Image_3_Drivers of Marine Heatwaves in the Northwest Atlantic: The Role of Air–Sea Interaction During Onset and Decline.JPEG
Marine heatwaves (MHWs) are increasing in duration and intensity at a global scale and are projected to continue to increase due to the anthropogenic warming of the climate. Because MHWs may have drastic impacts on fisheries and other marine goods and services, there is a growing interest in underst...
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ftfrontimediafig:oai:figshare.com:article/14184521 2023-05-15T17:45:28+02:00 Image_3_Drivers of Marine Heatwaves in the Northwest Atlantic: The Role of Air–Sea Interaction During Onset and Decline.JPEG Robert W. Schlegel Eric C. J. Oliver Ke Chen 2021-03-09T05:18:45Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.627970.s003 https://figshare.com/articles/figure/Image_3_Drivers_of_Marine_Heatwaves_in_the_Northwest_Atlantic_The_Role_of_Air_Sea_Interaction_During_Onset_and_Decline_JPEG/14184521 unknown doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.627970.s003 https://figshare.com/articles/figure/Image_3_Drivers_of_Marine_Heatwaves_in_the_Northwest_Atlantic_The_Role_of_Air_Sea_Interaction_During_Onset_and_Decline_JPEG/14184521 CC BY 4.0 CC-BY Oceanography Marine Biology Marine Geoscience Biological Oceanography Chemical Oceanography Physical Oceanography Marine Engineering marine heatwaves air–sea heat flux drivers Northwest Atlantic SST Image Figure 2021 ftfrontimediafig https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.627970.s003 2021-03-10T23:57:40Z Marine heatwaves (MHWs) are increasing in duration and intensity at a global scale and are projected to continue to increase due to the anthropogenic warming of the climate. Because MHWs may have drastic impacts on fisheries and other marine goods and services, there is a growing interest in understanding the predictability and developing practical predictions of these events. A necessary step toward prediction is to develop a better understanding of the drivers and processes responsible for the development of MHWs. Prior research has shown that air–sea heat flux and ocean advection across sharp thermal gradients are common physical processes governing these anomalous events. In this study we apply various statistical analyses and employ the self-organizing map (SOM) technique to determine specifically which of the many candidate physical processes, informed by a theoretical mixed-layer heat budget, have the most pronounced effect on the onset and/or decline of MHWs on the Northwest Atlantic continental shelf. It was found that latent heat flux is the most common driver of the onset of MHWs. Mixed layer depth (MLD) also strongly modulates the onset of MHWs. During the decay of MHWs, atmospheric forcing does not explain the evolution of the MHWs well, suggesting that oceanic processes are important in the decay of MHWs. The SOM analysis revealed three primary synoptic scale patterns during MHWs: low-pressure cyclonic Autumn-Winter systems, high-pressure anti-cyclonic Spring-Summer blocking, and mild but long-lasting Summer blocking. Our results show that nearly half of past MHWs on the Northwest Atlantic shelf are initiated by positive heat flux anomaly into the ocean, but less than one fifth of MHWs decay due to this process, suggesting that oceanic processes, e.g., advection and mixing are the primary driver for the decay of most MHWs. Still Image Northwest Atlantic Frontiers: Figshare |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Frontiers: Figshare |
op_collection_id |
ftfrontimediafig |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Oceanography Marine Biology Marine Geoscience Biological Oceanography Chemical Oceanography Physical Oceanography Marine Engineering marine heatwaves air–sea heat flux drivers Northwest Atlantic SST |
spellingShingle |
Oceanography Marine Biology Marine Geoscience Biological Oceanography Chemical Oceanography Physical Oceanography Marine Engineering marine heatwaves air–sea heat flux drivers Northwest Atlantic SST Robert W. Schlegel Eric C. J. Oliver Ke Chen Image_3_Drivers of Marine Heatwaves in the Northwest Atlantic: The Role of Air–Sea Interaction During Onset and Decline.JPEG |
topic_facet |
Oceanography Marine Biology Marine Geoscience Biological Oceanography Chemical Oceanography Physical Oceanography Marine Engineering marine heatwaves air–sea heat flux drivers Northwest Atlantic SST |
description |
Marine heatwaves (MHWs) are increasing in duration and intensity at a global scale and are projected to continue to increase due to the anthropogenic warming of the climate. Because MHWs may have drastic impacts on fisheries and other marine goods and services, there is a growing interest in understanding the predictability and developing practical predictions of these events. A necessary step toward prediction is to develop a better understanding of the drivers and processes responsible for the development of MHWs. Prior research has shown that air–sea heat flux and ocean advection across sharp thermal gradients are common physical processes governing these anomalous events. In this study we apply various statistical analyses and employ the self-organizing map (SOM) technique to determine specifically which of the many candidate physical processes, informed by a theoretical mixed-layer heat budget, have the most pronounced effect on the onset and/or decline of MHWs on the Northwest Atlantic continental shelf. It was found that latent heat flux is the most common driver of the onset of MHWs. Mixed layer depth (MLD) also strongly modulates the onset of MHWs. During the decay of MHWs, atmospheric forcing does not explain the evolution of the MHWs well, suggesting that oceanic processes are important in the decay of MHWs. The SOM analysis revealed three primary synoptic scale patterns during MHWs: low-pressure cyclonic Autumn-Winter systems, high-pressure anti-cyclonic Spring-Summer blocking, and mild but long-lasting Summer blocking. Our results show that nearly half of past MHWs on the Northwest Atlantic shelf are initiated by positive heat flux anomaly into the ocean, but less than one fifth of MHWs decay due to this process, suggesting that oceanic processes, e.g., advection and mixing are the primary driver for the decay of most MHWs. |
format |
Still Image |
author |
Robert W. Schlegel Eric C. J. Oliver Ke Chen |
author_facet |
Robert W. Schlegel Eric C. J. Oliver Ke Chen |
author_sort |
Robert W. Schlegel |
title |
Image_3_Drivers of Marine Heatwaves in the Northwest Atlantic: The Role of Air–Sea Interaction During Onset and Decline.JPEG |
title_short |
Image_3_Drivers of Marine Heatwaves in the Northwest Atlantic: The Role of Air–Sea Interaction During Onset and Decline.JPEG |
title_full |
Image_3_Drivers of Marine Heatwaves in the Northwest Atlantic: The Role of Air–Sea Interaction During Onset and Decline.JPEG |
title_fullStr |
Image_3_Drivers of Marine Heatwaves in the Northwest Atlantic: The Role of Air–Sea Interaction During Onset and Decline.JPEG |
title_full_unstemmed |
Image_3_Drivers of Marine Heatwaves in the Northwest Atlantic: The Role of Air–Sea Interaction During Onset and Decline.JPEG |
title_sort |
image_3_drivers of marine heatwaves in the northwest atlantic: the role of air–sea interaction during onset and decline.jpeg |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.627970.s003 https://figshare.com/articles/figure/Image_3_Drivers_of_Marine_Heatwaves_in_the_Northwest_Atlantic_The_Role_of_Air_Sea_Interaction_During_Onset_and_Decline_JPEG/14184521 |
genre |
Northwest Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Northwest Atlantic |
op_relation |
doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.627970.s003 https://figshare.com/articles/figure/Image_3_Drivers_of_Marine_Heatwaves_in_the_Northwest_Atlantic_The_Role_of_Air_Sea_Interaction_During_Onset_and_Decline_JPEG/14184521 |
op_rights |
CC BY 4.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.627970.s003 |
_version_ |
1766148500603535360 |