Feedback of mesoscale ocean currents on atmospheric winds in high-resolution coupled models and implications for the forcing of ocean-only models
The repercussions of surface ocean currents for the near-surface wind and the air-sea momentum flux are investigated in two versions of a global climate model with eddying ocean. The focus is on the effect of mesoscale ocean current features at scales of less than 150 km, by considering high-pass fi...
Main Authors: | , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Copernicus Publications (EGU)
2017
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/48960/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/48960/1/os-2017-24.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/os-2017-24 |
id |
ftoceanrep:oai:oceanrep.geomar.de:48960 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftoceanrep:oai:oceanrep.geomar.de:48960 2023-05-15T14:11:39+02:00 Feedback of mesoscale ocean currents on atmospheric winds in high-resolution coupled models and implications for the forcing of ocean-only models Abel, Rafael Böning, Claus W. Greatbatch, Richard John Hewitt, Helene T. Roberts, Malcolm J. 2017-04-12 text https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/48960/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/48960/1/os-2017-24.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/os-2017-24 en eng Copernicus Publications (EGU) https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/48960/1/os-2017-24.pdf Abel, R. , Böning, C. W. , Greatbatch, R. J. , Hewitt, H. T. and Roberts, M. J. (2017) Feedback of mesoscale ocean currents on atmospheric winds in high-resolution coupled models and implications for the forcing of ocean-only models. Open Access Ocean Science Discussions . DOI 10.5194/os-2017-24 <https://doi.org/10.5194/os-2017-24>. doi:10.5194/os-2017-24 cc_by_3.0 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Article NonPeerReviewed info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2017 ftoceanrep https://doi.org/10.5194/os-2017-24 2023-04-07T15:49:25Z The repercussions of surface ocean currents for the near-surface wind and the air-sea momentum flux are investigated in two versions of a global climate model with eddying ocean. The focus is on the effect of mesoscale ocean current features at scales of less than 150 km, by considering high-pass filtered, monthly-mean model output fields. We find a clear signature of a mesoscale oceanic imprint in the wind fields over the energetic areas of the oceans, particularly along the extensions of the western boundary currents and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. These areas are characterized by a positive correlation between mesoscale perturbations in the curl of the surface currents and the wind curl. The coupling coefficients are spatially non-uniform and show a pronounced seasonal cycle. The positive feedback of mesoscale current features on the near-surface wind acts in opposition to their damping effect on the wind stress. A tentative incorporation of this feedback in the surface stress formulation of an eddy-permitting global ocean-only model leads to a gain in the kinetic energy of up to 10 %, suggesting a fundamental shortcoming of present ocean model configurations. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic OceanRep (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre für Ocean Research Kiel) Antarctic Curl ENVELOPE(-63.071,-63.071,-70.797,-70.797) The Antarctic |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
OceanRep (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre für Ocean Research Kiel) |
op_collection_id |
ftoceanrep |
language |
English |
description |
The repercussions of surface ocean currents for the near-surface wind and the air-sea momentum flux are investigated in two versions of a global climate model with eddying ocean. The focus is on the effect of mesoscale ocean current features at scales of less than 150 km, by considering high-pass filtered, monthly-mean model output fields. We find a clear signature of a mesoscale oceanic imprint in the wind fields over the energetic areas of the oceans, particularly along the extensions of the western boundary currents and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. These areas are characterized by a positive correlation between mesoscale perturbations in the curl of the surface currents and the wind curl. The coupling coefficients are spatially non-uniform and show a pronounced seasonal cycle. The positive feedback of mesoscale current features on the near-surface wind acts in opposition to their damping effect on the wind stress. A tentative incorporation of this feedback in the surface stress formulation of an eddy-permitting global ocean-only model leads to a gain in the kinetic energy of up to 10 %, suggesting a fundamental shortcoming of present ocean model configurations. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Abel, Rafael Böning, Claus W. Greatbatch, Richard John Hewitt, Helene T. Roberts, Malcolm J. |
spellingShingle |
Abel, Rafael Böning, Claus W. Greatbatch, Richard John Hewitt, Helene T. Roberts, Malcolm J. Feedback of mesoscale ocean currents on atmospheric winds in high-resolution coupled models and implications for the forcing of ocean-only models |
author_facet |
Abel, Rafael Böning, Claus W. Greatbatch, Richard John Hewitt, Helene T. Roberts, Malcolm J. |
author_sort |
Abel, Rafael |
title |
Feedback of mesoscale ocean currents on atmospheric winds in high-resolution coupled models and implications for the forcing of ocean-only models |
title_short |
Feedback of mesoscale ocean currents on atmospheric winds in high-resolution coupled models and implications for the forcing of ocean-only models |
title_full |
Feedback of mesoscale ocean currents on atmospheric winds in high-resolution coupled models and implications for the forcing of ocean-only models |
title_fullStr |
Feedback of mesoscale ocean currents on atmospheric winds in high-resolution coupled models and implications for the forcing of ocean-only models |
title_full_unstemmed |
Feedback of mesoscale ocean currents on atmospheric winds in high-resolution coupled models and implications for the forcing of ocean-only models |
title_sort |
feedback of mesoscale ocean currents on atmospheric winds in high-resolution coupled models and implications for the forcing of ocean-only models |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications (EGU) |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/48960/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/48960/1/os-2017-24.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/os-2017-24 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-63.071,-63.071,-70.797,-70.797) |
geographic |
Antarctic Curl The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Curl The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic |
op_relation |
https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/48960/1/os-2017-24.pdf Abel, R. , Böning, C. W. , Greatbatch, R. J. , Hewitt, H. T. and Roberts, M. J. (2017) Feedback of mesoscale ocean currents on atmospheric winds in high-resolution coupled models and implications for the forcing of ocean-only models. Open Access Ocean Science Discussions . DOI 10.5194/os-2017-24 <https://doi.org/10.5194/os-2017-24>. doi:10.5194/os-2017-24 |
op_rights |
cc_by_3.0 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-2017-24 |
_version_ |
1766283830016081920 |