Mixed boundary conditions versus coupling with an energy-moisture balance model for a zonally averaged ocean climate model
- McGill Univ., Montreal, Quebec (Canada)
The Wright and Stocker oceanic thermohaline circulation model is coupled to a recently developed zonally averaged energy moisture balance model for the atmosphere. The results obtained with this coupled model are compared with those from an ocean-only model that employs mixed boundary conditions. The ocean model geometry uses either one zonally averaged interhemispheric basin (the {open_quotes}Atlantic{close_quotes}) or two zonally averaged basins (roughly approximating the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans) connected by a parameterized Antarctic Circumpolar Current. The differences in the steady states and their linear stability are examined over a wide range of parameters. The presence of additional feedbacks between the ocean circulation and the atmosphere and hydrological cycle in the coupled model produces significant differences between the latter and the ocean-only model, in both the one-basin and two-basin geometries. The authors conclude that due to the effects produced by the feedbacks in the coupled model, they must have serious reservations about the results concerning long-term climate variability obtained from ocean-only models. Thus, to investigate long-term climatic variability a coupled model is necessary. 31 refs., 15 figs., 7 tabs.
- OSTI ID:
- 588612
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Climate, Vol. 10, Issue 10; Other Information: PBD: Oct 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
A zonally averaged, three-basin ocean circulation model for climate studies
Steady-state and transient modeling of tracer and nutrient distributions in the global ocean