Effects of solar irradiance forcing on the ocean circulation and sea-ice in the North Atlantic in an isopycnic coordinate ocean general circulation model
The sensitivity of the ocean circulation to changes in solar irradiance is examined using an isopycnic coordinate, global ocean general circulation model (OGCM) coupled to a thermodynamic/dynamic sea-ice model. In the experiments, changes in the surface radiation forcing are calculated based on orbi...
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1956/756 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0870.2004.00046.x |
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ftunivbergen:oai:bora.uib.no:1956/756 2023-05-15T14:58:41+02:00 Effects of solar irradiance forcing on the ocean circulation and sea-ice in the North Atlantic in an isopycnic coordinate ocean general circulation model Otterå, Odd Helge Drange, Helge 2004-03 6869077 bytes application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/1956/756 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0870.2004.00046.x eng eng Blackwell Tellus;56A(2) urn:issn:0280-6495 https://hdl.handle.net/1956/756 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0870.2004.00046.x Journal article 2004 ftunivbergen https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0870.2004.00046.x 2023-03-14T17:42:56Z The sensitivity of the ocean circulation to changes in solar irradiance is examined using an isopycnic coordinate, global ocean general circulation model (OGCM) coupled to a thermodynamic/dynamic sea-ice model. In the experiments, changes in the surface radiation forcing are calculated based on orbital data assuming that the atmospheric conditions are otherwise unchanged. Two sensitivity experiments are run with the oceansea-ice model: one with high and one with low solar irradiance representative of the last interglacial and glacial periods, respectively. The results show that the Atlantic merdional overturning circulation (AMOC) is increased (reduced) in response to lower (higher) summer solar irradiance. It is found that changes in the Arctic sea-ice volume and area are the main reason for the response. For the low solar irradiance case, less sea-ice is melted in summer leading to a saltier Arctic Ocean. This saltier water is then advected into the sinking regions in the winter, enhancing the intermediate and deep water formation. For the high solar irradiance case, a similar, but opposite, response occurs. The results thus confirm that the AMOC is very sensitive to external forcing. It is suggested that the scheme used for calculating changes in solar irradiance could prove useful when conducting glacial inception studies with fully coupled atmosphereocean models. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Ocean North Atlantic Sea ice University of Bergen: Bergen Open Research Archive (BORA-UiB) Arctic Arctic Ocean Tellus A 56 2 154 166 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Bergen: Bergen Open Research Archive (BORA-UiB) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivbergen |
language |
English |
description |
The sensitivity of the ocean circulation to changes in solar irradiance is examined using an isopycnic coordinate, global ocean general circulation model (OGCM) coupled to a thermodynamic/dynamic sea-ice model. In the experiments, changes in the surface radiation forcing are calculated based on orbital data assuming that the atmospheric conditions are otherwise unchanged. Two sensitivity experiments are run with the oceansea-ice model: one with high and one with low solar irradiance representative of the last interglacial and glacial periods, respectively. The results show that the Atlantic merdional overturning circulation (AMOC) is increased (reduced) in response to lower (higher) summer solar irradiance. It is found that changes in the Arctic sea-ice volume and area are the main reason for the response. For the low solar irradiance case, less sea-ice is melted in summer leading to a saltier Arctic Ocean. This saltier water is then advected into the sinking regions in the winter, enhancing the intermediate and deep water formation. For the high solar irradiance case, a similar, but opposite, response occurs. The results thus confirm that the AMOC is very sensitive to external forcing. It is suggested that the scheme used for calculating changes in solar irradiance could prove useful when conducting glacial inception studies with fully coupled atmosphereocean models. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Otterå, Odd Helge Drange, Helge |
spellingShingle |
Otterå, Odd Helge Drange, Helge Effects of solar irradiance forcing on the ocean circulation and sea-ice in the North Atlantic in an isopycnic coordinate ocean general circulation model |
author_facet |
Otterå, Odd Helge Drange, Helge |
author_sort |
Otterå, Odd Helge |
title |
Effects of solar irradiance forcing on the ocean circulation and sea-ice in the North Atlantic in an isopycnic coordinate ocean general circulation model |
title_short |
Effects of solar irradiance forcing on the ocean circulation and sea-ice in the North Atlantic in an isopycnic coordinate ocean general circulation model |
title_full |
Effects of solar irradiance forcing on the ocean circulation and sea-ice in the North Atlantic in an isopycnic coordinate ocean general circulation model |
title_fullStr |
Effects of solar irradiance forcing on the ocean circulation and sea-ice in the North Atlantic in an isopycnic coordinate ocean general circulation model |
title_full_unstemmed |
Effects of solar irradiance forcing on the ocean circulation and sea-ice in the North Atlantic in an isopycnic coordinate ocean general circulation model |
title_sort |
effects of solar irradiance forcing on the ocean circulation and sea-ice in the north atlantic in an isopycnic coordinate ocean general circulation model |
publisher |
Blackwell |
publishDate |
2004 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1956/756 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0870.2004.00046.x |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ocean North Atlantic Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean North Atlantic Sea ice |
op_relation |
Tellus;56A(2) urn:issn:0280-6495 https://hdl.handle.net/1956/756 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0870.2004.00046.x |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0870.2004.00046.x |
container_title |
Tellus A |
container_volume |
56 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
154 |
op_container_end_page |
166 |
_version_ |
1766330808837079040 |