽  
Sungsu Park

AbstractThe Maritime Continent (MC) region is known as a “barrier” in the life cycle of the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO). During boreal winter, the MJO detours the equatorial MC land region southward and propagates through the oceanic region. Also, about half of the MJO events that initiate over the Indian Ocean cease around the MC. The mechanism through which the MC affects MJO propagation, however, has remained unanswered. The current study investigates the MJO–MC interaction with a particular focus on the role of MC land convection. Using a global climate model that simulates both mean climate and MJO realistically, we performed two sensitivity experiments in which updraft plume radius is set to its maximum and minimum value only in the MC land grid points, making convective top deeper and shallower, respectively. Our results show that MC land convection plays a key role in shaping the 3D climatological moisture distribution around the MC through its local and nonlocal effects. Shallower and weaker MC land convection results in a steepening of the vertical and meridional mean moisture gradient over the MC region. The opposite is the case when MC land convection becomes deeper and stronger. The MJO’s eastward propagation is enhanced (suppressed) with the steeper (lower) mean moisture gradient. The moist static energy (MSE) budget of the MJO reveals the vertical and meridional advection of the mean MSE by MJO wind anomalies as the key processes that are responsible for the changes in MJO propagation characteristics. Our results pinpoint the critical role of the background moisture gradient on MJO propagation.


2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (24) ◽  
pp. 5946-5961 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Sedlacek ◽  
Jean-François Lemieux ◽  
Lawrence A. Mysak ◽  
L. Bruno Tremblay ◽  
David M. Holland

Abstract The granular sea ice model (GRAN) from Tremblay and Mysak is converted from Cartesian to spherical coordinates. In this conversion, the metric terms in the divergence of the deviatoric stress and in the strain rates are included. As an application, the GRAN is coupled to the global Earth System Climate Model from the University of Victoria. The sea ice model is validated against standard datasets. The sea ice volume and area exported through Fram Strait agree well with values obtained from in situ and satellite-derived estimates. The sea ice velocity in the interior Arctic agrees well with buoy drift data. The thermodynamic behavior of the sea ice model over a seasonal cycle at one location in the Beaufort Sea is validated against the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA) datasets. The thermodynamic growth rate in the model is almost twice as large as the observed growth rate, and the melt rate is 25% lower than observed. The larger growth rate is due to thinner ice at the beginning of the SHEBA period and the absence of internal heat storage in the ice layer in the model. The simulated lower summer melt is due to the smaller-than-observed surface melt.


2017 ◽  
Vol 74 (5) ◽  
pp. 1363-1380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitchell W. Moncrieff ◽  
Changhai Liu ◽  
Peter Bogenschutz

Abstract A new approach for treating organized convection in global climate models (GCMs) referred to as multiscale coherent structure parameterization (MCSP) introduces physical and dynamical effects of organized convection that are missing from contemporary parameterizations. The effects of vertical shear are approximated by a nonlinear slantwise overturning model based on Lagrangian conservation principles. Simulation of the April 2009 Madden–Julian oscillation event during the Year of Tropical Convection (YOTC) over the Indian Ocean using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model at 1.3-km grid spacing identifies self-similar properties for squall lines, MCSs, and superclusters embedded in equatorial waves. The slantwise overturning model approximates this observed self-similarity. The large-scale effects of MCSP are examined in two categories of GCM. First, large-scale convective systems simulated in an aquaplanet model are approximated by slantwise overturning with attention to convective momentum transport. Second, MCSP is utilized in the Community Atmosphere Model, version 5.5 (CAM5.5), as tendency equations for second-baroclinic heating and convective momentum transport. The difference between MCSP and CAM5.5 is a direct measure of the global effects of organized convection. Consistent with TRMM measurements, the MCSP generates large-scale precipitation patterns in the tropical warm pool and the adjoining locale; improves precipitation in the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), South Pacific convergence zone (SPCZ), and Maritime Continent regions; and affects tropical wave modes. In conclusion, the treatment of organized convection by MCSP is salient for the next generation of GCMs.


2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoliang Song ◽  
Xiaoqing Wu ◽  
Guang Jun Zhang ◽  
Raymond W. Arritt

Abstract Dynamical effects of convective momentum transports (CMT) on global climate simulations are investigated using the NCAR Community Climate Model version 3 (CCM3). To isolate the dynamical effects of the CMT, an experimental setup is proposed in which all physical parameterizations except for the deep convection scheme are replaced with idealized forcing. The CMT scheme is incorporated into the convection scheme to calculate the CMT forcing, which is used to force the momentum equations, while convective temperature and moisture tendencies are not passed into the model calculations in order to remove the physical feedback between convective heating and wind fields. Excluding the response of complex physical processes, the model with the experimental setup contains a complete dynamical core and the CMT forcing. Comparison between two sets of 5-yr simulations using this idealized general circulation model (GCM) shows that the Hadley circulation is enhanced when the CMT forcing is included, in agreement with previous studies that used full GCMs. It suggests that dynamical processes make significant contributions to the total response of circulation to CMT forcing in the full GCMs. The momentum budget shows that the Coriolis force, boundary layer friction, and nonlinear interactions of velocity fields affect the responses of zonal wind field, and the adjustment of circulation follows an approximate geostrophic balance. The adjustment mechanism of meridional circulation in response to ageostrophic CMT forcing is examined. It is found that the strengthening of the Hadley circulation is an indirect response of the meridional wind to the zonal CMT forcing through the Coriolis effect, which is required for maintaining near-geostrophic balance.


2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (12) ◽  
pp. 4752-4775 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yalin Fan ◽  
Stephen M. Griffies

Abstract The impacts of parameterized upper-ocean wave mixing on global climate simulations are assessed through modification to Large et al.’s K-profile ocean boundary layer parameterization (KPP) in a coupled atmosphere–ocean–wave global climate model. The authors consider three parameterizations and focus on impacts to high-latitude ocean mixed layer depths and related ocean diagnostics. The McWilliams and Sullivan parameterization (MS2000) adds a Langmuir turbulence enhancement to the nonlocal component of KPP. It is found that the Langmuir turbulence–induced mixing provided by this parameterization is too strong in winter, producing overly deep mixed layers, and of minimal impact in summer. The later Smyth et al. parameterization modifies MS2000 by adding a stratification effect to restrain the turbulence enhancement under weak stratification conditions (e.g., winter) and to magnify the enhancement under strong stratification conditions. The Smyth et al. scheme improves the simulated winter mixed layer depth in the simulations herein, with mixed layer deepening in the Labrador Sea and shoaling in the Weddell and Ross Seas. Enhanced vertical mixing through parameterized Langmuir turbulence, coupled with enhanced lateral transport associated with parameterized mesoscale and submesoscale eddies, is found to be a key element for improving mixed layer simulations. Secondary impacts include strengthening the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and reducing the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. The Qiao et al. nonbreaking wave parameterization is the third scheme assessed here. It adds a wave orbital velocity to the Reynolds stress calculation and provides the strongest summer mixed layer deepening in the Southern Ocean among the three experiments, but with weak impacts during winter.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Benito-Barca ◽  
Natalia Calvo ◽  
Marta Abalos

<p>El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the main source of interannual variability in the global climate. Previous studies have shown ENSO has impacts on stratospheric ozone concentrations through changes in stratospheric circulation. The aim of this study is to extend these analysis by examining the anomalies in residual circulation and mixing associated with different El Niño flavors (Eastern Pacific (EP) and Central Pacific (CP)) and La Niña in boreal winter. For this purpose, we use four 60-year ensemble members of the Whole Atmospheric Community Climate Model version 4, reanalysis and satellite data.</p><p>Significant ozone anomalies are identified in both tropics and extratropics. In the northern high-latitudes (70-90N), significant positive ozone anomalies appear in the middle stratosphere in early winter during both CP and EP El Niño, which propagates downward during winter to the lower stratosphere only during EP-El Niño events. Anomalies during La Niña events are opposite to EP-El Niño. The analysis of the different terms in the continuity equation for zonal-mean ozone concentration reveals that Arctic ozone changes during ENSO events  are mainly driven by advection due to residual circulation, although contributions of mixing and chemistry are not negligible, especially in upper stratosphere.</p><p>The ENSO impact on total ozone column (TOC) is also investigated. During EP-El Niño, a significant reduction of TOC appears in the tropics and an increase in the middle latitudes. During La Niña the response is the opposite. The TOC response to CP El Niño events is not as robust. In the Northern Hemisphere polar region the TOC anomalies are not significant, probably due to its large variability associated with sudden stratospheric warmings in this region.</p>


2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (23) ◽  
pp. 9105-9120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clara Orbe ◽  
Paul A. Newman ◽  
Darryn W. Waugh ◽  
Mark Holzer ◽  
Luke D. Oman ◽  
...  

Abstract Future changes in transport from Northern Hemisphere (NH) midlatitudes into the Arctic are examined using rigorously defined air-mass fractions that partition air in the Arctic according to where it last had contact with the planetary boundary layer (PBL). Boreal winter (December–February) and summer (June–August) air-mass fraction climatologies are calculated for the modeled climate of the Goddard Earth Observing System Chemistry–Climate Model (GEOSCCM) forced with the end-of-twenty-first century greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting substances. The modeled projections indicate that the fraction of air in the Arctic that last contacted the PBL over NH midlatitudes (or air of “midlatitude origin”) will increase by about 10% in both winter and summer. The projected increases during winter are largest in the upper and middle Arctic troposphere, where they reflect an upward and poleward shift in the transient eddy meridional wind, a robust dynamical response among comprehensive climate models. The boreal winter response is dominated by (~5%–10%) increases in the air-mass fractions originating over the eastern Pacific and the Atlantic, while the response in boreal summer mainly reflects (~5%) increases in air of Asian and North American origin. The results herein suggest that future changes in transport from midlatitudes may impact the composition—and, hence, radiative budget—in the Arctic, independent of changes in emissions.


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