Seasonal cycle of meridional heat transport in the subtropical North Atlantic: a model intercomparison in relation to observations near 25°N

Three different, eddy-permitting numerical models are used to examine the seasonal variation of meridional mass and heat flux in the North Atlantic, with a focus on the transport mechanisms in the subtropics relating to observational studies near 25°N. The models, developed in the DYNAMO project, co...

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Published in:Progress in Oceanography
Main Authors: Böning, Claus W., Dieterich, C., Barnier, B., Jia, Y.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2001
Subjects:
Online Access:https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/2038/
https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/2038/1/B%C3%B6ning.pdf
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0079-6611(01)00006-4
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spelling ftoceanrep:oai:oceanrep.geomar.de:2038 2024-09-30T14:39:30+00:00 Seasonal cycle of meridional heat transport in the subtropical North Atlantic: a model intercomparison in relation to observations near 25°N Böning, Claus W. Dieterich, C. Barnier, B. Jia, Y. 2001 text https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/2038/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/2038/1/B%C3%B6ning.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/S0079-6611(01)00006-4 en eng Elsevier https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/2038/1/B%C3%B6ning.pdf Böning, C. W. , Dieterich, C., Barnier, B. and Jia, Y. (2001) Seasonal cycle of meridional heat transport in the subtropical North Atlantic: a model intercomparison in relation to observations near 25°N. Progress in Oceanography, 48 (2-3). pp. 231-254. DOI 10.1016/S0079-6611(01)00006-4 <https://doi.org/10.1016/S0079-6611%2801%2900006-4>. doi:10.1016/S0079-6611(01)00006-4 info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Article PeerReviewed 2001 ftoceanrep https://doi.org/10.1016/S0079-6611(01)00006-4 2024-09-04T05:04:40Z Three different, eddy-permitting numerical models are used to examine the seasonal variation of meridional mass and heat flux in the North Atlantic, with a focus on the transport mechanisms in the subtropics relating to observational studies near 25°N. The models, developed in the DYNAMO project, cover the same horizontal domain, with a locally isotropic grid of 1/3° resolution in longitude, and are subject to the same monthly-mean atmospheric forcing based on a three-year ECMWF climatology. The models differ in the vertical-coordinate scheme (geopotential, isopycnic, and sigma), implying differences in lateral and diapycnic mixing concepts, and implementation of bottom topography. As shown in the companion paper of Willebrand et al. (2001), the model solutions exhibit significant discrepancies in the annual-mean patterns of meridional mass and heat transport, as well as in the structure of the western boundary current system. Despite these differences in the mean properties, the seasonal anomalies of the meridional fluxes are in remarkable agreement, demonstrating a robust model behavior that is primarily dependent on the external forcing, and independent of choices of numerics and parameterization. The annual range is smaller than in previous model studies in which wind stress climatologies based on marine observations were used, both in the equatorial Atlantic (1.4 PW) and in the subtropics (0.4–0.5 PW). This is a consequence of a weaker seasonal variation in the zonal wind stresses based on the ECMWF analysis than those derived from climatologies of marine observations. The similarities in the amplitude and patterns of the meridional transport anomalies betwen the different model realizations provide support for previous model conclusions concerning the mechanism of seasonal and intraseasonal heat flux variations: they can be rationalized in terms of a time-varying Ekman transport and their predominantly barotropic compensation at depth. Analysis for 25°N indicates that the net meridional flow variation at ... Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic OceanRep (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre für Ocean Research Kiel) Progress in Oceanography 48 2-3 231 253
institution Open Polar
collection OceanRep (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre für Ocean Research Kiel)
op_collection_id ftoceanrep
language English
description Three different, eddy-permitting numerical models are used to examine the seasonal variation of meridional mass and heat flux in the North Atlantic, with a focus on the transport mechanisms in the subtropics relating to observational studies near 25°N. The models, developed in the DYNAMO project, cover the same horizontal domain, with a locally isotropic grid of 1/3° resolution in longitude, and are subject to the same monthly-mean atmospheric forcing based on a three-year ECMWF climatology. The models differ in the vertical-coordinate scheme (geopotential, isopycnic, and sigma), implying differences in lateral and diapycnic mixing concepts, and implementation of bottom topography. As shown in the companion paper of Willebrand et al. (2001), the model solutions exhibit significant discrepancies in the annual-mean patterns of meridional mass and heat transport, as well as in the structure of the western boundary current system. Despite these differences in the mean properties, the seasonal anomalies of the meridional fluxes are in remarkable agreement, demonstrating a robust model behavior that is primarily dependent on the external forcing, and independent of choices of numerics and parameterization. The annual range is smaller than in previous model studies in which wind stress climatologies based on marine observations were used, both in the equatorial Atlantic (1.4 PW) and in the subtropics (0.4–0.5 PW). This is a consequence of a weaker seasonal variation in the zonal wind stresses based on the ECMWF analysis than those derived from climatologies of marine observations. The similarities in the amplitude and patterns of the meridional transport anomalies betwen the different model realizations provide support for previous model conclusions concerning the mechanism of seasonal and intraseasonal heat flux variations: they can be rationalized in terms of a time-varying Ekman transport and their predominantly barotropic compensation at depth. Analysis for 25°N indicates that the net meridional flow variation at ...
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Böning, Claus W.
Dieterich, C.
Barnier, B.
Jia, Y.
spellingShingle Böning, Claus W.
Dieterich, C.
Barnier, B.
Jia, Y.
Seasonal cycle of meridional heat transport in the subtropical North Atlantic: a model intercomparison in relation to observations near 25°N
author_facet Böning, Claus W.
Dieterich, C.
Barnier, B.
Jia, Y.
author_sort Böning, Claus W.
title Seasonal cycle of meridional heat transport in the subtropical North Atlantic: a model intercomparison in relation to observations near 25°N
title_short Seasonal cycle of meridional heat transport in the subtropical North Atlantic: a model intercomparison in relation to observations near 25°N
title_full Seasonal cycle of meridional heat transport in the subtropical North Atlantic: a model intercomparison in relation to observations near 25°N
title_fullStr Seasonal cycle of meridional heat transport in the subtropical North Atlantic: a model intercomparison in relation to observations near 25°N
title_full_unstemmed Seasonal cycle of meridional heat transport in the subtropical North Atlantic: a model intercomparison in relation to observations near 25°N
title_sort seasonal cycle of meridional heat transport in the subtropical north atlantic: a model intercomparison in relation to observations near 25°n
publisher Elsevier
publishDate 2001
url https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/2038/
https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/2038/1/B%C3%B6ning.pdf
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0079-6611(01)00006-4
genre North Atlantic
genre_facet North Atlantic
op_relation https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/2038/1/B%C3%B6ning.pdf
Böning, C. W. , Dieterich, C., Barnier, B. and Jia, Y. (2001) Seasonal cycle of meridional heat transport in the subtropical North Atlantic: a model intercomparison in relation to observations near 25°N. Progress in Oceanography, 48 (2-3). pp. 231-254. DOI 10.1016/S0079-6611(01)00006-4 <https://doi.org/10.1016/S0079-6611%2801%2900006-4>.
doi:10.1016/S0079-6611(01)00006-4
op_rights info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1016/S0079-6611(01)00006-4
container_title Progress in Oceanography
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