On the reduced North Atlantic storminess during the last glacial period: the role of topography in shaping synoptic eddies

• Published in: Journal of Climate
• Main Authors: Riviere, Gwendal, Berthou, Ségolène, Lapeyre, Guillaume, Kageyama, Masa
• Other Authors: Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539) (LMD), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-École polytechnique (X)-École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Département des Géosciences - ENS Paris, École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL), Met Office Hadley Centre (MOHC), United Kingdom Met Office Exeter, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA)), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), Modélisation du climat (CLIM), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA))
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2017
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.CL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Climatology; [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean; Atmosphere; Ice Sheet; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01661988; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01661988/document; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01661988/file/REV2_eddy_efficiency_LGM.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-17-0247.1

International audience The North Atlantic storminess of Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) fully coupled climate simulations is generally less intense than that of their pre-industrial (PI) counterparts, despite having stronger baroclinicity. An explanation for this counterintuitive result is presented by comparing two simulations of the IPSL full climate model forced by PMIP3 (Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project Phase 3) LGM and PI conditions. Two additional numerical experiments using a simplified dry general circulation model forced by idealized topography and a relaxation in temperature provide guidance for the dynamical interpretation. The forced experiment with idealized Rockies and idealized Laurentide Ice Sheet has a less intense North Atlantic storm-track activity than the forced experiment with idealized Rockies only, despite similar baroclinicity. Both the climate and idealized runs satisfy or support the following statements. The reduced storm-track intensity can be explained by a reduced baroclinic conversion which itself comes from a loss in eddy efficiency to tap the available potential energy as shown by energetic budgets. The eddy heat fluxes are northeastward oriented in the western Atlantic in LGM and are less well aligned with the mean temperature gradient than in PI. The southern slope of the Laurentide Ice Sheet topography forces the eddy geopotential isolines to be zonally oriented at low levels in its proximity. This distorts the tubes of constant eddy geopotential in such a way that they tilt northwestward with height during baroclinic growth in LGM while they are more optimally westward tilted in PI.