Abstract
The relative contributions of atmospheric fluctuations on 6 h–2 d, 2–8 d, and 8 d–1 month time scales to the changes in the air–sea fluxes, the SO circulation, and Antarctic sea ice are investigated. It was found that the imposed forcing variability on the three time scales creates a significant increase in wind power input, and hence an increase of about 50%, 97%, and 5% of eddy kinetic energy relative to the simulation driven by monthly forcing, respectively. Also, SO circulation and the strength of the upper cell of meridional overturning circulation become strengthened. These results indicate more dominant effects of atmospheric variability on the 2–8 d time scale on the SO circulation. Meanwhile, the 6 h–2 d (2–8 d) atmospheric variability causes an increase in the total sea-ice extent, area, and volume, by about 33%, 30%, and 19% (17%, 20%, and 25%), respectively, relative to those in the experiment forced by monthly atmospheric variables. Such significant sea-ice increases are caused by a cooler ocean surface and stronger sea-ice transports owing to the enhanced heat losses and air-ice stresses induced by the atmospheric variability at 6 h–2 d and 2–8 d, while the effects of the variability at 8 d–1 month are rather weak. The influences of atmospheric variability found here mainly result from wind fluctuations. Our findings in this study indicate the importance of properly resolving high-frequency atmospheric variability in modeling studies.
摘要
本文利用高分辨率全球海洋-海冰耦合模式研究了6小时-2天,2-8天和8天-1月时间尺度的大气活动对南大洋环流和南极海冰的影响。在敏感性实验中分别考虑了上述三种时间尺度的大气活动后,对比敏感性实验和用月平均大气强迫场驱动模式得到的结果发现:风场输入到海洋中的能量显著增加进而导致海洋中的涡动能相应增加了约50%, 97% 和5%。另外,南大洋亚极地环流和翻转环流上层分支的强度都显著增加。结果还表明:2-8天时间尺度的大气活动主导了南大洋环流的变化;6小时-2天(2-8天)时间尺度的大气变化使得南极海冰范围,面积和体积分别增加了约33%, 30% 和19% (17%, 20% 和25%)。而海冰的变化是由于考虑了高频大气活动后,显著增强的海洋热损失和冰海应力分别引起了显著的表层海洋降温和海冰输送的增强所致。进一步的研究表明上述海洋和海冰变化主要是由高频风场变化所引起,该结果也揭示了正确分辨高频大气活动在数值模式研究中的重要性。
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Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41806216), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant Nos. 2019 T120379 and 2018M630499), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. 2018B19214). Zhaomin WANG was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41941007 and 41876220). Xia LIN was supported by a project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41906190), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2019M661705), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. 2019B19014). The atmospheric forcing data are available from https://jra.kishou.go.jp/JRA-55/index_en.html.
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Article Highlights:
• Atmospheric variability on the 2−8 d time scale predominantly influences the subpolar gyres and meridional overturning circulation in the Southern Ocean.
• The 6 h−2 d and 2−8 d atmospheric forcing exert relatively comparable impacts on sea-ice extent, area, and volume, by causing a cooler ocean surface and stronger northward sea-ice transports.
• Wind fluctuations play a dominant role in controlling the Southern Ocean circulation and Antarctic sea ice, while the effects of thermodynamic atmospheric variable fluctuations are rather weak.
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Wu, Y., Wang, Z., Liu, C. et al. Impacts of High-Frequency Atmospheric Forcing on Southern Ocean Circulation and Antarctic Sea Ice. Adv. Atmos. Sci. 37, 515–531 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-020-9203-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-020-9203-x
Key words
- high-frequency atmospheric variability
- momentum fluxes
- buoyancy fluxes
- Southern Ocean circulation
- Antarctic sea ice
- MITgcm-ECCO2