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An ensemble of ocean reanalyses for 1815-2013 with sparse observational input

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research. Oceans
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2016jc012079· OSTI ID:1565409
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [2]
  1. Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)
  2. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
This paper describes a new eight-member ensemble of ocean reanalyses spanning nearly 200 years from 1815 to 2013 generated using the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation system with sparse observational input (SODAsi) to explore long-term changes in the oceans. The eight ensemble members assimilate surface temperature observations and use surface boundary conditions from an atmospheric reanalysis that is loosely coupled to the ocean reanalysis. In this work, both surface and subsurface quantities, such as dynamic height and heat content, show a broad spectrum of variability. Surface temperature trends from 1815 to 2013 are positive in most regions, with some important exceptions; the central Tropical Pacific, around Antarctica, and in the Gulf Stream and Kuroshio extension regions all show cooling trends. A near-global average shows warming of about 0.8°C over the full period, with most of the warming occurring after 1920. There is pronounced multidecadal variability in both the midlatitude and tropical oceans. In the North Atlantic Ocean, temperature variability is highly correlated with the meridional overturning stream function, with the largest correlation occurring when the stream function is advanced by 9 years. Trends of upper ocean heat content and dynamic height from the 1950s onward compare well with previously published values. Globally averaged heat content of the upper 700 m shows a nearly linear rise after the 1920s, requiring a net downward surface heat flux increase of 0.47 W m-2 into the ocean. This is close to published estimates of the increased flux required to explain the heat content increase from 1971 to 2010.
Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231; AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1565409
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research. Oceans, Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research. Oceans Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 121; ISSN 2169-9275
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Towards a more reliable historical reanalysis: Improvements for version 3 of the Twentieth Century Reanalysis system
  • Slivinski, Laura C.; Compo, Gilbert P.; Whitaker, Jeffrey S.
  • Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Vol. 145, Issue 724 https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3598
journal August 2019
Ocean heat content variability in an ensemble of twentieth century ocean reanalyses journal August 2017
Decadal variability and trends of oceanic barrier layers in tropical Pacific journal July 2018
An Investigation of Ocean Model Uncertainties Through Ensemble Forecast Experiments in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean journal January 2019
Seasonal and Interannual Variations of Sea Temperature Influenced by Galápagos Islands in Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean journal May 2019
Eddy‐Resolving In Situ Ocean Climatologies of Temperature and Salinity in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean journal January 2019
Decadal Variations of the Mindanao Current During 1960–2010 journal April 2019
Empirical Evidence Linking the Pacific Decadal Precession to Kuroshio Extension Variability journal December 2019
Longer and more frequent marine heatwaves over the past century journal April 2018
Identifying the early 2000s hiatus associated with internal climate variability journal September 2018
Switch Between El Nino and La Nina is Caused by Subsurface Ocean Waves Likely Driven by Lunar Tidal Forcing journal September 2019
The cryptic population biology of Chthamalus fragilis Darwin, 1854 (Cirripedia, Thoracica) on the Atlantic coast of North America journal September 2018
Observational Needs for Improving Ocean and Coupled Reanalysis, S2S Prediction, and Decadal Prediction journal July 2019
Ocean Reanalyses: Recent Advances and Unsolved Challenges journal July 2019
Steric Sea Level Changes from Ocean Reanalyses at Global and Regional Scales journal September 2019
Eurasian snow depth in long-term climate reanalyses journal January 2017
Eurasian snow depth in long-term climate reanalyses posted_content November 2016
Eurasian snow depth in long-term climate reanalyses text January 2017
Towards a more reliable historical reanalysis: Improvements for version 3 of the Twentieth Century Reanalysis system text January 2019

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
climate
ocean reanalysis
oceanography