Low-frequency variability of the Arctic climate: The role of oceanic and atmospheric heat transport variations
Changes in meridional heat transports, carried either by the atmosphere (HTRA) or by the ocean (HTRO), have been proposed to explain the decadal to multidecadal climate variations in the Arctic. On the other hand, model simulations indicate that, at high northern latitudes, variations in HTRA and HT...
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ftpubman:oai:pure.mpg.de:item_993728 2023-08-27T04:07:19+02:00 Low-frequency variability of the Arctic climate: The role of oceanic and atmospheric heat transport variations Jungclaus, J. Koenigk, T. 2010-01 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-0011-F63B-5 http://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-0011-F63A-7 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1007/s00382-009-0569-9 http://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-0011-F63B-5 http://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-0011-F63A-7 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Climate Dynamics info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2010 ftpubman https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-009-0569-9 2023-08-02T01:34:38Z Changes in meridional heat transports, carried either by the atmosphere (HTRA) or by the ocean (HTRO), have been proposed to explain the decadal to multidecadal climate variations in the Arctic. On the other hand, model simulations indicate that, at high northern latitudes, variations in HTRA and HTRO are strongly coupled and may even compensate each other. A multi-century control integration with the Max Planck Institute global atmosphere-ocean model is analyzed to investigate the relative role of the HTRO and HTRA variations in shaping the Arctic climate and the consequences of their possible compensation. In the simulation, ocean heat transport anomalies modulate sea ice cover and surface heat fluxes mainly in the Barents Sea/Kara Sea region and the atmosphere responds with a modified pressure field. In response to positive HTRO anomalies there are negative HTRA anomalies associated with an export of relatively warm air southward to Western Siberia and a reduced inflow of heat over Alaska and northern Canada. While the compensation mechanism is prominent in this model, its dominating role is not constant over long time scales. The presence or absence of the compensation is determined mainly by the atmospheric circulation in the Pacific sector of the Arctic where the two leading large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns determine the lateral fluxes with varying contributions. The degree of compensation also determines the heat available to modulate the large-scale Arctic climate. The combined effect of atmospheric and oceanic contributions has to be considered to explain decadal-scale warming or cooling trends. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Barents Sea Kara Sea Sea ice Alaska Siberia Max Planck Society: MPG.PuRe Arctic Barents Sea Canada Kara Sea Pacific Climate Dynamics 34 2-3 265 279 |
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Open Polar |
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Max Planck Society: MPG.PuRe |
op_collection_id |
ftpubman |
language |
English |
description |
Changes in meridional heat transports, carried either by the atmosphere (HTRA) or by the ocean (HTRO), have been proposed to explain the decadal to multidecadal climate variations in the Arctic. On the other hand, model simulations indicate that, at high northern latitudes, variations in HTRA and HTRO are strongly coupled and may even compensate each other. A multi-century control integration with the Max Planck Institute global atmosphere-ocean model is analyzed to investigate the relative role of the HTRO and HTRA variations in shaping the Arctic climate and the consequences of their possible compensation. In the simulation, ocean heat transport anomalies modulate sea ice cover and surface heat fluxes mainly in the Barents Sea/Kara Sea region and the atmosphere responds with a modified pressure field. In response to positive HTRO anomalies there are negative HTRA anomalies associated with an export of relatively warm air southward to Western Siberia and a reduced inflow of heat over Alaska and northern Canada. While the compensation mechanism is prominent in this model, its dominating role is not constant over long time scales. The presence or absence of the compensation is determined mainly by the atmospheric circulation in the Pacific sector of the Arctic where the two leading large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns determine the lateral fluxes with varying contributions. The degree of compensation also determines the heat available to modulate the large-scale Arctic climate. The combined effect of atmospheric and oceanic contributions has to be considered to explain decadal-scale warming or cooling trends. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jungclaus, J. Koenigk, T. |
spellingShingle |
Jungclaus, J. Koenigk, T. Low-frequency variability of the Arctic climate: The role of oceanic and atmospheric heat transport variations |
author_facet |
Jungclaus, J. Koenigk, T. |
author_sort |
Jungclaus, J. |
title |
Low-frequency variability of the Arctic climate: The role of oceanic and atmospheric heat transport variations |
title_short |
Low-frequency variability of the Arctic climate: The role of oceanic and atmospheric heat transport variations |
title_full |
Low-frequency variability of the Arctic climate: The role of oceanic and atmospheric heat transport variations |
title_fullStr |
Low-frequency variability of the Arctic climate: The role of oceanic and atmospheric heat transport variations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Low-frequency variability of the Arctic climate: The role of oceanic and atmospheric heat transport variations |
title_sort |
low-frequency variability of the arctic climate: the role of oceanic and atmospheric heat transport variations |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-0011-F63B-5 http://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-0011-F63A-7 |
geographic |
Arctic Barents Sea Canada Kara Sea Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Barents Sea Canada Kara Sea Pacific |
genre |
Arctic Barents Sea Kara Sea Sea ice Alaska Siberia |
genre_facet |
Arctic Barents Sea Kara Sea Sea ice Alaska Siberia |
op_source |
Climate Dynamics |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1007/s00382-009-0569-9 http://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-0011-F63B-5 http://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-0011-F63A-7 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-009-0569-9 |
container_title |
Climate Dynamics |
container_volume |
34 |
container_issue |
2-3 |
container_start_page |
265 |
op_container_end_page |
279 |
_version_ |
1775348098040594432 |