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Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Review

Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Review. June 30 - July 2, 2009. Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and Climate. Presented by Rong Zhang. Introduction. Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Global Scale Impact in Paleo Climate.

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Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Review

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  1. Geophysical Fluid Dynamics LaboratoryReview June 30 - July 2, 2009

  2. Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and Climate Presented by Rong Zhang

  3. Introduction Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) • Global Scale Impact in Paleo Climate • Global Scale Impact in Modern Climate • AMOC Fingerprints

  4. Modeled responses due to the weakening of AMOC Precipitation (shading) and SLP Drying Precipitation (shading) and Surface Wind Drying Global Synchronization of Abrupt Climate Change in Response to AMOC Collapse Schematic diagram of global synchronization of abrupt climate change indicated bypaleo records • A substantial weakening of the AMOC is linked to: • Southward shift of ITCZ in Atlantic and Pacific • Weaker East Asia and Indian Summer Monsoons (Zhang and Delworth 2005)

  5. Regression of Summer Rainfall on AMO Index Wetting OBS MODEL Regression of vertical shear on AMO index OBS MODEL Reduction Atmospheric Impact of Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) • The AMO (area averaged detrended SST anomalies over the North Atlantic) can lead to: • Multidecadal variations in Sahel and India summer rainfall, and vertical shear over the Atlantic Hurricane MDR (Zhang and Delworth 2006) • Northern Hemispheric mean surface temperature fluctuations (Zhang et al. 2007) • Multidecadal variations in the Northern Pacific (Zhang and Delworth 2007)

  6. Warming Cooling Ocean temperature anomaly due to the weakening of AMOC MODEL MODEL Cooling Warming Surface Subsurface (z=400m) Tropical Fingerprint of AMOC Variability The link between AMO and AMOC is highly debated. Developing AMOC fingerprints is crucial for understanding the origin and the attribution of observed SST variations. Observed Tropical North Atlantic (TNA) SST is anticorrelated with TNA subsurface ocean temperature. The anticorrelation is a fingerprint of AMOC variations in coupled model simulations, indicating observed TNA SST fluctuations may be AMOC-related (Zhang 2007).

  7. Observed SSH PC1 and subsurface temperature (Tsub) PC1 Observed SSH PC1 r(SSH,Tsub) = 0.98 Modeled SSH PC1, Tsub PC1, AMOC Index r(SSH,Tsub) = 0.85 Extra-tropical Fingerprint of AMOC Variability The leading modes of SSH and subsurface temperature constitute a fingerprint of AMOC variations, and might be used as AMOC proxies. It indicates that during the 60’s and the recent decade, the AMOC was stronger, and the recent slowdown of the subpolar gyre is a multidecadal variation (Zhang 2008).

  8. Simulated global synchronization of abrupt climate change due to the AMOC collapse is consistent with that indicated by paleo records. The AMO can lead to multidecadal variations in Sahel and India summer rainfall, Atlantic Hurricane activity, northern hemispheric surface temperature, and Northern Pacific SST. AMOC fingerprints are developed and could be used for AMOC reconstruction in the past. They suggest that the observed AMO is linked to AMOC variations. Observations of SSH and subsurface temperature could be used to monitor AMOC variations. Summary

  9. Geophysical Fluid Dynamics LaboratoryReview June 30 - July 2, 2009

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