Characterizing, modelling and understanding the climate variability of the deep water formation in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea
Observing, modelling and understanding the climate-scale variability of the deep water formation (DWF) in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea remains today very challenging. In this study, we first characterize the interannual variability of this phenomenon by a thorough reanalysis of observations i...
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Online Access: | https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/70733/ https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/70733/1/Somot2018_Article_CharacterizingModellingAndUnde.pdf https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-016-3295-0 |
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ftunivreading:oai:centaur.reading.ac.uk:70733 2024-06-23T07:55:18+00:00 Characterizing, modelling and understanding the climate variability of the deep water formation in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea Somot, Samuel Houpert, Loic Sevault, Florence Testor, Pierre Bosse, Anthony Taupier-Letage, Isabelle Bouin, Marie-Noelle Waldman, Robin Cassou, Christophe Sanchez-Gomez, Emilia Durrieu de Madron, Xavier Adloff, Fanny Nabat, Pierre Herrmann, Marine 2018-08 text https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/70733/ https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/70733/1/Somot2018_Article_CharacterizingModellingAndUnde.pdf https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-016-3295-0 en eng Springer https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/70733/1/Somot2018_Article_CharacterizingModellingAndUnde.pdf Somot, S., Houpert, L., Sevault, F., Testor, P., Bosse, A., Taupier-Letage, I., Bouin, M.-N., Waldman, R., Cassou, C., Sanchez-Gomez, E., Durrieu de Madron, X., Adloff, F. <https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/view/creators/90008395.html>, Nabat, P. and Herrmann, M. (2018) Characterizing, modelling and understanding the climate variability of the deep water formation in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea. Climate Dynamics, 51 (3). pp. 1179-1210. ISSN 0930-7575 doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-016-3295-0 <https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-016-3295-0> cc_by_4 Article PeerReviewed 2018 ftunivreading https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-016-3295-0 2024-06-11T15:06:49Z Observing, modelling and understanding the climate-scale variability of the deep water formation (DWF) in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea remains today very challenging. In this study, we first characterize the interannual variability of this phenomenon by a thorough reanalysis of observations in order to establish reference time series. These quantitative indicators include 31 observed years for the yearly maximum mixed layer depth over the period 1980–2013 and a detailed multi-indicator description of the period 2007–2013. Then a 1980–2013 hindcast simulation is performed with a fully-coupled regional climate system model including the high-resolution representation of the regional atmosphere, ocean, land-surface and rivers. The simulation reproduces quantitatively well the mean behaviour and the large interannual variability of the DWF phenomenon. The model shows convection deeper than 1000 m in 2/3 of the modelled winters, a mean DWF rate equal to 0.35 Sv with maximum values of 1.7 (resp. 1.6) Sv in 2013 (resp. 2005). Using the model results, the winter-integrated buoyancy loss over the Gulf of Lions is identified as the primary driving factor of the DWF interannual variability and explains, alone, around 50 % of its variance. It is itself explained by the occurrence of few stormy days during winter. At daily scale, the Atlantic ridge weather regime is identified as favourable to strong buoyancy losses and therefore DWF, whereas the positive phase of the North Atlantic oscillation is unfavourable. The driving role of the vertical stratification in autumn, a measure of the water column inhibition to mixing, has also been analyzed. Combining both driving factors allows to explain more than 70 % of the interannual variance of the phenomenon and in particular the occurrence of the five strongest convective years of the model (1981, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2013). The model simulates qualitatively well the trends in the deep waters (warming, saltening, increase in the dense water volume, increase in the bottom water ... Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation CentAUR: Central Archive at the University of Reading Climate Dynamics 51 3 1179 1210 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
CentAUR: Central Archive at the University of Reading |
op_collection_id |
ftunivreading |
language |
English |
description |
Observing, modelling and understanding the climate-scale variability of the deep water formation (DWF) in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea remains today very challenging. In this study, we first characterize the interannual variability of this phenomenon by a thorough reanalysis of observations in order to establish reference time series. These quantitative indicators include 31 observed years for the yearly maximum mixed layer depth over the period 1980–2013 and a detailed multi-indicator description of the period 2007–2013. Then a 1980–2013 hindcast simulation is performed with a fully-coupled regional climate system model including the high-resolution representation of the regional atmosphere, ocean, land-surface and rivers. The simulation reproduces quantitatively well the mean behaviour and the large interannual variability of the DWF phenomenon. The model shows convection deeper than 1000 m in 2/3 of the modelled winters, a mean DWF rate equal to 0.35 Sv with maximum values of 1.7 (resp. 1.6) Sv in 2013 (resp. 2005). Using the model results, the winter-integrated buoyancy loss over the Gulf of Lions is identified as the primary driving factor of the DWF interannual variability and explains, alone, around 50 % of its variance. It is itself explained by the occurrence of few stormy days during winter. At daily scale, the Atlantic ridge weather regime is identified as favourable to strong buoyancy losses and therefore DWF, whereas the positive phase of the North Atlantic oscillation is unfavourable. The driving role of the vertical stratification in autumn, a measure of the water column inhibition to mixing, has also been analyzed. Combining both driving factors allows to explain more than 70 % of the interannual variance of the phenomenon and in particular the occurrence of the five strongest convective years of the model (1981, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2013). The model simulates qualitatively well the trends in the deep waters (warming, saltening, increase in the dense water volume, increase in the bottom water ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Somot, Samuel Houpert, Loic Sevault, Florence Testor, Pierre Bosse, Anthony Taupier-Letage, Isabelle Bouin, Marie-Noelle Waldman, Robin Cassou, Christophe Sanchez-Gomez, Emilia Durrieu de Madron, Xavier Adloff, Fanny Nabat, Pierre Herrmann, Marine |
spellingShingle |
Somot, Samuel Houpert, Loic Sevault, Florence Testor, Pierre Bosse, Anthony Taupier-Letage, Isabelle Bouin, Marie-Noelle Waldman, Robin Cassou, Christophe Sanchez-Gomez, Emilia Durrieu de Madron, Xavier Adloff, Fanny Nabat, Pierre Herrmann, Marine Characterizing, modelling and understanding the climate variability of the deep water formation in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea |
author_facet |
Somot, Samuel Houpert, Loic Sevault, Florence Testor, Pierre Bosse, Anthony Taupier-Letage, Isabelle Bouin, Marie-Noelle Waldman, Robin Cassou, Christophe Sanchez-Gomez, Emilia Durrieu de Madron, Xavier Adloff, Fanny Nabat, Pierre Herrmann, Marine |
author_sort |
Somot, Samuel |
title |
Characterizing, modelling and understanding the climate variability of the deep water formation in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea |
title_short |
Characterizing, modelling and understanding the climate variability of the deep water formation in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea |
title_full |
Characterizing, modelling and understanding the climate variability of the deep water formation in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea |
title_fullStr |
Characterizing, modelling and understanding the climate variability of the deep water formation in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea |
title_full_unstemmed |
Characterizing, modelling and understanding the climate variability of the deep water formation in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea |
title_sort |
characterizing, modelling and understanding the climate variability of the deep water formation in the north-western mediterranean sea |
publisher |
Springer |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/70733/ https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/70733/1/Somot2018_Article_CharacterizingModellingAndUnde.pdf https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-016-3295-0 |
genre |
North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation |
op_relation |
https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/70733/1/Somot2018_Article_CharacterizingModellingAndUnde.pdf Somot, S., Houpert, L., Sevault, F., Testor, P., Bosse, A., Taupier-Letage, I., Bouin, M.-N., Waldman, R., Cassou, C., Sanchez-Gomez, E., Durrieu de Madron, X., Adloff, F. <https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/view/creators/90008395.html>, Nabat, P. and Herrmann, M. (2018) Characterizing, modelling and understanding the climate variability of the deep water formation in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea. Climate Dynamics, 51 (3). pp. 1179-1210. ISSN 0930-7575 doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-016-3295-0 <https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-016-3295-0> |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-016-3295-0 |
container_title |
Climate Dynamics |
container_volume |
51 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
1179 |
op_container_end_page |
1210 |
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1802647828015611904 |