Affiliation:
1. University of Colorado Boulder/CIRES Boulder CO USA
2. Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder CO USA
3. Department of Applied Mathematics University of Colorado Boulder Boulder CO USA
4. NOAA Physics Sciences Division Boulder CO USA
Abstract
AbstractAir‐sea flux variability has contributions from both ocean and atmosphere at different spatio‐temporal scales. Atmospheric synoptic scales and the air‐sea turbulent heat flux that they drive are well represented in climate models, but ocean mesoscales and their associated variability are often not well resolved due to non‐eddy‐resolving spatial resolutions of current climate models. We deploy a physics‐based stochastic subgrid‐scale parameterization for ocean density, that reinforces the lateral density variations due to oceanic eddies, and examine its effect on air‐sea heat flux variability in a comprehensive coupled climate model. The stochastic parameterization substantially modifies sea surface temperature (SST) and latent heat flux (LHF) variability and their co‐variability, primarily at scales near the resolution of the ocean model grid. Enhancement in the SST‐LHF anomaly covariance, and correlations, indicate that the ocean‐intrinsic component of the air‐sea heat flux variability is more consistent with high‐resolution satellite observations, especially in Gulf Stream region.
Funder
National Science Foundation
Publisher
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Subject
General Earth and Planetary Sciences,Geophysics