The oceanic response to mesoscale atmospheric forcing

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Jung, Thomas, Serrar, Soumia, Wang, Qiang
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Wiley 2014
• Subjects: North Atlantic; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/35302/; https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/35302/1/Jungetal_GRL14.pdf; http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2013GL059040/abstract; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.43316; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.43316.d001

The response of the oceanic circulation to mesoscale atmospheric forcing is studied by comparing integrations of a global sea ice-ocean model with high-resolution European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts analysis data (0.4◦) to those with the same forcing coarse grained to a resolution typically employed in climate models and atmospheric reanalyses (1.8◦). It is shown that the representation of mesoscale features in atmospheric forcing fields leads to an increase in the strength of the wind-driven gyres in the North Atlantic and North Pacific regions of about 5–10% of its mean value. An increase of similar magnitude is found for the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. From the results of this study it is argued that small-scale atmospheric phenomena such as fronts, mesoscale cyclones, and topographic jets play an important role in driving the mean oceanic circulation.