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  • 1
    Publication Date: 2006-04-01
    Description: A new coupled general circulation climate model developed at the Met Office's Hadley Centre is presented, and aspects of its performance in climate simulations run for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report (IPCC AR4) documented with reference to previous models. The Hadley Centre Global Environmental Model version 1 (HadGEM1) is built around a new atmospheric dynamical core; uses higher resolution than the previous Hadley Centre model, HadCM3; and contains several improvements in its formulation including interactive atmospheric aerosols (sulphate, black carbon, biomass burning, and sea salt) plus their direct and indirect effects. The ocean component also has higher resolution and incorporates a sea ice component more advanced than HadCM3 in terms of both dynamics and thermodynamics. HadGEM1 thus permits experiments including some interactive processes not feasible with HadCM3. The simulation of present-day mean climate in HadGEM1 is significantly better overall in comparison to HadCM3, although some deficiencies exist in the simulation of tropical climate and El Niño variability. We quantify the overall improvement using a quasi-objective climate index encompassing a range of atmospheric, oceanic, and sea ice variables. It arises partly from higher resolution but also from greater fidelity in modeling dynamical and physical processes, for example, in the representation of clouds and sea ice. HadGEM1 has a similar effective climate sensitivity (2.8 K) to a CO2 doubling as HadCM3 (3.1 K), although there are significant regional differences in their response patterns, especially in the Tropics. HadGEM1 is anticipated to be used as the basis both for higher-resolution and higher-complexity Earth System studies in the near future.
    Print ISSN: 0894-8755
    Electronic ISSN: 1520-0442
    Topics: Geography , Geosciences , Physics
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  • 2
    Publication Date: 2006-08-15
    Description: The consistency between observed changes in Subantarctic Mode Water (SAMW) properties at 32°S in the Indian Ocean and model simulations is explored using the Third Hadley Centre Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere GCM (HadCM3). Hydrographic data collected in 2002 show that the water mass is warmer and saltier on isopycnals than in 1987, in contrast to the isopycnal freshening observed between 1962 and 1987. The response of HadCM3 under a range of forcing scenarios is explored and the observed freshening is only seen in experiments that include greenhouse gas forcing; however, there is no subsequent return to more saline conditions in 2002. The response of the model to greenhouse gas forcing is dominated by a persistent freshening trend, the simulated water mass variability agrees well with that suggested by the limited observations. Comparing model isopycnal changes from the forced experiments with a control run shows that the changes from the 1960s to 2002 are best explained by internal variability. This is in contrast to earlier work, which attributed the observed isopycnal freshening to anthropogenic forcing. Although the model shows that at present an anthropogenic climate change signal is not detectable in SAMW, the model water mass freshens on isopycnals during the twenty-first century under increased greenhouse gas forcing. This is consistent with recent heat content observations, which suggest that the salting is unlikely to persist. In HadCM3, this freshening is due to an increasing surface heat flux and Ekman heat and freshwater flux into the water mass formation region. This paper emphasizes the importance of higher-frequency observations of SAMW if detection and attribution statements are to be made.
    Print ISSN: 0894-8755
    Electronic ISSN: 1520-0442
    Topics: Geography , Geosciences , Physics
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  • 3
    Publication Date: 2007-12-01
    Description: Coupled climate models generally have a small residual radiative flux at the top of the atmosphere. In the Met Office climate model, Hadley Centre Global Environmental Model version 1 (HadGEM1), it is incoming (heating the planet) and reduces over a 350-yr period from 0.4 to 0.1 W m−2. The process of the adjustment in HadGEM1 is examined and is shown to be linked to excessive heat gain. In the tropical and South Atlantic, cold, fresh Antarctic Intermediate Water is replaced by anomalously warm, salty intermediate water. The loss of Antarctic Intermediate Water in the South Atlantic is related to a weak Agulhas retroflection. The erosion is enhanced in the tropical Atlantic by strong upwelling. The warm, salty anomalies are advected northward outcropping in the North Atlantic subpolar gyre. In the outcrop zone, sea surface temperature and salinity are increased, which lead to an increase in global mean surface temperature and a reduction in the sea ice area. This adjusts the top of the atmosphere balance via increased outgoing longwave radiation and is partly offset by a decrease in outgoing shortwave radiation. The increased surface salinity triggers convection in the Labrador Sea and leads to a strong flushing of the thermohaline circulation. These results demonstrate that adjustment time scales for coupled climate models can be in excess of 350 yr. The potential implications of the adjustment time scale of climate models need to be considered when planning scenario and sensitivity experiments, as model drifts can be nonlinear.
    Print ISSN: 0894-8755
    Electronic ISSN: 1520-0442
    Topics: Geography , Geosciences , Physics
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  • 4
    Publication Date: 2008-07-01
    Print ISSN: 0739-0572
    Electronic ISSN: 1520-0426
    Topics: Geography , Geosciences , Physics
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  • 5
    Publication Date: 2007-09-01
    Description: A regional general circulation model (GCM) of the Indian Ocean is used to investigate the influence of prescribed diapycnal diffusivity (Kd) on quasi-steady states of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC). The model has open boundaries at 35°S and 123°E where velocity, temperature, and salinity are prescribed at each time step. The results suggest that quasi-steady overturning states in the Indian Ocean are reached on centennial time scales. The size and structure of the MOC are controlled by the distribution of Kd and the southern boundary conditions. The distribution of Kd required to support an overturning circulation in the model interior of a magnitude equal to that prescribed at the southern boundary is estimated using a 1D advection–diffusion balance in isopycnal layers. Implementing this approach, 70%–90% of the prescribed deep inflow can be supported in quasi-steady state. Thus one is able to address the systematic discrepancy between past estimates of the deep MOC based on hydrographic sections and those based on GCM results. However, the Kd values required to support a substantial MOC in the model are much larger than current observation-based estimates, particularly for the upper 3000 m. The two estimates of the flow field near 32°S used to force the southern boundary imply a highly nonuniform distribution of Kd, as do recent estimates of Kd based on hydrographic observations. This work highlights the need to improve and implement realistic estimates of (nonuniform) Kd in ocean and coupled ocean–atmosphere GCMs when investigating quasi-equilibrium model states.
    Print ISSN: 0022-3670
    Electronic ISSN: 1520-0485
    Topics: Geosciences , Physics
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  • 6
    Publication Date: 2005-05-01
    Description: The response of an idealized ocean basin to variable buoyancy forcing is examined. A general circulation model that employs a Gent–McWilliams mixing parameterization is forced by a zonally constant restoring surface temperature profile, which varies with latitude and time over a period P. In each experiment, 17 different values of P are studied, ranging from 6 months to 32 000 yr. The model's meridional overturning circulation (MOC) exhibits a very strong response on all time scales greater than 15 yr, up to and including the longest forcing time scales examined. The peak-to-peak values of the MOC oscillations reach up to 125% of the steady-state maximum MOC and exhibit resonance-like behavior, with a maximum at centennial to millennial forcing periods (depending on the vertical diffusivity). This resonance-like behavior stems from the existence of two adjustment time scales, one of which is set by the vertical diffusion and the other of which is set by the basin width. Furthermore, the linearity of the response as well as its lag with the forcing varies with the forcing period. The considerable deviation from the quasi-equilibrium response at all time scales above 15 yr is surprising and suggests a potentially important role of the ocean circulation for climate, even at Milankovich time scales.
    Print ISSN: 0022-3670
    Electronic ISSN: 1520-0485
    Topics: Geosciences , Physics
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