Explorations of Atmosphere–Ocean–Ice Climates on an Aquaplanet and Their Meridional Energy Transports
The degree to which total meridional heat transport is sensitive to the details of its atmospheric and oceanic components is explored. A coupled atmosphere, ocean, and sea ice model of an aquaplanet is employed to simulate very different climates—some with polar ice caps, some without—even though th...
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ftmit:oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/52333 2024-04-21T08:11:27+00:00 Explorations of Atmosphere–Ocean–Ice Climates on an Aquaplanet and Their Meridional Energy Transports Enderton, Daniel Marshall, John C Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences MIT Energy Initiative Marshall, John C. Enderton, Daniel 2007-11 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/52333 en_US eng American Meteorological Society http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/2008JAS2680.1 Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 0022-4928 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/52333 Enderton, Daniel, and John Marshall. “Explorations of Atmosphere–Ocean–Ice Climates on an Aquaplanet and Their Meridional Energy Transports.” Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences (2009): 1593-1611. © 2010 American Meteorological Society orcid:0000-0001-9230-3591 Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. American Meteorological Society Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2007 ftmit https://doi.org/10.1175/2008JAS2680.1 2024-03-27T15:02:15Z The degree to which total meridional heat transport is sensitive to the details of its atmospheric and oceanic components is explored. A coupled atmosphere, ocean, and sea ice model of an aquaplanet is employed to simulate very different climates—some with polar ice caps, some without—even though they are driven by the same incoming solar flux. Differences arise due to varying geometrical constraints on ocean circulation influencing its ability to transport heat meridionally. Without complex land configurations, the results prove easier to diagnose and compare to theory and simple models and, hence, provide a useful test bed for ideas about heat transport and its partition within the climate system. In particular, the results are discussed in the context of a 1978 study by Stone, who argued that for a planet with Earth’s astronomical parameters and rotation rate, the total meridional heat transport would be independent of the detailed dynamical processes responsible for that transport and depend primarily on the distribution of incoming solar radiation and the mean planetary albedo. The authors find that in warm climates in which there is no ice, Stone’s result is a useful guide. In cold climates with significant polar ice caps, however, meridional gradients in albedo significantly affect the absorption of solar radiation and need to be included in any detailed calculation or discussion of total heat transport. Since the meridional extent of polar ice caps is sensitive to details of atmospheric and oceanic circulation, these cannot be ignored. Finally, what has been learned is applied to a study of the total heat transport estimated from the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) data. MIT Climate Modeling Initiative National Science Foundation Article in Journal/Newspaper Sea ice DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 66 6 1593 1611 |
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Open Polar |
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DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) |
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ftmit |
language |
English |
description |
The degree to which total meridional heat transport is sensitive to the details of its atmospheric and oceanic components is explored. A coupled atmosphere, ocean, and sea ice model of an aquaplanet is employed to simulate very different climates—some with polar ice caps, some without—even though they are driven by the same incoming solar flux. Differences arise due to varying geometrical constraints on ocean circulation influencing its ability to transport heat meridionally. Without complex land configurations, the results prove easier to diagnose and compare to theory and simple models and, hence, provide a useful test bed for ideas about heat transport and its partition within the climate system. In particular, the results are discussed in the context of a 1978 study by Stone, who argued that for a planet with Earth’s astronomical parameters and rotation rate, the total meridional heat transport would be independent of the detailed dynamical processes responsible for that transport and depend primarily on the distribution of incoming solar radiation and the mean planetary albedo. The authors find that in warm climates in which there is no ice, Stone’s result is a useful guide. In cold climates with significant polar ice caps, however, meridional gradients in albedo significantly affect the absorption of solar radiation and need to be included in any detailed calculation or discussion of total heat transport. Since the meridional extent of polar ice caps is sensitive to details of atmospheric and oceanic circulation, these cannot be ignored. Finally, what has been learned is applied to a study of the total heat transport estimated from the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) data. MIT Climate Modeling Initiative National Science Foundation |
author2 |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences MIT Energy Initiative Marshall, John C. Enderton, Daniel |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Enderton, Daniel Marshall, John C |
spellingShingle |
Enderton, Daniel Marshall, John C Explorations of Atmosphere–Ocean–Ice Climates on an Aquaplanet and Their Meridional Energy Transports |
author_facet |
Enderton, Daniel Marshall, John C |
author_sort |
Enderton, Daniel |
title |
Explorations of Atmosphere–Ocean–Ice Climates on an Aquaplanet and Their Meridional Energy Transports |
title_short |
Explorations of Atmosphere–Ocean–Ice Climates on an Aquaplanet and Their Meridional Energy Transports |
title_full |
Explorations of Atmosphere–Ocean–Ice Climates on an Aquaplanet and Their Meridional Energy Transports |
title_fullStr |
Explorations of Atmosphere–Ocean–Ice Climates on an Aquaplanet and Their Meridional Energy Transports |
title_full_unstemmed |
Explorations of Atmosphere–Ocean–Ice Climates on an Aquaplanet and Their Meridional Energy Transports |
title_sort |
explorations of atmosphere–ocean–ice climates on an aquaplanet and their meridional energy transports |
publisher |
American Meteorological Society |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/52333 |
genre |
Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Sea ice |
op_source |
American Meteorological Society |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/2008JAS2680.1 Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 0022-4928 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/52333 Enderton, Daniel, and John Marshall. “Explorations of Atmosphere–Ocean–Ice Climates on an Aquaplanet and Their Meridional Energy Transports.” Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences (2009): 1593-1611. © 2010 American Meteorological Society orcid:0000-0001-9230-3591 |
op_rights |
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1175/2008JAS2680.1 |
container_title |
Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences |
container_volume |
66 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
1593 |
op_container_end_page |
1611 |
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1796953363100729344 |