scholarly journals Can wave coupling improve operational regional ocean forecasts for the North-West European Shelf?

Author(s):  
Huw W. Lewis ◽  
Juan Manuel Castillo Sanchez ◽  
John Siddorn ◽  
Robert R. King ◽  
Marina Tonani ◽  
...  

Abstract. Operational ocean forecasts are typically produced by modelling systems run using a forced mode approach. The evolution of the ocean state is not directly influenced by surface waves, and the ocean dynamics are driven by an external source of meteorological data which is independent of the ocean state. Model coupling provides one approach to increase the extent to which ocean forecast systems can represent the interactions and feedbacks between ocean, waves and the atmosphere seen in nature. This paper demonstrates the impact of improving how the effect of waves on the momentum exchange across the ocean-atmosphere interface is represented through ocean-wave coupling on the performance of an operational regional ocean prediction system. This study focuses on the eddy-resolving (1.5 km resolution) Atlantic Margin Model (AMM15) ocean model configuration for the North-West European Shelf (NWS) region. A series of two-year duration forecast trials of the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) North-West Shelf regional ocean prediction system are analysed. The impact of including ocean-wave feedbacks via dynamic coupling on the simulated ocean is discussed. The main interactions included are the modification of surface stress by wave growth and dissipation, Stokes–Coriolis forcing and wave height dependent ocean surface roughness. Given the relevance to operational forecasting, trials with and without ocean data assimilation are considered. Summary forecast metrics demonstrate that the ocean-wave coupled system is a viable evolution for future operational implementation. When results are considered in more depth, wave coupling was found to result in an annual cycle of relatively warmer winter and cooler summer sea surface temperatures for seasonally stratified regions of the NWS. This is driven by enhanced mixing due to waves, and a deepening of the ocean mixed layer during summer. The impact of wave coupling is shown to be reduced within the mixed layer with assimilation of ocean observations. Evaluation of salinity and ocean currents against profile measurements in the German Bight demonstrates improved simulation with wave coupling relative to control simulations. Further, evidence is provided of improvement to simulation of extremes of sea surface height anomalies relative to coastal tide gauges.

Ocean Science ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 669-690 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huw W. Lewis ◽  
Juan Manuel Castillo Sanchez ◽  
John Siddorn ◽  
Robert R. King ◽  
Marina Tonani ◽  
...  

Abstract. Operational ocean forecasts are typically produced by modelling systems run using a forced mode approach. The evolution of the ocean state is not directly influenced by surface waves, and the ocean dynamics are driven by an external source of meteorological data which are independent of the ocean state. Model coupling provides one approach to increase the extent to which ocean forecast systems can represent the interactions and feedbacks between ocean, waves, and the atmosphere seen in nature. This paper demonstrates the impact of improving how the effect of waves on the momentum exchange across the ocean–atmosphere interface is represented through ocean–wave coupling on the performance of an operational regional ocean prediction system. This study focuses on the eddy-resolving (1.5 km resolution) Atlantic Margin Model (AMM15) ocean model configuration for the north-west European Shelf (NWS) region. A series of 2-year duration forecast trials of the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) north-west European Shelf regional ocean prediction system are analysed. The impact of including ocean–wave feedbacks via dynamic coupling on the simulated ocean is discussed. The main interactions included are the modification of surface stress by wave growth and dissipation, Stokes–Coriolis forcing, and wave-height-dependent ocean surface roughness. Given the relevance to operational forecasting, trials with and without ocean data assimilation are considered. Summary forecast metrics demonstrate that the ocean–wave coupled system is a viable evolution for future operational implementation. When results are considered in more depth, wave coupling was found to result in an annual cycle of relatively warmer winter and cooler summer sea surface temperatures for seasonally stratified regions of the NWS. This is driven by enhanced mixing due to waves, and a deepening of the ocean mixed layer during summer. The impact of wave coupling is shown to be reduced within the mixed layer with assimilation of ocean observations. Evaluation of salinity and ocean currents against profile measurements in the German Bight demonstrates improved simulation with wave coupling relative to control simulations. Further, evidence is provided of improvement to simulation of extremes of sea surface height anomalies relative to coastal tide gauges.


2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 300-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomohiko Tomita ◽  
Masami Nonaka

Abstract In the North Pacific, the wintertime sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA), which is represented by March (SSTAMar), when the upper-ocean mixed layer depth (hMar) reaches its maximum, is formed by the anomalous surface forcing from fall to winter (S′). As a parameter of volume, hMar has a potential to modify the impact of S′ on SSTAMar. Introducing an upper-ocean heat budget equation, the present study identifies the physical relationship among the spatial distributions of hMar, S′, and SSTAMar. The long-term mean of hMar adjusts the spatial distribution of SSTAMar. Without the adjustment, the impact of S′ on SSTAMar is overestimated where the hMar mean is deep. Since hMar is partially due to seawater temperature, it leads to nonlinearity between the S′ and the SSTAMar. When the SSTAMar is negative (positive), the sensitivity to S′ is impervious (responsive) with the deepening (shoaling) of the hMar compared to the linear sensitivity. The thermal impacts from the ocean to the atmosphere might be underestimated under the assumption of the linear relationship.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (23) ◽  
pp. 2776 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Storto ◽  
Paolo Oddo

Exploiting the potential of space-borne oceanic measurements to characterize the sub-surface structure of the ocean becomes critical in areas where deployment of in situ sensors might be difficult or expensive. Sea Surface Temperature (SST) observations potentially provide enormous amounts of information about the upper ocean variability. However, the assimilation of daytime SST retrievals, e.g., from infrared sensors into ocean prediction systems, requires a specific treatment of the diurnal cycle of skin SST, which is generally under-estimated in current ocean models due to poor vertical resolution at the air–sea interface and lack of proper parameterizations. To this end, a simple off-line bias correction scheme is proposed, where the bias predictors include, among others, the warm layer and cool skin warming/cooling deduced from a prognostic model. Furthermore, a localization procedure that limits the vertical penetration of the SST information in a hybrid variational-ensemble data assimilation system is formulated. These two novelties are implemented and assessed within a regional ocean prediction system in the Ligurian Sea for the assimilation of daytime SST data retrieved with hourly frequency from the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) onboard the geostationary satellite Meteosat-10. Experiments are validated against independent measurements collected by gliders, moorings, and drifters during the Long-term Glider Missions for Environmental Characterization (LOGCMEC17) sea trial. Results suggest that the simple bias correction scheme is effective in improving both the sea surface and mixed layer accuracy, correctly thinning the mixed layer compared to the control experiment, outperforming experiments with night-only data assimilation, and improving the forecast skill scores. Localization further improves the prediction of the mixed layer depth. It is therefore recommended that sophisticated bias correction and localization procedures are adopted for fruitfully assimilating daytime SST data in operational oceanographic analysis systems.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 403
Author(s):  
Nieves G. Valiente ◽  
Andrew Saulter ◽  
John M. Edwards ◽  
Huw W. Lewis ◽  
Juan M. Castillo Sanchez ◽  
...  

Prediction of severe natural hazards requires accurate forecasting systems. Recently, there has been a tendency towards more integrated solutions, where different components of the Earth system are coupled to explicitly represent the physical feedbacks between them. This study focuses on rapidly developing waves under extratropical storms to understand the impact of different wave source term parameterisations in the WAVEWATCH III (WWIII) model (ST4 and ST6) and coupling strategies (surface roughness closure versus surface stress closure) on the accuracy of the Met Office regional atmosphere-ocean-wave coupled research system for the north-west (NW) European shelf (UKC4). Results of a study focused on simulations during winter 2013/14 demonstrate that ST6 allows for a faster wave growth than the ST4 parameterisation but might degrade low to mid energy wave states. The difference between ST6 and ST4 in wave growth is larger for higher wind speeds and short fetches. The experiment with ST4 and roughness closure consistently under-predicts the wave growth in those locations where fetch dependence is an important factor (i.e., seas at the East (E) of Ireland and the UK for storms coming from the NW-WNW). The implementation in the wave model of ST6 physics with the stress closure coupling strategy appears to improve growth of young wind-seas, reducing bias in those locations where the storms are underestimated. The slower wave growth when using surface roughness closure seems to be related to an underestimation of the momentum transfer computed by the wave model when coupling the wind speeds. For very young to young wind seas, this can be overcome when the surface stress is computed by the atmospheric model and directly passed to the ocean.


2003 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. 1364-1377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaëlle de Coëtlogon ◽  
Claude Frankignoul

Abstract The impact of the seasonal variations of the mixed-layer depth on the persistence of sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies is studied in the North Atlantic, using observations. A significant recurrence of winter SST anomalies during the following winter occurs in most of the basin, but not in the subtropical area of strong subduction. When taking reemergence into account, the e-folding timescale of winter SST anomalies generally exceeds 1 yr, and is about 16 months for the dominant SST anomaly tripole. The influence of advection by the mean oceanic currents is investigated by allowing for a displacement of the maximum recurrent correlation and, alternatively, by considering the SST anomaly evolution along realistic mean displacement paths. Taking into account the nonlocality of the reemergence generally increases the wintertime persistence, most notably in the northern part of the domain. The passive response of the mixed layer to the atmospheric forcing thus has a red spectrum down to near-decadal frequencies.


Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 688
Author(s):  
Soline Bielli ◽  
Christelle Barthe ◽  
Olivier Bousquet ◽  
Pierre Tulet ◽  
Joris Pianezze

A set of numerical simulations is relied upon to evaluate the impact of air-sea interactions on the behaviour of tropical cyclone (TC) Bejisa (2014), using various configurations of the coupled ocean-atmosphere numerical system Meso-NH-NEMO. Uncoupled (SST constant) as well as 1D (use of a 1D ocean mixed layer) and 3D (full 3D ocean) coupled experiments are conducted to evaluate the impact of the oceanic response and dynamic processes, with emphasis on the simulated structure and intensity of TC Bejisa. Although the three experiments are shown to properly capture the track of the tropical cyclone, the intensity and the spatial distribution of the sea surface cooling show strong differences from one coupled experiment to another. In the 1D experiment, sea surface cooling (∼1 ∘C) is reduced by a factor 2 with respect to observations and appears restricted to the depth of the ocean mixed layer. Cooling is maximized along the right-hand side of the TC track, in apparent disagreement with satellite-derived sea surface temperature observations. In the 3D experiment, surface cooling of up to 2.5 ∘C is simulated along the left hand side of the TC track, which shows more consistency with observations both in terms of intensity and spatial structure. In-depth cooling is also shown to extend to a much deeper depth, with a secondary maximum of nearly 1.5 ∘C simulated near 250 m. With respect to the uncoupled experiment, heat fluxes are reduced from about 20% in both 1D and 3D coupling configurations. The tropical cyclone intensity in terms of occurrence of 10-m TC wind is globally reduced in both cases by about 10%. 3D-coupling tends to asymmetrize winds aloft with little impact on intensity but rather a modification of the secondary circulation, resulting in a slight change in structure.


Author(s):  
Diego Bruciaferri ◽  
Marina Tonani ◽  
Huw Lewis ◽  
John Siddorn ◽  
Andrew Saulter ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lotfi Aouf ◽  
Daniele Hauser ◽  
Stephane Law-Chune ◽  
Bertrand chapron ◽  
Alice Dalphinet ◽  
...  

<p>The Southern ocean is a complex ocean region with uncertainties related to surface wind forcing and fluxes exchanges at the air/sea interface. The improvement of wind wave generation in this ocean region is crucial for climate studies. With CFOSAT satellite mission, the SWIM instrument provides directional wave spectra for wavelengths from 70 to 500 m, which shed light on the role of correcting the wave direction and peak wave number of dominant wave trains in the wind-waves growth phase. This consequently induced a better energy transfer between waves and a significant bias reduction of wave height in the Southern Ocean (Aouf et al. 2020). The objective of this work is to extend the analysis of the impact of the assimilation of wave number components from SWIM wave partitions on the ocean/wave coupling. To this end, coupled simulations of the wave model MFWAM and the ocean model NEMO are performed during the southern winter period of 2019 (May-July). We have examined the MFWAM/NEMO coupling with and without the assimilation of the SWIM mean wave number components. Several coupling processes related to Stokes drift, momentum flux stress and wave breaking inducing turbulence in the ocean mixing layer have been analyzed. We also compared the coupled runs with a control run without wave forcing in order to evaluate the impact of the assimilation. The results of coupled simulations have been validated with satellite Sea Surface Temperature and available surface currents data over the southern ocean. We also investigated the impact of the assimilation during severe storms with unlimited fetch conditions.</p><p>Further discussions and conclusions will be commented in the final paper.</p><p>Aouf L., New directional wave satellite observations : Towards improved wave forecasting and climate description in Southern Ocean, Geophysical Research Letters, DOI: 10.1029/2020GL091187 (in production).</p><p> </p><div> <div> <div></div> <div>What do you want to do ?</div> New mail</div> </div><div><img></div>


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Venkat Ratnam ◽  
S. Ravindra Babu ◽  
S. S. Das ◽  
Ghouse Basha ◽  
B. V. Krishnamurthy ◽  
...  

Abstract. Tropical cyclones play an important role in modifying the tropopause structure and dynamics as well as stratosphere-troposphere exchange (STE) process in the Upper Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere (UTLS) region. In the present study, the impact of cyclones that occurred over the North Indian Ocean during 2007–2013 on the STE process is quantified using satellite observations. Tropopause characteristics during cyclones are obtained from the Global Positioning System (GPS) Radio Occultation (RO) measurements and ozone and water vapor concentrations in UTLS region are obtained from Aura-Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) satellite observations. The effect of cyclones on the tropopause parameters is observed to be more prominent within 500 km from the centre of cyclone. In our earlier study we have observed decrease (increase) in the tropopause altitude (temperature) up to 0.6 km (3 K) and the convective outflow level increased up to 2 km. This change leads to a total increase in the tropical tropopause layer (TTL) thickness of 3 km within the 500 km from the centre of cyclone. Interestingly, an enhancement in the ozone mixing ratio in the upper troposphere is clearly noticed within 500 km from cyclone centre whereas the enhancement in the water vapor in the lower stratosphere is more significant on south-east side extending from 500–1000 km away from the cyclone centre. We estimated the cross-tropopause mass flux for different intensities of cyclones and found that the mean flux from stratosphere to troposphere for cyclonic stroms is 0.05 ± 0.29 × 10−3 kg m−2 and for very severe cyclonic stroms it is 0.5 ± 1.07 × 10−3 kg m−2. More downward flux is noticed in the north-west and south-west side of the cyclone centre. These results indicate that the cyclones have significant impact in effecting the tropopause structure, ozone and water vapour budget and consequentially the STE in the UTLS region.


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