scholarly journals Nonlinear Effects of Wind on Atlantic Ocean Circulation

Eos ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack Lee
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Wind Stress ◽  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Nonlinear Effects ◽  
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
Meridional Overturning

Simulations reveal the influence of reduced and enhanced wind stress on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation.

scholarly journals Response of North Atlantic Ocean Circulation to Atmospheric Weather Regimes

2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 179-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Barrier ◽  
Christophe Cassou ◽  
Julie Deshayes ◽  
Anne-Marie Treguier
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Wind Stress ◽  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Subpolar Gyre ◽  
Wind Stress Curl ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
Weather Regimes

Abstract A new framework is proposed for investigating the atmospheric forcing of North Atlantic Ocean circulation. Instead of using classical modes of variability, such as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) or the east Atlantic pattern, the weather regimes paradigm was used. Using this framework helped avoid problems associated with the assumptions of orthogonality and symmetry that are particular to modal analysis and known to be unsuitable for the NAO. Using ocean-only historical and sensitivity experiments, the impacts of the four winter weather regimes on horizontal and overturning circulations were investigated. The results suggest that the Atlantic Ridge (AR), negative NAO (NAO−), and positive NAO (NAO+) regimes induce a fast (monthly-to-interannual time scales) adjustment of the gyres via topographic Sverdrup dynamics and of the meridional overturning circulation via anomalous Ekman transport. The wind anomalies associated with the Scandinavian blocking regime (SBL) are ineffective in driving a fast wind-driven oceanic adjustment. The response of both gyre and overturning circulations to persistent regime conditions was also estimated. AR causes a strong, wind-driven reduction in the strengths of the subtropical and subpolar gyres, while NAO+ causes a strengthening of the subtropical gyre via wind stress curl anomalies and of the subpolar gyre via heat flux anomalies. NAO− induces a southward shift of the gyres through the southward displacement of the wind stress curl. The SBL is found to impact the subpolar gyre only via anomalous heat fluxes. The overturning circulation is shown to spin up following persistent SBL and NAO+ and to spin down following persistent AR and NAO− conditions. These responses are driven by changes in deep water formation in the Labrador Sea.

An Adjoint Analysis of the Meridional Overturning Circulation in a Hybrid Coupled Model

2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (15) ◽  
pp. 3751-3767 ◽  
Author(s):  
Véronique Bugnion ◽  
Chris Hill ◽  
Peter H. Stone
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Wind Stress ◽  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Meridional Overturning

Abstract Multicentury sensitivities in a realistic geometry global ocean general circulation model are analyzed using an adjoint technique. This paper takes advantage of the adjoint model’s ability to generate maps of the sensitivity of a diagnostic (i.e., the meridional overturning’s strength) to all model parameters. This property of adjoints is used to review several theories, which have been elaborated to explain the strength of the North Atlantic’s meridional overturning. This paper demonstrates the profound impact of boundary conditions in permitting or suppressing mechanisms within a realistic model of the contemporary ocean circulation. For example, the so-called Drake Passage Effect in which wind stress in the Southern Ocean acts as the main driver of the overturning’s strength, is shown to be an artifact of boundary conditions that restore the ocean’s surface temperature and salinity toward prescribed climatologies. Advective transports from the Indian and Pacific basins play an important role in setting the strength of the overturning circulation under “mixed” boundary conditions, in which a flux of freshwater is specified at the ocean’s surface. The most “realistic” regime couples an atmospheric energy and moisture balance model to the ocean. In this configuration, inspection of the global maps of sensitivity to wind stress and diapycnal mixing suggests a significant role for near-surface Ekman processes in the Tropics. Buoyancy also plays an important role in setting the overturning’s strength, through direct thermal forcing near the sites of convection, or through the advection of salinity anomalies in the Atlantic basin.

scholarly journals Two Decades of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation: Anatomy, Variations, Extremes, Prediction, and Overcoming Its Limitations

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (18) ◽  
pp. 7167-7186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl Wunsch ◽  
Patrick Heimbach
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Extreme Values ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Western Boundary ◽  
Boundary Current ◽  
Gaussian Stochastic Process ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
Meridional Overturning

Abstract The zonally integrated meridional volume transport in the North Atlantic [Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC)] is described in a 19-yr-long ocean-state estimate, one consistent with a diverse global dataset. Apart from a weak increasing trend at high northern latitudes, the AMOC appears statistically stable over the last 19 yr with fluctuations indistinguishable from those of a stationary Gaussian stochastic process. This characterization makes it possible to study (using highly developed tools) extreme values, predictability, and the statistical significance of apparent trends. Gaussian behavior is consistent with the central limit theorem for a process arising from numerous independent disturbances. In this case, generators include internal instabilities, changes in wind and buoyancy forcing fields, boundary waves, the Gulf Stream and deep western boundary current transports, the interior fraction in Sverdrup balance, and all similar phenomena arriving as summation effects from long distances and times. As a zonal integral through the sum of the large variety of physical processes in the three-dimensional ocean circulation, understanding of the AMOC, if it is of central climate importance, requires breaking it down into its unintegrated components over the entire basin.

scholarly journals Larger Role for Shallow Intermediate Waters in Ocean Circulation

Eos ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Pratt
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Water Masses ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
Meridional Overturning ◽  
Intermediate Waters

Water masses formed off southeastern Greenland may contribute more than previously thought to the variability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, which strongly influences global climate.

Sensitivity of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation to Model Resolution in CMIP6 HighResMIP Simulations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorotea Iovino ◽  
Malcolm J. Roberts ◽  
Laura C. Jackson ◽  
Christopher D. Roberts ◽  
Virna Meccia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transport ◽  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Climate Modelling ◽  
Florida Current ◽  
Model Resolution ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
Meridional Overturning

<p>The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a key component of the three-dimensional ocean circulation that transports warm and salty water northward, and exports cold and dense water from the Arctic southward.</p><p>The simulated AMOC in Coupled Model Intercomparison Project models (both coupled and ocean-only) has been studied extensively. However, correctly simulating the AMOC with these models remains a challenge for the climate modelling community. One model aspect that can affect the AMOC representation is the model resolution (i.e. grid spacing).</p><p>Here, we examine key aspects of the North Atlantic Ocean circulation using a multi-model, multi-resolution ensemble based on the CMIP6 HighResMIP coupled experiments. The AMOC and associated heat transport tend to become stronger as model resolution increases, particularly when the ocean resolution changes from non-eddying to eddy-present and eddy-rich. However, the circulation remains too shallow compared to observations for most models, and this, together with temperature biases, cause the northward heat transport to be too low for a given overturning strength.</p><p>In the period 2015-2050, the overturning circulation tends to decline more rapidly in the higher resolution models by more than 20% compared to the control state, which is related to both themean state and to the subpolar gyre contribution to deep water formation. The main part of the decline comes from the Florida Current component of the circulation.</p>

scholarly journals Fluctuations in Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation

Eos ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Minnehan
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
Meridional Overturning

Variations in large-scale convection in the Atlantic Ocean are likely driven by wind.

The Impact of Wind Stress Feedback on the Stability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation

2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 1965-1984 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivier Arzel ◽  
Matthew H. England ◽  
Oleg A. Saenko
Keyword(s):  
Wind Stress ◽  
Multiple Equilibria ◽  
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Freshwater Flux ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
Atlantic Basin ◽  
Meridional Overturning ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Glacial Climate

Abstract Recent results based on models using prescribed surface wind stress forcing have suggested that the net freshwater transport Σ by the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (MOC) into the Atlantic basin is a good indicator of the multiple-equilibria regime. By means of a coupled climate model of intermediate complexity, this study shows that this scalar Σ cannot capture the connection between the properties of the steady state and the impact of the wind stress feedback on the evolution of perturbations. This implies that, when interpreting the observed value of Σ, the position of the present-day climate is systematically biased toward the multiple-equilibria regime. The results show, however, that the stabilizing influence of the wind stress feedback on the MOC is restricted to a narrow window of freshwater fluxes, located in the vicinity of the state characterized by a zero freshwater flux divergence over the Atlantic basin. If the position of the present-day climate is farther away from this state, then wind stress feedbacks are unable to exert a persistent effect on the modern MOC. This is because the stabilizing influence of the shallow reverse cell situated south of the equator during the off state rapidly dominates over the destabilizing influence of the wind stress feedback when the freshwater forcing gets stronger. Under glacial climate conditions by contrast, a weaker sensitivity with an opposite effect is found. This is ultimately due to the relatively large sea ice extent of the glacial climate, which implies that, during the off state, the horizontal redistribution of fresh waters by the subpolar gyre does not favor the development of a thermally direct MOC as opposed to the modern case.

scholarly journals Observed Basin-Scale Response of the North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation to Wind Stress Forcing

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 2029-2054 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shane Elipot ◽  
Eleanor Frajka-Williams ◽  
Chris W. Hughes ◽  
Sofia Olhede ◽  
Matthias Lankhorst
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Wind Stress ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
The North ◽  
Basin Scale ◽  
Meridional Overturning ◽  
The North Atlantic

Abstract The response of the North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (MOC) to wind stress forcing is investigated from an observational standpoint, using four time series of overturning transports below and relative to 1000 m, overlapping by 3.6 yr. These time series are derived from four mooring arrays located on the western boundary of the North Atlantic: the RAPID Western Atlantic Variability Experiment (WAVE) array (42.5°N), the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Line W array (39°N), RAPID–MOC/MOCHA (26.5°N), and the Meridional Overturning Variability Experiment (MOVE) array (16°N). Using modal decompositions of the analytic cross-correlation between transports and wind stress, the basin-scale wind stress is shown to significantly drive the MOC coherently at four latitudes, on the time scales available for this study. The dominant mode of covariance is interpreted as rapid barotropic oceanic adjustments to wind stress forcing, eventually forming two counterrotating Ekman overturning cells centered on the tropics and subtropical gyre. A second mode of covariance appears related to patterns of wind stress and wind stress curl associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation, spinning anomalous horizontal circulations that likely interact with topography to form overturning cells.

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