The Impact of Wind Stress Feedback on the Stability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation
Recent results based on models using prescribed surface wind stress forcing have suggested that the net freshwater transport S by the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (MOC) into the Atlantic basin is a good indicator of the multiple-equilibria regime. By means of a coupled climate model o...
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ftciteseerx:oai:CiteSeerX.psu:10.1.1.683.6564 2023-05-15T18:18:44+02:00 The Impact of Wind Stress Feedback on the Stability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation Olivier Arzel Matthew H. England The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives 2009 application/pdf http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.683.6564 http://web.science.unsw.edu.au/%7Ematthew/hysteresis_wind_feedback.pdf en eng http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.683.6564 http://web.science.unsw.edu.au/%7Ematthew/hysteresis_wind_feedback.pdf Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. http://web.science.unsw.edu.au/%7Ematthew/hysteresis_wind_feedback.pdf text 2009 ftciteseerx 2016-01-08T18:01:08Z Recent results based on models using prescribed surface wind stress forcing have suggested that the net freshwater transport S by the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (MOC) into the Atlantic basin is a good indicator of the multiple-equilibria regime. By means of a coupled climate model of intermediate complexity, this study shows that this scalar S cannot capture the connection between the properties of the steady state and the impact of the wind stress feedback on the evolution of perturbations. This implies that, when interpreting the observed value of S, the position of the present-day climate is systematically biased toward the multiple-equilibria regime. The results show, however, that the stabilizing influence of the wind stress feedback on theMOC is restricted to a narrowwindow of freshwater fluxes, located in the vicinity of the state characterized by a zero freshwater flux divergence over the Atlantic basin. If the position of the present-day climate is farther away from this state, then wind stress feedbacks are unable to exert a persistent effect on the modern MOC. This is because the stabilizing influence of the shallow reverse cell situated south of the equator during the off state rapidly dominates over the destabilizing influence of the wind stress feedback when the freshwater forcing gets stronger. Under glacial climate conditions by contrast, a weaker sensitivity with an opposite effect is found. This is ultimately due to the relatively large sea ice extent of the glacial climate, which implies that, during the off state, the horizontal redistribution of fresh waters by the subpolar gyre does not favor the development of a thermally direct MOC as opposed to the modern case. 1. Text Sea ice Unknown |
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English |
description |
Recent results based on models using prescribed surface wind stress forcing have suggested that the net freshwater transport S by the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (MOC) into the Atlantic basin is a good indicator of the multiple-equilibria regime. By means of a coupled climate model of intermediate complexity, this study shows that this scalar S cannot capture the connection between the properties of the steady state and the impact of the wind stress feedback on the evolution of perturbations. This implies that, when interpreting the observed value of S, the position of the present-day climate is systematically biased toward the multiple-equilibria regime. The results show, however, that the stabilizing influence of the wind stress feedback on theMOC is restricted to a narrowwindow of freshwater fluxes, located in the vicinity of the state characterized by a zero freshwater flux divergence over the Atlantic basin. If the position of the present-day climate is farther away from this state, then wind stress feedbacks are unable to exert a persistent effect on the modern MOC. This is because the stabilizing influence of the shallow reverse cell situated south of the equator during the off state rapidly dominates over the destabilizing influence of the wind stress feedback when the freshwater forcing gets stronger. Under glacial climate conditions by contrast, a weaker sensitivity with an opposite effect is found. This is ultimately due to the relatively large sea ice extent of the glacial climate, which implies that, during the off state, the horizontal redistribution of fresh waters by the subpolar gyre does not favor the development of a thermally direct MOC as opposed to the modern case. 1. |
author2 |
The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives |
format |
Text |
author |
Olivier Arzel Matthew H. England |
spellingShingle |
Olivier Arzel Matthew H. England The Impact of Wind Stress Feedback on the Stability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation |
author_facet |
Olivier Arzel Matthew H. England |
author_sort |
Olivier Arzel |
title |
The Impact of Wind Stress Feedback on the Stability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation |
title_short |
The Impact of Wind Stress Feedback on the Stability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation |
title_full |
The Impact of Wind Stress Feedback on the Stability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation |
title_fullStr |
The Impact of Wind Stress Feedback on the Stability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Impact of Wind Stress Feedback on the Stability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation |
title_sort |
impact of wind stress feedback on the stability of the atlantic meridional overturning circulation |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.683.6564 http://web.science.unsw.edu.au/%7Ematthew/hysteresis_wind_feedback.pdf |
genre |
Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Sea ice |
op_source |
http://web.science.unsw.edu.au/%7Ematthew/hysteresis_wind_feedback.pdf |
op_relation |
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.683.6564 http://web.science.unsw.edu.au/%7Ematthew/hysteresis_wind_feedback.pdf |
op_rights |
Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. |
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1766195399034404864 |