Northern North Atlantic Sea Surface Height and Ocean Heat Content Variability
The evolution of nearly 20 years of altimetric sea surface height (SSH) is investigated to understand its association with decadal to multidecadal variability of the North Atlantic heat content. Altimetric SSH is dominated by an increase of about 14 cm in the Labrador and Irminger seas from 1993 to...
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ftnasantrs:oai:casi.ntrs.nasa.gov:20140010390 2023-05-15T17:31:17+02:00 Northern North Atlantic Sea Surface Height and Ocean Heat Content Variability Rhines, Peter Worthen, Denise L. Hakkinen, Sirpa Unclassified, Unlimited, Publicly available July 30, 2013 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20140010390 unknown Document ID: 20140010390 http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20140010390 Copyright, Distribution as joint owner in the copyright CASI Oceanography GSFC-E-DAA-TN8360 Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans; 118; 7; 3670-3678 2013 ftnasantrs 2019-07-21T00:27:46Z The evolution of nearly 20 years of altimetric sea surface height (SSH) is investigated to understand its association with decadal to multidecadal variability of the North Atlantic heat content. Altimetric SSH is dominated by an increase of about 14 cm in the Labrador and Irminger seas from 1993 to 2011, while the opposite has occurred over the Gulf Stream region over the same time period. During the altimeter period the observed 0-700 m ocean heat content (OHC) in the subpolar gyre mirrors the increased SSH by its dominantly positive trend. Over a longer period, 1955-2011, fluctuations in the subpolar OHC reflect Atlantic multidecadal variability (AMV) and can be attributed to advection driven by the wind stress ''gyre mode'' bringing more subtropical waters into the subpolar gyre. The extended subpolar warming evident in SSH and OHC during the altimeter period represents transition of the AMV from cold to warm phase. In addition to the dominant trend, the first empirical orthogonal function SSH time series shows an abrupt change 2009-2010 reaching a new minimum in 2010. The change coincides with the change in the meridional overturning circulation at 26.5N as observed by the RAPID (Rapid Climate Change) project, and with extreme behavior of the wind stress gyre mode and of atmospheric blocking. While the general relationship between northern warming and Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) volume transport remains undetermined, the meridional heat and salt transport carried by AMOC's arteries are rich with decade-to-century timescale variability. Other/Unknown Material North Atlantic NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |
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Open Polar |
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NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |
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ftnasantrs |
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Oceanography |
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Oceanography Rhines, Peter Worthen, Denise L. Hakkinen, Sirpa Northern North Atlantic Sea Surface Height and Ocean Heat Content Variability |
topic_facet |
Oceanography |
description |
The evolution of nearly 20 years of altimetric sea surface height (SSH) is investigated to understand its association with decadal to multidecadal variability of the North Atlantic heat content. Altimetric SSH is dominated by an increase of about 14 cm in the Labrador and Irminger seas from 1993 to 2011, while the opposite has occurred over the Gulf Stream region over the same time period. During the altimeter period the observed 0-700 m ocean heat content (OHC) in the subpolar gyre mirrors the increased SSH by its dominantly positive trend. Over a longer period, 1955-2011, fluctuations in the subpolar OHC reflect Atlantic multidecadal variability (AMV) and can be attributed to advection driven by the wind stress ''gyre mode'' bringing more subtropical waters into the subpolar gyre. The extended subpolar warming evident in SSH and OHC during the altimeter period represents transition of the AMV from cold to warm phase. In addition to the dominant trend, the first empirical orthogonal function SSH time series shows an abrupt change 2009-2010 reaching a new minimum in 2010. The change coincides with the change in the meridional overturning circulation at 26.5N as observed by the RAPID (Rapid Climate Change) project, and with extreme behavior of the wind stress gyre mode and of atmospheric blocking. While the general relationship between northern warming and Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) volume transport remains undetermined, the meridional heat and salt transport carried by AMOC's arteries are rich with decade-to-century timescale variability. |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Rhines, Peter Worthen, Denise L. Hakkinen, Sirpa |
author_facet |
Rhines, Peter Worthen, Denise L. Hakkinen, Sirpa |
author_sort |
Rhines, Peter |
title |
Northern North Atlantic Sea Surface Height and Ocean Heat Content Variability |
title_short |
Northern North Atlantic Sea Surface Height and Ocean Heat Content Variability |
title_full |
Northern North Atlantic Sea Surface Height and Ocean Heat Content Variability |
title_fullStr |
Northern North Atlantic Sea Surface Height and Ocean Heat Content Variability |
title_full_unstemmed |
Northern North Atlantic Sea Surface Height and Ocean Heat Content Variability |
title_sort |
northern north atlantic sea surface height and ocean heat content variability |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20140010390 |
op_coverage |
Unclassified, Unlimited, Publicly available |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
CASI |
op_relation |
Document ID: 20140010390 http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20140010390 |
op_rights |
Copyright, Distribution as joint owner in the copyright |
_version_ |
1766128778944184320 |