Simulating the midlatitude atmospheric circulation: What might we gain from high-resolution modeling of air-sea interactions?
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Czaja, A
Frankignoul, C
Minobe, S
Vanniere, B
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Purpose of Review
To provide a snapshot of the current research on the oceanic forcing of the atmospheric circulation in midlatitudes and a concise update on previous review papers.
Recent Findings
Atmospheric models used for seasonal and longer timescales predictions are starting to resolve motions so far only studied in conjunction with weather forecasts. These phenomena have horizontal scales of ~ 10–100 km which coincide with energetic scales in the ocean circulation. Evidence has been presented that, as a result of this matching of scale, oceanic forcing of the atmosphere was enhanced in models with 10–100 km grid size, especially at upper tropospheric levels. The robustness of these results and their underlying mechanisms are however unclear.
Summary
Despite indications that higher resolution atmospheric models respond more strongly to sea surface temperature anomalies, their responses are still generally weaker than those estimated empirically from observations. Coarse atmospheric models (grid size greater than 100 km) will miss important signals arising from future changes in ocean circulation unless new parameterizations are developed.
To provide a snapshot of the current research on the oceanic forcing of the atmospheric circulation in midlatitudes and a concise update on previous review papers.
Recent Findings
Atmospheric models used for seasonal and longer timescales predictions are starting to resolve motions so far only studied in conjunction with weather forecasts. These phenomena have horizontal scales of ~ 10–100 km which coincide with energetic scales in the ocean circulation. Evidence has been presented that, as a result of this matching of scale, oceanic forcing of the atmosphere was enhanced in models with 10–100 km grid size, especially at upper tropospheric levels. The robustness of these results and their underlying mechanisms are however unclear.
Summary
Despite indications that higher resolution atmospheric models respond more strongly to sea surface temperature anomalies, their responses are still generally weaker than those estimated empirically from observations. Coarse atmospheric models (grid size greater than 100 km) will miss important signals arising from future changes in ocean circulation unless new parameterizations are developed.
Date Issued
2019-12-01
Date Acceptance
2019-11-01
Citation
Current Climate Change Reports, 2019, 5 (4), pp.390-406
ISSN
2198-6061
Publisher
Springer (part of Springer Nature)
Start Page
390
End Page
406
Journal / Book Title
Current Climate Change Reports
Volume
5
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
© 2019 The Author(s).
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000493951900001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Ocean-atmosphere interactions
High-resolution climate modeling
Midlatitude climate dynamics
Sea surface temperature anomalies
WESTERN BOUNDARY CURRENTS
STORM-TRACK RESPONSE
NORTH-ATLANTIC SST
CONDITIONAL SYMMETRIC INSTABILITY
SURFACE TEMPERATURE ANOMALIES
GULF-STREAM
WINTERTIME VARIABILITY
KUROSHIO EXTENSION
MERIDIONAL SHIFTS
CLIMATE
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2019-11-04