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At least 19 records

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS2001

Interactions Between the Thermohaline Circulation and Tropical Atlantic SST in a Coupled General Circulation Model

Tropical Atlantic SST shows a (statistically well-defined) decadal time scale in a 104-year simulation of unforced variability by a coupled general circulation model (CGCM). The SST anomalies superficially resemble observed Tropical Atlantic variability (TAV), and are associated with changes in the atmospheric circulation. Brazilian rainfall is modulated with a decadal time scale, along with the strength of the Atlantic trade winds, which are associated with variations in evaporation and the net surface heat flux. However, in contrast to observed tropical Atlantic variability, the trade winds damp the associated anomalies in ocean temperature, indicating a negative feedback. Tropical SST anomalies in the CGCM, though opposed by the surface heat flux, are advected in from the Southern Hemisphere mid-latitudes. These variations modulate the strength of the thermohaline circulation (THC): warm, salty anomalies at the equator sink drawing cold, fresh mid-latitude water. Upon reaching the equator, the latter inhibit vertical overturning and advection from higher latitudes, which allows warm, salty anomalies to reform, returning the cycle to its original state. Thus, the cycle results from advection of density anomalies and the effect of these anomalies upon the rate of vertical overturning and surface advection. This decadal modulation of Tropical Atlantic SST and the thermohaline circulation is correlated with ocean heat transport to the Northern Hemisphere high latitudes and Norwegian Sea SST. Because of the central role of equatorial convection, we question whether this mechanism is present in the current climate, although we speculate that it may have operated in palaeo times, depending upon the stability of the tropical water column.

Miller, Ron↗

DOE OSTI2017

The Arctic Ocean as a dead end for floating plastics in the North Atlantic branch of the Thermohaline Circulation

The subtropical ocean gyres are recognized as great marine accumulation zones of floating plastic debris; however, the possibility of plastic accumulation at polar latitudes has been overlooked because of the lack of nearby pollution sources. In the present study, the Arctic Ocean was extensively sampled for floating plastic debris from the Tara Oceans circumpolar expedition. Although plastic debris was scarce or absent in most of the Arctic waters, it reached high concentrations (hundreds of thousands of pieces per square kilometer) in the northernmost and easternmost areas of the Greenland and Barents seas. The fragmentation and typology of the plastic suggested an abundant presence of aged debris that originated from distant sources. This hypothesis was corroborated by the relatively high ratios of marine surface plastic to local pollution sources. Surface circulation models and field data showed that the poleward branch of the Thermohaline Circulation transfers floating debris from the North Atlantic to the Greenland and Barents seas, which would be a dead end for this plastic conveyor belt. Given the limited surface transport of the plastic that accumulated here and the mechanisms acting for the downward transport, the seafloor beneath this Arctic sector is hypothesized as an important sink of plastic debris.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS1984

Thermohaline circulation below the Ross Ice Shelf - A consequence of tidally induced vertical mixing and basal melting

The warmest water below parts of the Ross Ice Shelf resides in the lowest portion of the water column because of its high salinity. Vertical mixing caused by tidal stirring can thus induce ablation by lifting the warm but dense water into contact with the ice shelf. A numerical tidal simulation indicates that vertically well-mixed conditions predominate in the southeastern part of the sub-ice shelf cavity, where the water column thickness is small. Basal melting in this region is expected to be between 0.05 and 0.5 m/yr and will drive a thermohaline circulation having the following characteristics: high salinity shelf water (at - 1.8 C), formed by winter sea ice production in the open Ross Sea, flows along the seabed toward the tidal mixing fronts below the ice shelf; and meltwater (at -2.2 C), produced in the well-mixed region, flows out of the sub-ice shelf cavity along the ice shelf bottom. Sensitivity of this ablation process to climatic change is expected to be small because high salinity shelf water is constrained to have the sea surface freezing temperature.

Macayeal, D. R.↗

DOE OSTI2011

The Role of Eddy-Tansport in the Thermohaline Circulation

Several research themes were developed during the course of this project. (1) Low-frequency oceanic varibility; (2) The role of eddies in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) region; (3) Deep stratification and the overturning circulation. The key findings were as follows: (1) The stratification below the main thermocline (at about 500m) is determined in the circumpolar region and then communicated to the enclosed portions of the oceans through the overturning circulation. (2) An Atlantic pole-to-pole overturning circulation can be maintained with very small interior mixing as long as surface buoyancy values are shared between the northern North Atlantic and the ACC region.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS1997

Influence of Sea Ice on the Thermohaline Circulation in the Arctic-North Atlantic Ocean

A fully prognostic coupled ocean-ice model is used to study the sensitivity of the overturning cell of the Arctic-North-Atlantic system to sea ice forcing. The strength of the thermohaline cell will be shown to depend on the amount of sea ice transported from the Arctic to the Greenland Sea and further to the subpolar gyre. The model produces a 2-3 Sv increase of the meridional circulation cell at 25N (at the simulation year 15) corresponding to a decrease of 800 cu km in the sea ice export from the Arctic. Previous modeling studies suggest that interannual and decadal variability in sea ice export of this magnitude is realistic, implying that sea ice induced variability in the overturning cell can reach 5-6 Sv from peak to peak.

Mauritzen, Cecilie↗

DOE OSTI2012

Searching for Atlantic Thermohaline Circulation Strength Threshold Leading to Abrupt Change of the African Monsoon

Research Objectives: To further advance the hypothesis that changes in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) are among the most critical factors determining abrupt African Monsoon changes in response to future global warming, to quantify various uncertain environmental factors that may work individually or in concert to trigger these abrupt transitions, so that we can have a better understanding of the uncertainties in the model projection.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS1998

Decadal Air-Sea Interaction in the North Atlantic Based on Observations and Modeling Results

The decadal, 12-14 year, cycle observed in the North Atlantic SST and tide gauge data was examined using the NCEP/NCAR reanalyses, COADS data and an ocean model simulation. Besides this decadal mode, a shorter, subdecadal period of about 8 years exists in tide gauge data north of 40N, in the subpolar SST and in the winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index and in subpolar winter heat flux values. The decadal cycle is a well separated mode in a singular spectrum analysis (SSA) for a time series of SST EOF mode 1 with a center over the Gulf Stream extension. Tide gauge and SST data are consistent in that both show a significant subdecadal periodicity exclusively in the subpolar gyre, but in subtropics the 12-14 year period is the prominent, but nonstationary, decadal signal. The main finding of this study is that this 12-14 year cycle can be constructed based on the leading mode of the surface heat flux. This connection to the surface heat flux implicates the participation of the thermohaline circulation in the decadal cycle. During the cycle starting from the positive index phase of NAO, SST and oceanic heat content anomalies are created in subtropics due to local heat flux and intensification of the thermohaline circulation. The anomalies advect to the subpolar gyre where they are amplified by local heat flux and are part of the negative feedback of thermohaline circulation on itself. Consequently the oceanic thermohaline circulation slows down and the opposite cycle starts. The oscillatory nature would not be possible without the active atmospheric participation in the cycle, because it provides the unstable interaction through heat flux, without it, the oceanic mode would be damped. This analysis suggests that the two principal modes of heat flux variability, corresponding to patterns similar to North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Western Atlantic (WA), are part of the same decadal cycle and an indirect measure of the north-south movement of the storm tracks.

Hakkinen, Sirpa↗

NASA NTRS1994

Century/millennium internal climate oscillations in an ocean-atmosphere-continental ice sheet model

We demonstrate in a simple climate model that there exist nonlinear feedbacks between the atmosphere, ocean, and ice sheets capable of producing century/millennium timescale internal oscillations resembling those seen in the paleoclimate record. Feedbacks involve meridional heat and salt transports in the North Atlantic, surface ocean freshwater fluxes associated with melting and growing continental ice sheets in the northen hemisphere and with Atlantic to Pacific water vapor transport. The positive feedback between the production of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) and the meridional salt transport by the Atlantic thermohaline circulation tends to destabilize the climate system, while the negative feedback between the freshwater flux, either to or from the continental ice sheets, and meridional heat flux to the high-latitude North Atlantic, accomplished by the thermohaline circulation, stabilizes the system. The thermohaline circulation plays a central role in both positive and negative feedbacks because of its transport of both heat and salt. Because of asymmetries between the growth and melt phases the oscillations are, in general, accompanied by a growing or decreasing ice volume over each cycle, which in the model is reflected by increasing or decreasing mean salinity.

Birchfield, Edward G.↗

NASA NTRS1991

South Atlantic interbasin exchange

The exchange of mass and heat between the South Atlantic and the neighboring ocean basins was estimated using hydrographic data and inverse methods, in order to gain information on the links between the deep-water formation processes occurring within the Atlantic and the global thermohaline circulation. Results demonstrate that the global thermohaline cell associated with the formation and export of North Atlantic deep water (NADW) is closed primarily by a 'cold water path' in which deep water leaving the Atlantic ultimately returns as intermediate water entering the basin through Drake Passage. This conclusion conflicts with the suggestion by Gordon (1986) that the global thermohaline circulation associated with the formation of NADW is closed primarily by a 'warm water path', in which the export of NADW is compensated by an inflow of warm Indian Ocean thermocline water south of Africa.

Rintoul, Stephen Rich↗

DOE OSTI2012

CoCoMANS Ocean App [Slides]

Thermohaline circulation is that part of ocean circulation which is driven by density gradients. It is widely believed that changes in the ocean thermohaline circulation on the 10 to 100 year time scale can instigate rapid climate change. Scientists world wide are currently using simulation tools based on semi-implicit and split methods that are first-order in time. From a numerical error perspective, the quality of such simulations is suspect. As a result of numerical stability issues resulting from semi-implicit and split methods they are forced to use low resolution grids; ie high resolution grids will require prohibitive numbers of timesteps. Having the ability to perform such simulation with reduced splitting errors, using high resolution grids, and using second-order accurate time integration methods will be a quantum leap forward in predictive ocean simulation.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

NASA NTRS1999

Response to CO2 Transient Increase in the GISS Coupled Model: Regional Coolings in a Warming Climate

The (GISS) Goddard Institute for Space Studies coupled atmosphere-ocean model is used to investigate the effect of increased atmospheric CO2 by comparing a compounded 1 percent CO2 increase experiment with a control simulation. After 70 years of integration, the global surface air temperature in the 1 percent CO2 experiment is 1.43 C warmer. In spite of this global warming, there are two distinct regions, the northern Atlantic Ocean and the southern Pacific Ocean, where the surface air temperature is up to 4 C cooler. This situation is maintained by two positive feedbacks: a local effect on convection in the South Pacific and a non-local impact on the meridional circulation in the North Atlantic. The poleward transport of latent energy and dry static energy by the atmosphere is greater in the 1 percent CO2 experiment, caused by warming and therefore increased water vapor and greater greenhouse capacity at lower latitudes. The larger atmospheric transports tend to reduce upward vertical fluxes of heat and moisture from the ocean surface at high latitudes, which has the effect of stabilizing the ocean, reducing both convection and the thermohaline circulation. With less convection, less warm water is brought up from below, and with a reduced North Atlantic thermohaline circulation (by 30 percent at time of CO2 doubling), the poleward energy transport by the oceans decreases. The colder water then leads to further reductions in evaporation, decreases of salinity at high latitudes, continued stabilization of the ocean, and maintenance of reduced convection and meridional overturning. Although sea ice decreases globally, it increases in the cooling regions which reduces the overall climate sensitivity; its effect is most pronounced in the Southern Hemisphere. Tropical warming has been observed over the past several decades; if modeling studies such as this and others which have produced similar effects are valid, these processes may already be beginning.

Russell, Gary L.↗

DOE OSTI2017

pyhector: A Python interface for the simple climate model Hector

Here, pyhector is a Python interface for the simple climate model Hector (Hartin et al. 2015) developed in C++. Simple climate models like Hector can, for instance, be used in the analysis of scenarios within integrated assessment models like GCAM1, in the emulation of complex climate models, and in uncertainty analyses. Hector is an open-source, object oriented, simple global climate carbon cycle model. Its carbon cycle consists of a one pool atmosphere, three terrestrial pools which can be broken down into finer biomes or regions, and four carbon pools in the ocean component. The terrestrial carbon cycle includes primary production and respiration fluxes. The ocean carbon cycle circulates carbon via a simplified thermohaline circulation, calculating air-sea fluxes as well as the marine carbonate system. The model input is time series of greenhouse gas emissions; as example scenarios for these the Pyhector package contains the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs)2.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS2005

Global monitoring of Sea Surface Salinity with Aquarius

Aquarius is a microwave remote sensing system designed to obtain global maps of the surface salinity field of the oceans from space. It will be flown on the Aquarius/SAC-D mission, a partnership between the USA (NASA) and Argentina (CONAE) with launch scheduled for late in 2008. The objective of Aquarius is to monitor the seasonal and interannual variation of the large scale features of the surface salinity field in the open ocean. This will provide data to address scientific questions associated with ocean circulation and its impact on climate. For example, salinity is needed to understand the large scale thermohaline circulation, driven by buoyancy, which moves large masses of water and heat around the globe. Of the two variables that determine buoyancy (salinity and temperature), temperature is already being monitored. Salinity is the missing variable needed to understand this circulation. Salinity also has an important role in energy exchange between the ocean and atmosphere, for example in the development of fresh water lenses (buoyant water that forms stable layers and insulates water below from the atmosphere) which alter the air-sea coupling. Aquarius is a combination radiometer and scatterometer (radar) operating at L-band (1.413 GHz for the radiometer and 1.26 GHz for the scatterometer). The primary instrument,for measuring salinity is the radiometer which is able to detect salinity because of the modulation salinity produces on the thermal emission from sea water. This change is detectable at the long wavelength end of the microwave spectrum. The scatterometer will provide a correction for surface roughness (waves) which is one of the greatest unknowns in the retrieval. The sensor will be in a sun-synchronous orbit at about 650 km with equatorial crossings of 6am/6pm. The antenna for these two instruments is a 3 meter offset fed reflector with three feeds arranged in pushbroom fashion looking away from the sun toward the shadow side of the orbit to minimize sunglint. The mission goal is to produce maps of the salinity field globally once each month with an accuracy of 0.2 psu and a spatial resolution of 100 km. This will be adequate to address l&ge scale features of the salinity field of the open ocean. The temporal resolution is sufficient to address seasonal changes and a three year mission is planned to-collect sufficient data to look for interannual variation. Aquarius is being developed by NASA as part of the Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) program. The SAC-D mission is being developed by CONAE and will include the space craft and several additional instruments, including visible and infrared cameras and a microwave radiometer to monitor rain and wind velocity over the oceans, and sea ice.

Lagerloef, G. S. E.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Studies of Current Circulation at Ocean Waste Disposal Sites

The author has identified the following significant results. Circulation processes at the acid waste disposal site are highly event-dominated, with the majority of the water transport occurring during strong northeasters. There is a mean flow to the south alongshore. This appears to be due to the fact that northeasterly winds produce stronger currents than those driven by southeasterly winds and by the thermohaline circulation. During the warm months, the ocean stratifies with warm water over cold water. A distinct thermocline was observed with expendable bathythermographs during all summer cruises at depths ranging from 10 to 21 meters. During stratified conditions, the near-bottom drogues showed very little movements. The duPont waste plume was observed in LANDSAT satellite imagery during dump up to 54 hours after dump.

Klemas, V.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Studies of Current Circulation at Ocean Waste Disposal Sites

The author has identified the following significant results. Acid waste plume was observed in LANDSAT imagery fourteen times ranging from during dump up to 54 hours after dump. Circulation processes at the waste disposal site are highly storm-dominated, with the majority of the water transport occurring during strong northeasterlies. There is a mean flow to the south along shore. This appears to be due to the fact that northeasterly winds produce stronger currents than those driven by southeasterly winds and by the thermohaline circulation. During the warm months (May through October), the ocean at the dump site stratifies with a distinct thermocline observed during all summer cruising at depths ranging from 10 to 21 m. During stratified conditions, the near-bottom currents were small. Surface currents responded to wind conditions resulting in rapid movement of surface drogues on windy days. Mid-depth drogues showed an intermediate behavior, moving more rapidly as wind velocities increased.

Klemas, V.↗

DOE OSTI2015

Predicted slowdown in the rate of Atlantic sea ice loss

Abstract Coupled climate models initialized from historical climate states and subject to anthropogenic forcings can produce skillful decadal predictions of sea surface temperature change in the subpolar North Atlantic. The skill derives largely from initialization, which improves the representation of slow changes in ocean circulation and associated poleward heat transport. We show that skillful predictions of decadal trends in Arctic winter sea ice extent are also possible, particularly in the Atlantic sector. External radiative forcing contributes to the skill of retrospective decadal sea ice predictions, but the spatial and temporal accuracy is greatly enhanced by the more realistic representation of ocean heat transport anomalies afforded by initialization. Recent forecasts indicate that a spin‐down of the thermohaline circulation that began near the turn of the century will continue, and this will result in near‐neutral decadal trends in Atlantic winter sea ice extent in the coming years, with decadal growth in select regions.

Yeager, Stephen G.↗

DOE OSTI2012

Estimates of global Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) resources using an ocean general circulation model

Global Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) resources are assessed for the first time with an ocean general circulation model (OGCM). Large-scale OTEC operations are represented with fluid sources and sinks of prescribed strength in global (4° x 4°) MITgcm simulations. Preliminary steady-state (time-asymptotic) results show similarities, but also significant differences with earlier one-dimensional (1-D) studies. It is confirmed that global OTEC resources are likely limited by OTEC flow effects on the stability of the vertical oceanic thermal structure. Such a limit is several times greater in a full three-dimensional context, however, with an estimated maximum annual OTEC net power production of about 30 TW. The significant OTEC flow rates corresponding to maximum net power output would result in a strong boost of the oceanic thermohaline circulation (THC). In contrast to simple 1-D analyses, the present simulations of large-scale OTEC operations also show a persistent cooling of the tropical oceanic mixed-layer. Here, this would be balanced by a warming trend in the higher latitudes, which may practically limit OTEC deployment to smaller flow rates than at maximum net power output. An annual OTEC net power production of about 7 TW, for example, could be achieved with little effect on the oceanic temperature field.

Ocean general circulation model↗

DOE OSTI2013

An assessment of global Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion resources under broad geographical constraints

Rates of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) are assessed with a high-resolution ocean general circulation model when broad geographical restrictions are imposed on the OTEC implementation area. This may correspond to practical or legal limitations, such as the cost of long submarine power cables or the extent of Exclusive Economic Zones. Because some environmental effects predicted under large-scale OTEC scenarios exhibit a strong asymmetry among major oceanic basins, numerical experiments where the OTEC domain is restricted to such specific areas are also conducted. Results suggest that in all cases, a rate of about 0.2 TW per Sverdrup of OTEC deep cold seawater is sustained when overall OTEC net power peaks. At that juncture, temperature profiles in the OTEC implementation areas are affected in similar ways, while the strength of the Thermohaline Circulation roughly doubles. Overall geographical constraints simply defined by distance to shore, given the model’s 1° horizontal resolution, produce global OTEC net power maxima of 12–14 TW. In such cases, OTEC net power density approximately increases in inverse proportion to the OTEC implementation area. Limiting OTEC development to the Indo-Pacific yields results similar to the global case with a maximum proportional to the implementation area (12 TW), but simulations restricted to the Atlantic behave quite differently. In the latter case, OTEC net power peaks a little over 5 TW. In conclusion, it is estimated that producing half the predicted power maxima would substantially limit large-scale environmental temperature changes in each case.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗