Sea Ice and Cloud Processes Mediating Compensation between Atmospheric and Oceanic Meridional Heat Transports across the CMIP6 Preindustrial Control Experiment
[1];
- a Center for Nonlinear Studies (CNLS), Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, b Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Maryland
- c Computational Physics and Methods (CCS-2), Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico
- d Fluid Dynamics and Solid Mechanics (T-3), Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico
- e Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington, f Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
- g Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, b Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Maryland
Abstract Bjerknes compensation (BJC) refers to the anticorrelation observed between atmospheric and oceanic heat transport (AHT/OHT) variability, particularly on decadal to longer time scales that may be important to the predictability of the climate system. This study investigates the spread in BJC across fully coupled simulations of phase 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) and critical processes (particularly related to sea ice and clouds) that may contribute to that spread. BJC on decadal to longer time scales is confirmed across all the simulations evaluated, and it is strongest in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) between 60° and 70°N. At these latitudes, BJC appears to be primarily driven by the exchange of turbulent fluxes (sensible and latent) in the Greenland, Iceland, and Barents Seas. Metrics to break down how sea ice and clouds uniquely modify the radiative balance of the polar atmosphere during anomalous OHT events are presented. These metrics quantify the impacts of sea ice and clouds on surface and top of atmosphere (latent, sensible, longwave, and shortwave radiative) energy fluxes. Cloud responses tend to counter the clear sky impacts over the Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ). It is further shown that the degree of BJC present in a simulation at high latitudes is heavily influenced by the sensitivity of the sea ice to OHT, which is most influential over the MIZ. These results are qualitatively robust across models and explain the intermodel spread in NH BJC in the preindustrial control experiment.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); USDOE Office of Science (SC). Office of Biological & Environmental Research (BER)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- 89233218CNA000001; AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 2248111
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR--23-21733
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Climate, Journal Name: Journal of Climate Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 37; ISSN 0894-8755
- Publisher:
- American Meteorological SocietyCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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