CLIMATE AND THE OCEAN CIRCULATION

Abstract

A general circulation model of the joint ocean-atmosphere system is constructed by combining an ocean model and an atmospheric model. The quantities exchanged between the oceanic part and the atmospheric part of the joint model are momentum, heat, and water. Integration of the atmospheric part yields the surface wind stress, net radiation, sensible heat flux, rates of rainfall and snowfall, rates of evaporation and sublimation, and rates of runoff and iceberg formation, all of which constitute the upper boundary conditions for the oceanic part of the model. From the oceanic part, the thickness of ice and the distribution of sea-surface temperature, which constitute the lower boundary conditions for the atmospheric part of the model, are computed. An approach toward a quasi-equilibrium state of the joint ocean-atmosphere system is attempted by numerical time integration of the joint model. Since the thermal relaxation time of the oceanic part of the model is much longer than that of the atmospheric part, a special technique for economizing the computation time is developed. Although a state of quasi-equilibrium is not reached satisfactorily, the time variation of the atmospheric ?climate? is extremely slow toward the end of the time integration. A detailed analysis of the final solution at the end of the integration is carried out. According to this analysis, the distributions of various heat balance components such as radiation flux and the turbulent flux of sensible and latent heat compare favorably with the corresponding distributions in the actual atmosphere estimated by Budyko and London. By comparing the final state of the joint model atmosphere with the quasi-equilibrium state of the previous atmosphere without an active ocean, it is possible to identify the effect of an ocean circulation on the general circulation of the atmosphere. For example, the poleward transport of heat by an ocean circulation reduces the meridional gradient of atmospheric temperature and vertical wind shear in the troposphere. This reduction of vertical wind shear lowers the level of baroclinic instability and causes a general decrease in the magnitude of eddy kinetic energy in the atmosphere. The air mass modification by the energy exchange between the model ocean and atmosphere creates a favorable place for the development of cyclones off the east coast of the continent in high latitudes. In the Tropics, the upwelling of relatively cold water at the Equator suppresses the intensity of rainfall in the oceanic region and increases it in the continental region. This increase significantly alters the hydrology of the tropical continent. In middle and subtropical latitudes, the advection of warm water by the subtropical gyre increases the flux of sensible and latent heat from the ocean to the atmosphere along the east coast of the continent and increases the intensity of precipitation in the coastal region. The subtropical desert of the joint model is more or less confined to the western half of the continent. In high latitudes, the advection of warm water by the subarctic gyre off the west coast of the continent increases the energy exchange and precipitation there. Most of these modifications contribute to make the hydrology of the joint model highly realistic despite the idealization of the land-sea configuration.