Separating the influence of projected changes in air temperature and wind on patterns of sea level change and ocean heat content
We present ocean model sensitivity experiments aimed at separating the influence of the projected changes in the “thermal” (near-surface air temperature) and “wind” (near-surface winds) forcing on the patterns of sea level and ocean heat content. In the North Atlantic, the distribution of sea level...
Published in: | Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans |
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Language: | English |
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American Geophysical Union
2015
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ftunivreading:oai:centaur.reading.ac.uk:41302 2024-06-23T07:47:43+00:00 Separating the influence of projected changes in air temperature and wind on patterns of sea level change and ocean heat content Saenko, Oleg A. Yang, Duo Gregory, Jonathan M. Spence, Paul Myers, Paul G. 2015-08-21 text https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/41302/ https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/41302/7/Saenko_et_al-2015-Journal_of_Geophysical_Research-_Oceans.pdf https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/41302/1/saenko15separating.pdf en eng American Geophysical Union https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/41302/7/Saenko_et_al-2015-Journal_of_Geophysical_Research-_Oceans.pdf https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/41302/1/saenko15separating.pdf Saenko, O. A., Yang, D., Gregory, J. M. <https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/view/creators/90000874.html> orcid:0000-0003-1296-8644 , Spence, P. and Myers, P. G. (2015) Separating the influence of projected changes in air temperature and wind on patterns of sea level change and ocean heat content. Journal of Geophysical Research, 120 (8). pp. 5749-5765. ISSN 0148-0227 doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JC010928 <https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JC010928> cc_by_4 Article PeerReviewed 2015 ftunivreading https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JC010928 2024-06-11T15:04:44Z We present ocean model sensitivity experiments aimed at separating the influence of the projected changes in the “thermal” (near-surface air temperature) and “wind” (near-surface winds) forcing on the patterns of sea level and ocean heat content. In the North Atlantic, the distribution of sea level change is more due to the “thermal” forcing, whereas it is more due to the “wind” forcing in the North Pacific; in the Southern Ocean, the “thermal” and “wind” forcing have a comparable influence. In the ocean adjacent to Antarctica the “thermal” forcing leads to an inflow of warmer waters on the continental shelves, which is somewhat attenuated by the “wind” forcing. The structure of the vertically integrated heat uptake is set by different processes at low and high latitudes: at low latitudes it is dominated by the heat transport convergence, whereas at high latitudes it represents a small residual of changes in the surface flux and advection of heat. The structure of the horizontally integrated heat content tendency is set by the increase of downward heat flux by the mean circulation and comparable decrease of upward heat flux by the subgrid-scale processes; the upward eddy heat flux decreases and increases by almost the same magnitude in response to, respectively, the “thermal” and “wind” forcing. Regionally, the surface heat loss and deep convection weaken in the Labrador Sea, but intensify in the Greenland Sea in the region of sea ice retreat. The enhanced heat flux anomaly in the subpolar Atlantic is mainly caused by the “thermal” forcing. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica Greenland Greenland Sea Labrador Sea North Atlantic Sea ice Southern Ocean CentAUR: Central Archive at the University of Reading Greenland Pacific Southern Ocean Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 120 8 5749 5765 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
CentAUR: Central Archive at the University of Reading |
op_collection_id |
ftunivreading |
language |
English |
description |
We present ocean model sensitivity experiments aimed at separating the influence of the projected changes in the “thermal” (near-surface air temperature) and “wind” (near-surface winds) forcing on the patterns of sea level and ocean heat content. In the North Atlantic, the distribution of sea level change is more due to the “thermal” forcing, whereas it is more due to the “wind” forcing in the North Pacific; in the Southern Ocean, the “thermal” and “wind” forcing have a comparable influence. In the ocean adjacent to Antarctica the “thermal” forcing leads to an inflow of warmer waters on the continental shelves, which is somewhat attenuated by the “wind” forcing. The structure of the vertically integrated heat uptake is set by different processes at low and high latitudes: at low latitudes it is dominated by the heat transport convergence, whereas at high latitudes it represents a small residual of changes in the surface flux and advection of heat. The structure of the horizontally integrated heat content tendency is set by the increase of downward heat flux by the mean circulation and comparable decrease of upward heat flux by the subgrid-scale processes; the upward eddy heat flux decreases and increases by almost the same magnitude in response to, respectively, the “thermal” and “wind” forcing. Regionally, the surface heat loss and deep convection weaken in the Labrador Sea, but intensify in the Greenland Sea in the region of sea ice retreat. The enhanced heat flux anomaly in the subpolar Atlantic is mainly caused by the “thermal” forcing. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Saenko, Oleg A. Yang, Duo Gregory, Jonathan M. Spence, Paul Myers, Paul G. |
spellingShingle |
Saenko, Oleg A. Yang, Duo Gregory, Jonathan M. Spence, Paul Myers, Paul G. Separating the influence of projected changes in air temperature and wind on patterns of sea level change and ocean heat content |
author_facet |
Saenko, Oleg A. Yang, Duo Gregory, Jonathan M. Spence, Paul Myers, Paul G. |
author_sort |
Saenko, Oleg A. |
title |
Separating the influence of projected changes in air temperature and wind on patterns of sea level change and ocean heat content |
title_short |
Separating the influence of projected changes in air temperature and wind on patterns of sea level change and ocean heat content |
title_full |
Separating the influence of projected changes in air temperature and wind on patterns of sea level change and ocean heat content |
title_fullStr |
Separating the influence of projected changes in air temperature and wind on patterns of sea level change and ocean heat content |
title_full_unstemmed |
Separating the influence of projected changes in air temperature and wind on patterns of sea level change and ocean heat content |
title_sort |
separating the influence of projected changes in air temperature and wind on patterns of sea level change and ocean heat content |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/41302/ https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/41302/7/Saenko_et_al-2015-Journal_of_Geophysical_Research-_Oceans.pdf https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/41302/1/saenko15separating.pdf |
geographic |
Greenland Pacific Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Greenland Pacific Southern Ocean |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica Greenland Greenland Sea Labrador Sea North Atlantic Sea ice Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica Greenland Greenland Sea Labrador Sea North Atlantic Sea ice Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/41302/7/Saenko_et_al-2015-Journal_of_Geophysical_Research-_Oceans.pdf https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/41302/1/saenko15separating.pdf Saenko, O. A., Yang, D., Gregory, J. M. <https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/view/creators/90000874.html> orcid:0000-0003-1296-8644 , Spence, P. and Myers, P. G. (2015) Separating the influence of projected changes in air temperature and wind on patterns of sea level change and ocean heat content. Journal of Geophysical Research, 120 (8). pp. 5749-5765. ISSN 0148-0227 doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JC010928 <https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JC010928> |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JC010928 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans |
container_volume |
120 |
container_issue |
8 |
container_start_page |
5749 |
op_container_end_page |
5765 |
_version_ |
1802651885672333312 |