Role of the Gulf Stream and Kuroshio–Oyashio systems in large-scale atmosphere–ocean interaction : a review

View/ Open
Date
2010-06-15Author
Kwon, Young-Oh
Concept link
Alexander, Michael A.
Concept link
Bond, Nicholas A.
Concept link
Frankignoul, Claude
Concept link
Nakamura, Hisashi
Concept link
Qiu, Bo
Concept link
Thompson, LuAnne
Concept link
Metadata
Show full item recordCitable URI
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/3971As published
https://doi.org/10.1175/2010JCLI3343.1DOI
10.1175/2010JCLI3343.1Keyword
Currents; Sea surface temperature; Anomalies; Large-scale motions; Oceanic mixed layer; Northern HemisphereAbstract
Ocean–atmosphere interaction over the Northern Hemisphere western boundary current (WBC) regions (i.e., the Gulf Stream, Kuroshio, Oyashio, and their extensions) is reviewed with an emphasis on their role in basin-scale climate variability. SST anomalies exhibit considerable variance on interannual to decadal time scales in these regions. Low-frequency SST variability is primarily driven by basin-scale wind stress curl variability via the oceanic Rossby wave adjustment of the gyre-scale circulation that modulates the latitude and strength of the WBC-related oceanic fronts. Rectification of the variability by mesoscale eddies, reemergence of the anomalies from the preceding winter, and tropical remote forcing also play important roles in driving and maintaining the low-frequency variability in these regions. In the Gulf Stream region, interaction with the deep western boundary current also likely influences the low-frequency variability. Surface heat fluxes damp the low-frequency SST anomalies over the WBC regions; thus, heat fluxes originate with heat anomalies in the ocean and have the potential to drive the overlying atmospheric circulation. While recent observational studies demonstrate a local atmospheric boundary layer response to WBC changes, the latter’s influence on the large-scale atmospheric circulation is still unclear. Nevertheless, heat and moisture fluxes from the WBCs into the atmosphere influence the mean state of the atmospheric circulation, including anchoring the latitude of the storm tracks to the WBCs. Furthermore, many climate models suggest that the large-scale atmospheric response to SST anomalies driven by ocean dynamics in WBC regions can be important in generating decadal climate variability. As a step toward bridging climate model results and observations, the degree of realism of the WBC in current climate model simulations is assessed. Finally, outstanding issues concerning ocean–atmosphere interaction in WBC regions and its impact on climate variability are discussed.
Description
Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2010. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Climate 23 (2010): 3249-3281, doi:10.1175/2010JCLI3343.1.
Collections
Suggested Citation
Journal of Climate 23 (2010): 3249-3281Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
The effects of mesoscale ocean–atmosphere coupling on the large-scale ocean circulation
Hogg, Andrew Mc C.; Dewar, William K.; Berloff, Pavel S.; Kravtsov, Sergey K.; Hutchinson, David K. (American Meteorological Society, 2009-08-01)Small-scale variation in wind stress due to ocean–atmosphere interaction within the atmospheric boundary layer alters the temporal and spatial scale of Ekman pumping driving the double-gyre circulation of the ocean. A ... -
Stability of large-scale oceanic flows and the importance of non-local effects
Hristova, Hristina G. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2009-06)My thesis covers two general circulation problems that involve the stability of largescale oceanic flows and the importance of non-local effects. The first problem examines the stability of meridional boundary currents, ... -
Seismic evidence for large-scale compositional heterogeneity of oceanic core complexes
Canales, J. Pablo; Tucholke, Brian E.; Xu, Min; Collins, John A.; DuBois, David L. (American Geophysical Union, 2008-08-06)Long-lived detachment faults at mid-ocean ridges exhume deep-seated rocks to form oceanic core complexes (OCCs). Using large-offset (6 km) multichannel seismic data, we have derived two-dimensional seismic tomography models ...