A Study of Frontal-Scale Air-Sea Interaction along the Gulf Stream Extension Using a High-Resolution Coupled Regional Climate Model

利用高分辨率耦合区域气候模型研究沿墨西哥湾流延伸的锋面海气相互作用

• 批准号: 1067937
• 负责人: Ping Chang
• 金额: $ 53.86万
• 依托单位: Texas A&M Research Foundation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-08-15 至 2015-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1067937&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Study; Frontal; Scale; Air; Sea

The Gulf Stream Extension (GSE) region has been identified as a key location in the extratropics where sea surface temperature variability may induce considerable atmospheric variability, raising the intriguing possibility of significant midlatitude air-sea interaction. The Principal Investigators (PIs) plan to carry out very high-resolution coupled regional climate model simulations in the Atlantic domain, using horizontal grid resolution as fine as 3 km in nested sub-regions over the GSE. At these resolutions, important aspects of atmospheric convection and oceanic eddies are explicitly resolved and frontal-scale ocean-atmosphere interaction along the Gulf Stream can be directly examined. The PIs will examine the following scientific questions: (i) To what extent can climate model biases in the GSE region affect simulations and predictions of regional climate variability in the North Atlantic? (ii) Can the strong thermal front of the Gulf Stream affect the Atlantic storm tracks? If so, how does synoptic-scale atmospheric variability interact with the ocean and what are the feedback mechanisms between the atmosphere and ocean at small spatial scales? (iii) Can shifts in the Gulf Stream in response to changes in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) changes produce a significant atmospheric response? If so, what are the dynamical processes responsible for such a response? The broader impacts of this activity are substantial: the research will enhance our understanding of the uncertainties in projecting the impact of global climate change on the Atlantic region, which has important social and economic consequences for countries in the region.

墨西哥湾流延伸区（GSE）已被确定为一个关键的位置，在热带外，海表面温度的变化可能会引起相当大的大气变化，提出了有趣的可能性显着的中纬度海气相互作用。主要研究人员计划在大西洋区域进行非常高分辨率的耦合区域气候模式模拟，在GSE上方嵌套的子区域使用水平网格分辨率高达3公里。在这些决议，大气对流和海洋涡旋的重要方面明确解决和锋尺度的海洋-大气相互作用沿着墨西哥湾流可以直接检查。主要研究者将研究以下科学问题：（一）在多大程度上，GSE区域的气候模式偏差会影响北大西洋区域气候变率的模拟和预测？(ii)墨西哥湾流的强热锋会影响大西洋风暴路径吗？如果是这样的话，天气尺度大气变率如何与海洋相互作用，以及在小空间尺度上大气和海洋之间的反馈机制是什么？(iii)墨西哥湾流的变化对大西洋经向翻转环流（AMOC）变化的响应能产生显著的大气响应吗？如果是这样的话，是什么动力学过程导致了这样的反应？这一活动的广泛影响是巨大的：研究将使我们更好地了解在预测全球气候变化对大西洋区域的影响方面存在的不确定性，这种影响对该区域各国具有重要的社会和经济后果。