STOCHASTIC DYNAMICS OF A COUPLED ATMOSPHERE–OCEAN MODEL

Abstract

The investigation of the coupled atmosphere-ocean system is not only scientifically challenging but also practically important. We consider a coupled atmosphere-ocean model, which involves hydrodynamics, thermodynamics, and random atmospheric dynamics due to short time influences at the air–sea interface. We reformulate this model as a random dynamical system. First, we have shown that the asymptotic dynamics of the coupled atmosphere-ocean model is described by a random climatic attractor. Second, we have estimated the atmospheric temperature evolution under oceanic feedback, in terms of the freshwater flux, heat flux and the external fluctuation at the air–sea interface, as well as the earth's longwave radiation coefficient and the shortwave solar radiation profile. Third, we have demonstrated that this system has finite degree of freedom by presenting a finite set of determining functionals in probability. Finally, we have proved that the coupled atmosphere-ocean model is ergodic under suitable conditions for physical parameters and randomness, and thus for any observable of the coupled atmosphere-ocean flows, its time average approximates the statistical ensemble average, as long as the time interval is sufficiently long.