Cheng, Y., Beal, L. M., Kirtman, B. P., & Putrasahan, D. (2018). Interannual Agulhas Leakage Variability and Its Regional Climate Imprints. J. Climate, 31(24), 10105–10121.
Abstract: We investigate the interannual variability of Agulhas leakage in an ocean-eddy-resolving coupled simulation and characterize its influence on regional climate. Many observational leakage estimates are based on the study of Agulhas rings, whereas recent model studies suggest that rings and eddies carry less than half of leakage transport. While leakage variability is dominated by eddies at seasonal time scales, the noneddy leakage transport is likely to be constrained by large-scale forcing at longer time scales. To investigate this, leakage transport is quantified using an offline Lagrangian particle tracking approach. We decompose the velocity field into eddying and large-scale fields and then recreate a number of total velocity fields by modifying the eddying component to assess the dependence of leakage variability on the eddies. We find that the resulting leakage time series show strong coherence at periods longer than 1000 days and that 50% of the variance at interannual time scales is linked to the smoothed, large-scale field. As shown previously in ocean models, we find Agulhas leakage variability to be related to a meridional shift and/or strengthening of the westerlies. High leakage periods are associated with east-west contrasting patterns of sea surface temperature, surface heat fluxes, and convective rainfall, with positive anomalies over the retroflection region and negative anomalies within the Indian Ocean to the east. High leakage periods are also related to reduced inland convective rainfall over southeastern Africa in austral summer.
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He, J., & Soden, B. J. (2015). Anthropogenic Weakening of the Tropical Circulation: The Relative Roles of Direct CO[sub:2]Forcing and Sea Surface Temperature Change. J. Climate, 28(22), 8728–8742.
Abstract: There is a lack of consensus on the physical mechanisms that drive the anthropogenic weakening of tropical circulation. This study investigates the relative roles of direct CO2 forcing, mean SST warming, and the pattern of SST change on the weakening of the tropical circulation using an ensemble of AMIP and aquaplanet simulations. In terms of the mean weakening of the tropical circulation, the SST warming dominates over the direct CO2 forcing through its control over the tropical mean hydrological cycle and tropospheric stratification. In terms of the spatial pattern of circulation weakening, however, the three forcing agents are all important contributors, especially over the ocean. The increasing CO2 weakens convection over ocean directly by stabilizing the lower troposphere and indirectly via the land-sea warming contrast. The mean SST warming drives strong weakening over the centers and edges of convective zones. The pattern of SST warming plays a crucial role on the spatial pattern of circulation weakening over the tropical Pacific.The anthropogenic weakening of the Walker circulation is mostly driven by the mean SST warming. Increasing CO2 strengthens the Walker circulation through its indirect effect on land-sea warming contrast. Changes in the upper-level velocity potential indicate that the pattern of SST warming does not weaken the Walker circulation despite being El Nino-like. A weakening caused by the mean SST warming also dominates changes in the Hadley circulation in the AMIP simulations. However, this weakening is not simulated in the Southern Hemisphere in coupled simulations.
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Larson, S. M., Pegion, K. V., & Kirtman, B. P. (2018). The South Pacific Meridional Mode as a Thermally Driven Source of ENSO Amplitude Modulation and Uncertainty. J. Climate, .
Abstract: This study seeks to identify thermally driven sources of ENSO amplitude and uncertainty, as they are relatively unexplored compared to wind-driven sources. Pacific meridional modes are argued to be wind triggers for ENSO events. This study offers an alternative role for the South Pacific meridional mode (SPMM) in ENSO dynamics, not as an ENSO trigger, but as a coincident source of latent heat flux (LHF) forcing of ENSO SSTA that, if correctly (incorrectly) predicted, could reduce (increase) ENSO prediction errors. We utilize a coupled model simulation in which ENSO variability is perfectly periodic and each El Niño experiences identical wind stress forcing. Differences in El Niño amplitude are primarily thermally driven via the SPMM. When El Niño occurs coincidentally with positive phase SPMM, the positive SPMM LHF anomaly counteracts a fraction of the LHF damping of El Niño, allowing for a more intense El Niño. If the SPMM phase is instead negative, the SPMM LHF amplifies the LHF damping of El Niño, reducing the event's amplitude. Therefore, SPMM LHF anomalies may either constructively or destructively interfere with coincident ENSO events, thus modulating the amplitude of ENSO. The ocean also plays a role, as the thermally forced SSTA is then advected westward by the mean zonal velocity, generating a warming or cooling in the ENSO SSTA tendency in addition to the wind-forced component. Results suggest that in addition to wind-driven sources, there exists a thermally driven piece to ENSO amplitude and uncertainty that is generally overlooked. Links between the SPMM and Pacific decadal variability are discussed.
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Misra, V., Mishra, A., & Bhardwaj, A. (2018). Simulation of the Intraseasonal Variations of the Indian Summer Monsoon in a Regional Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Model. J. Climate, 31(8), 3167–3185.
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Zhang, H., Clement, A., & Medeiros, B. (2016). The Meridional Mode in an Idealized Aquaplanet Model: Dependence on the Mean State. J. Climate, 29(8), 2889–2905.
Abstract: The meridional mode provides a source of predictability for the tropical climate variability and change on seasonal and longer time scales by transporting extratropical climate signals into the tropics. Previous research shows that the tropical imprint of the meridional mode is constrained by the interhemispheric asymmetry of the tropical mean climate state. In this study the constraint of the zonal asymmetry is investigated in an AGCM thermodynamically coupled with an aquaplanet slab ocean model. The strategy is to modify the zonal asymmetry of the mean climate state and examine the response of the meridional mode. Presented here are two simulations of different zonal asymmetries in the mean state. In the zonally symmetric case, the meridional mode operates throughout the subtropics but only becomes evident after removing a dominant global-scale eastward-propagating mode. In the zonally asymmetric case, the meridional mode operates only in regions where trade winds converge onto the equator and has an enlarged spatial scale due to the modified mean climate including cold sea surface and weak trade winds. In both simulations, the tropical imprint of the meridional mode is constrained by the north–south seasonal migration of the intertropical convergence zone. These results suggest that the meridional mode does not require the zonal asymmetry of the mean state but is intrinsic to the subtropical ocean–atmosphere coupled system with its characteristics subject to the mean climate state. The implication is that the internal climate variability needs to be assessed in the context of the mean climate state.
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Zhu, J., Huang, B., & Wu, Z. (2012). The Role of Ocean Dynamics in the Interaction between the Atlantic Meridional and Equatorial Modes. J. Climate, 25(10), 3583–3598.
Abstract: This study examines a mechanism of the interaction between the tropical Atlantic meridional and equatorial modes. To derive robust heat content (HC) variability, the ensemble-mean HC anomalies (HCA) of six state-of-the-art global ocean reanalyses for 1979–2007 are analyzed. Compared with previous studies, characteristic oceanic processes are distinguished through their dominant time scales. Using the ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) method, the HC fields are first decomposed into components with different time scales. The authors’ analysis shows that these components are associated with distinctive ocean dynamics. The high-frequency (first three) components can be characterized as the equatorial modes, whereas the low-frequency (the fifth and sixth) components are featured as the meridional modes. In between, the fourth component on the time scale of 3–4 yr demonstrates “mixed” characteristics of the meridional and equatorial modes because of an active transition from the predominant meridional to zonal structures on this time scale. Physically, this transition process is initiated by the discharge of the off-equatorial HCA, which is first accumulated as a part of the meridional mode, into the equatorial waveguide, which is triggered by the breakdown of the equilibrium between the cross-equatorial HC contrast and the overlying wind forcing, and results in a major heat transport through the equatorial waveguide into the southeastern tropical Atlantic. It is also shown that remote forcing from El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) exerts important influence on the transition from the equatorial to meridional mode and may partly dictate its time scale of 3–4 yr. Therefore, the authors’ results demonstrate another mechanism of the equatorial Atlantic response to the ENSO forcing.
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