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Title: Simultaneous Evolution of Gyre and Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation Anomalies as an Eigenmode of the North Atlantic System

Journal Article · · Journal of Climate
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [2]
  1. Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)
  2. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO (United States). Earth System Research Lab.
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Here, the authors observe an interdecadal oscillatory mode of the North Atlantic atmosphere–ocean system in a general circulation model (GFDL CM2.1) via a linear inverse model (LIM). The oscillation mechanism is mostly embedded in the subpolar gyre: anomalous advection generates density anomalies in the eastern subpolar gyre, which propagate along the mean gyre circulation and reach the subpolar gyre center around 10 years later, when associated anomalous advection of the opposite sign starts the other half cycle. While density anomalies reach the Labrador Sea deep convection region, Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) anomalies are also induced. Both the gyre and AMOC anomalies then propagate equatorward slowly, following the advection of density anomalies. The oscillation is further demonstrated to be more likely an ocean-only mode while excited by the atmospheric forcing; in particular, it can be approximated as a linearly driven damped oscillator that is partly excited by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The slowly evolving interdecadal oscillation significantly improves and prolongs the LIM’s prediction skill of sea surface temperature (SST) evolution.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; National Science Foundation (NSF)
OSTI ID:
1544388
Journal Information:
Journal of Climate, Vol. 30, Issue 17; ISSN 0894-8755
Publisher:
American Meteorological SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Figures / Tables (11)

FIG. 1(p. 5)figure FIG. 1
TABLE 1(p. 5)table TABLE 1
FIG. 2(p. 6)figure FIG. 2
FIG. 3(p. 7)figure FIG. 3
FIG. 4(p. 8)figure FIG. 4
FIG. 5(p. 9)figure FIG. 5
FIG. 6(p. 10)figure FIG. 6
FIG. 7(p. 13)figure FIG. 7
FIG. 8(p. 14)figure FIG. 8
FIG. 9(p. 16)figure FIG. 9
FIG. B1(p. 18)figure FIG. B1

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Meridional overturning circulation
Atmosphere-ocean interaction
Inverse methods
Stochastic models