Atmospheric Response to Mesoscale Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies: Assessment of Mechanisms and Coupling Strength in a High-Resolution Coupled Model over the South Atlantic
Many aspects of the coupling between the ocean and atmosphere at the mesoscale (on the order of 20–100 km) remain unknown. While recent observations from the Southern Ocean revealed that circular fronts associated with oceanic mesoscale eddies leave a distinct imprint on the overlying wind, cloud co...
Published in: | Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences |
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Online Access: | https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/36465/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/36465/13/Byrne_2015.pdf https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/36465/2/10.1175_jas-d-14-0195.s1.pdf https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-14-0195.1 |
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ftoceanrep:oai:oceanrep.geomar.de:36465 2023-05-15T18:25:49+02:00 Atmospheric Response to Mesoscale Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies: Assessment of Mechanisms and Coupling Strength in a High-Resolution Coupled Model over the South Atlantic Byrne, David Papritz, Lukas Frenger, Ivy Münnich, Matthias Gruber, Nicolas 2015 text https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/36465/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/36465/13/Byrne_2015.pdf https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/36465/2/10.1175_jas-d-14-0195.s1.pdf https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-14-0195.1 en eng AMS (American Meteorological Society) https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/36465/13/Byrne_2015.pdf https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/36465/2/10.1175_jas-d-14-0195.s1.pdf Byrne, D., Papritz, L., Frenger, I. , Münnich, M. and Gruber, N. (2015) Atmospheric Response to Mesoscale Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies: Assessment of Mechanisms and Coupling Strength in a High-Resolution Coupled Model over the South Atlantic. Open Access Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 72 (5). pp. 1872-1890. DOI 10.1175/JAS-D-14-0195.1 <https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-14-0195.1>. doi:10.1175/JAS-D-14-0195.1 cc_by_4.0 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Article PeerReviewed 2015 ftoceanrep https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-14-0195.1 2023-04-07T15:30:56Z Many aspects of the coupling between the ocean and atmosphere at the mesoscale (on the order of 20–100 km) remain unknown. While recent observations from the Southern Ocean revealed that circular fronts associated with oceanic mesoscale eddies leave a distinct imprint on the overlying wind, cloud coverage, and rain, the mechanisms responsible for explaining these atmospheric changes are not well established. Here the atmospheric response above mesoscale ocean eddies is investigated utilizing a newly developed coupled atmosphere–ocean regional model [Consortium for Small-Scale Modeling–Regional Ocean Modelling System (COSMO-ROMS)] configured at a horizontal resolution of ~10 km for the South Atlantic and run for a 3-month period during austral winter of 2004. The model-simulated changes in surface wind, cloud fraction, and rain above the oceanic eddies are very consistent with the relationships inferred from satellite observations for the same region and time. From diagnosing the model’s momentum balance, it is shown that the atmospheric imprint of the oceanic eddies are driven by the modification of vertical mixing in the atmospheric boundary layer, rather than secondary flows driven by horizontal pressure gradients. This is largely due to the very limited ability of the atmosphere to adjust its temperature over the time scale it takes for an air parcel to pass over these mesoscale oceanic features. This results in locally enhanced vertical gradients between the ocean surface and the overlying air and thus a rapid change in turbulent mixing in the atmospheric boundary layer and an associated change in the vertical momentum flux. Article in Journal/Newspaper Southern Ocean OceanRep (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre für Ocean Research Kiel) Austral Southern Ocean Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 72 5 1872 1890 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
OceanRep (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre für Ocean Research Kiel) |
op_collection_id |
ftoceanrep |
language |
English |
description |
Many aspects of the coupling between the ocean and atmosphere at the mesoscale (on the order of 20–100 km) remain unknown. While recent observations from the Southern Ocean revealed that circular fronts associated with oceanic mesoscale eddies leave a distinct imprint on the overlying wind, cloud coverage, and rain, the mechanisms responsible for explaining these atmospheric changes are not well established. Here the atmospheric response above mesoscale ocean eddies is investigated utilizing a newly developed coupled atmosphere–ocean regional model [Consortium for Small-Scale Modeling–Regional Ocean Modelling System (COSMO-ROMS)] configured at a horizontal resolution of ~10 km for the South Atlantic and run for a 3-month period during austral winter of 2004. The model-simulated changes in surface wind, cloud fraction, and rain above the oceanic eddies are very consistent with the relationships inferred from satellite observations for the same region and time. From diagnosing the model’s momentum balance, it is shown that the atmospheric imprint of the oceanic eddies are driven by the modification of vertical mixing in the atmospheric boundary layer, rather than secondary flows driven by horizontal pressure gradients. This is largely due to the very limited ability of the atmosphere to adjust its temperature over the time scale it takes for an air parcel to pass over these mesoscale oceanic features. This results in locally enhanced vertical gradients between the ocean surface and the overlying air and thus a rapid change in turbulent mixing in the atmospheric boundary layer and an associated change in the vertical momentum flux. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Byrne, David Papritz, Lukas Frenger, Ivy Münnich, Matthias Gruber, Nicolas |
spellingShingle |
Byrne, David Papritz, Lukas Frenger, Ivy Münnich, Matthias Gruber, Nicolas Atmospheric Response to Mesoscale Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies: Assessment of Mechanisms and Coupling Strength in a High-Resolution Coupled Model over the South Atlantic |
author_facet |
Byrne, David Papritz, Lukas Frenger, Ivy Münnich, Matthias Gruber, Nicolas |
author_sort |
Byrne, David |
title |
Atmospheric Response to Mesoscale Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies: Assessment of Mechanisms and Coupling Strength in a High-Resolution Coupled Model over the South Atlantic |
title_short |
Atmospheric Response to Mesoscale Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies: Assessment of Mechanisms and Coupling Strength in a High-Resolution Coupled Model over the South Atlantic |
title_full |
Atmospheric Response to Mesoscale Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies: Assessment of Mechanisms and Coupling Strength in a High-Resolution Coupled Model over the South Atlantic |
title_fullStr |
Atmospheric Response to Mesoscale Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies: Assessment of Mechanisms and Coupling Strength in a High-Resolution Coupled Model over the South Atlantic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Atmospheric Response to Mesoscale Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies: Assessment of Mechanisms and Coupling Strength in a High-Resolution Coupled Model over the South Atlantic |
title_sort |
atmospheric response to mesoscale sea surface temperature anomalies: assessment of mechanisms and coupling strength in a high-resolution coupled model over the south atlantic |
publisher |
AMS (American Meteorological Society) |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/36465/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/36465/13/Byrne_2015.pdf https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/36465/2/10.1175_jas-d-14-0195.s1.pdf https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-14-0195.1 |
geographic |
Austral Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Austral Southern Ocean |
genre |
Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/36465/13/Byrne_2015.pdf https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/36465/2/10.1175_jas-d-14-0195.s1.pdf Byrne, D., Papritz, L., Frenger, I. , Münnich, M. and Gruber, N. (2015) Atmospheric Response to Mesoscale Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies: Assessment of Mechanisms and Coupling Strength in a High-Resolution Coupled Model over the South Atlantic. Open Access Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 72 (5). pp. 1872-1890. DOI 10.1175/JAS-D-14-0195.1 <https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-14-0195.1>. doi:10.1175/JAS-D-14-0195.1 |
op_rights |
cc_by_4.0 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-14-0195.1 |
container_title |
Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences |
container_volume |
72 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
1872 |
op_container_end_page |
1890 |
_version_ |
1766207505654874112 |