ALBERT

Description: In a recent study, O’Neill et al. analyzed the divergence of surface winds above the northwest Atlantic. In the time mean, a band of convergence is found, overlying the southern flank of the Gulf Stream. To quantify the impact of synoptic storms, the authors proposed to compare the time-mean divergence with the divergence averaged in the absence of rain. In the resulting conditional-average field, divergence was found to be positive nearly everywhere. O'Neill et al. concluded that this absence of convergence precludes the Ekman-balanced mass adjustment to be responsible for the atmospheric response above the Gulf Stream. Using a simplistic toy model as well as a numerical simulation representative of a storm track, we show that the absence of negative divergence values purely results from the correlation between rain and convergence: the conditional average based on the absence of rain necessarily implies a shift toward positive divergence values. In consequence, we argue that conditional statistics (based on the absence of rain or removing extreme values in the divergence field), as produced by O’Neill et al., do not allow conclusions on the mechanisms underlying the atmospheric response to the Gulf Stream. They nevertheless highlight the essential role of synoptic storms in shaping the divergence field in instantaneous fields.

Description: Upper-tropospheric Rossby wave–breaking processes are examined in coupled ocean–atmosphere simulations of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and of the modern era. LGM statistics of the Northern Hemisphere in winter, computed from the Paleoclimate Modeling Intercomparison Project Phase II (PMIP2) dataset, are compared with those from preindustrial simulations and from the 40-yr ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-40). Particular attention is given to the role of wave-breaking events in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) for each simulation. Anticyclonic (AWB) and cyclonic (CWB) wave-breaking events during LGM are shown to be less and more frequent, respectively, than in the preindustrial climate, especially in the Pacific. This is consistent with the slight equatorward shift of the eddy-driven jets in the LGM runs. The most remarkable feature of the simulated LGM climate is that it presents much weaker latitudinal fluctuations of the eddy-driven jets. This is accompanied by less dispersion in the wave-breaking events. A physical interpretation is provided in terms of the fluctuations of the low-level baroclinicity at the entrance of the storm tracks. The NAO in the preindustrial simulations and in ERA-40 is characterized by strong latitudinal fluctuations of the Atlantic eddy-driven jet as well as by significant changes in the nature of the wave breaking. During the positive phase, the eddy-driven jet moves to the north with more AWB events than usual and is well separated from the subtropical African jet. The negative phase exhibits a more equatorward Atlantic jet and more CWB events. In contrast, the LGM NAO is less well marked by the latitudinal vacillation of the Atlantic jet and for some models this property disappears entirely. The LGM NAO corresponds more to acceleration–deceleration or extension–retraction of the Atlantic jet. The hemispheric point of view of the Arctic Oscillation exhibits similar changes.

Description: The relevance of surface quasi-geostrophic dynamics (SQG) to the upper ocean and the atmospheric tropopause has been recently demonstrated in a wide range of conditions. Within this context, the properties of SQG in terms of kinetic energy (KE) transfers at the surface are revisited and further explored. Two well-known and important properties of SQG characterize the surface dynamics: (i) the identity between surface velocity and density spectra (when appropriately scaled) and (ii) the existence of a forward cascade for surface density variance. Here we show numerically and analytically that (i) and (ii) do not imply a forward cascade of surface KE (through the advection term in the KE budget). On the contrary, advection by the geostrophic flow primarily induces an inverse cascade of surface KE on a large range of scales. This spectral flux is locally compensated by a KE source that is related to surface frontogenesis. The subsequent spectral budget resembles those exhibited by more complex systems (primitive equations or Boussinesq models) and observations, which strengthens the relevance of SQG for the description of ocean/atmosphere dynamics near vertical boundaries. The main weakness of SQG however is in the small-scale range (scales smaller than 20-30 km in the ocean) where it poorly represents the forward KE cascade observed in non-QG numerical simulations. © 2008 Cambridge University Press.

Description: The statistical properties of turbulent fluids depend on how local the energy transfers among scales are, i.e. whether the energy transfer at some given scale is due to the eddies at that particular scale, or to eddies at larger (non-local) scale. This locality in the energy transfers may have consequences for the relative dispersion of passive particles. In this paper, we consider a class of generalized two-dimensional flows (produced by the so-called α-turbulence models), theoretically possessing different properties in terms of locality of energy transfers. It encompasses the standard barotropic quasi-geostrophic (QG) and the surface quasi-geostrophic (SQG) models as limiting cases. The relative dispersion statistics are examined, both as a function of time and as a function of scale, and compared to predictions based on phenomenological arguments assuming the locality of the cascade. We find that the dispersion statistics follow the predicted values from local theories, as long as the parameter is α small enough (dynamics close to that of the SQG model), for sufficiently small initial pair separations. In contrast, non-local dispersion is observed for the QG model, a robust result when looking at relative displacement probability distributions. However, we point out that spectral energy transfers do have a non-local contribution for models with different values of α, including the SQG case. This indicates that locality/non-locality of the turbulent cascade may not always imply locality/non-locality in the relative dispersion of particles and that the self-similar nature of the turbulent cascade is more appropriate for determining the relative dispersion locality. © 2017 Cambridge University Press.

Description: Singular vector (SV) analysis has proved to be helpful in understanding the linear instability properties of various types of flows. SVs are the perturbations with the largest amplification rate over a given time interval when linearizing the equations of a model along a particular solution. However, the linear approximation necessary to derive SVs has strong limitations and does not take into account several mechanisms present during the nonlinear development (such as wave–mean flow interactions). A new technique has been recently proposed that allows the generalization of SVs in terms of optimal perturbations with the largest amplification rate in the fully nonlinear regime. In the context of a two-layer quasigeostrophic model of baroclinic instability, the effect of nonlinearities on these nonlinear optimal perturbations [herein, nonlinear singular vectors (NLSVs)] is examined in terms of structure and dynamics. NLSVs essentially differ from SVs in the presence of a positive zonal-mean shear at initial time and in a broader meridional extension. As a result, NLSVs sustain a significant amplification in the nonlinear model while SVs exhibit a reduction of amplification in the nonlinear model. The presence of an initial zonal-mean shear in the NLSV increases the initial extraction of energy from the total shear (basic plus zonal-mean flows) and opposes wave–mean flow interactions that decrease the shear through the nonlinear evolution. The spatial shape of the NLSVs (and especially their meridional elongation) allows them to limit wave–wave interactions. These wave–wave interactions are responsible for the formation of vortices and for a smaller extraction of energy from the basic flow. Therefore, NLSVs are able to modify their shape in order to evolve quasi linearly to preserve a large nonlinear growth. Results are generalized for different norms and optimization times. When the streamfunction variance norm is used, the NLSV technique fails to converge because this norm selects very small scales at initial time. This indicates that this technique may be inadequate for problems for which the length scale of instability is not properly defined. For other norms (such as the potential enstrophy norm) and for different optimization times, the mechanisms of the NLSV amplification can still be viewed through wave–wave and wave–mean flow interactions.

Description: The authors undertake a detailed analysis of the influence of water vapor condensation and latent heat release upon the evolution of the baroclinic instability. The framework consists in a two-layer rotating shallow-water model with moisture coupled to dynamics through mass exchange between the layers due to condensation/precipitation. The model gives all known in literature models of this kind as specific limits. It is fully nonlinear and ageostrophic. The reference state is a baroclinic Bickley jet. The authors first study its “dry” linear instability and then use the most unstable mode to initialize high-resolution numerical simulations of the life cycle of the instability in nonprecipitating (moisture being a passive tracer) and precipitating cases. A new-generation well-balanced finite-volume scheme is used in these simulations. The evolution in the nonprecipitating case follows the standard cyclonic wave-breaking life cycle of the baroclinic instability, which is reproduced with a high fidelity. In the precipitating case, the onset of condensation significantly increases the growth rate of the baroclinic instability at the initial stages due to production of available potential energy by the latent heat release. Condensation occurs in frontal regions and wraps up around the cyclone, which is consistent with the moist cyclogenesis theory and observations. Condensation induces a clear-cut cyclone–anticyclone asymmetry. The authors explain the underlying mechanism and show how it modifies the equilibration of the flow at the late stages of the saturation of the instability. In spite of significant differences in the evolution, only weak differences in various norms of the perturbations remain between precipitating and nonprecipitating cases at the end of the saturation process.

Description: The combined effects of the deformation (horizontal stretching and shearing) and nonlinearities on the beta drift of midlatitude cyclones are studied using a barotropic quasigeostrophic model on the beta plane. It is found that, without any background flow, a cyclonic vortex moves more rapidly northward when it is initially strongly stretched along a mostly north–south direction. This meridional stretching is more efficient at forming an anticyclone to the east of the cyclone through Rossby wave radiation. The cyclone–anticyclone couple then forms a nonlinear vortex dipole that propagates mostly northward. The case of a cyclone embedded in uniformly sheared zonal flows is then studied. A cyclone evolving in an anticyclonic shear is stretched more strongly, develops a stronger anticyclone, and moves faster northward than a cyclone embedded in a cyclonic shear, which remains almost isotropic. Similar results are found in the general case of uniformly sheared nonzonal flows. The evolution of cyclones is also investigated in the case of a more realistic meandering jet whose relative vorticity gradient creates an effective beta and whose deformation field is spatially varying. A statistical study reveals a strong correlation among the cyclone’s stretching, the anticyclone strength, and the velocity toward the jet center. These different observations agree with the more idealized cases. Finally, these results provide a rationale for the existence of preferential zones for the jet-crossing phase: that is, the phase when a cyclone crosses a jet from its anticyclonic to its cyclonic side.

Description: To understand the atmospheric response to a midlatitude oceanic front, this paper uses a quasigeostrophic (QG) model with moist processes. A well-known, three-level QG model on the sphere has been modified to include such processes in an aquaplanet setting. Its response is analyzed in terms of the upper-level atmospheric jet for sea surface temperature (SST) fronts of different profiles and located at different latitudes. When the SST front is sufficiently strong, it tends to anchor the mean atmospheric jet, suggesting that the jet’s spatial location and pattern are mainly affected by the latitude of the SST front. Changes in the jet’s pattern are studied, focusing on surface sensible heat flux and on moisture effects through latent heat release. It is found that latent heat release due to moist processes is modified when the SST front is changed, and this is responsible for the meridional displacement of the jet. Moreover, both latent heat release and surface sensible heat flux contribute to the jet’s strengthening. These results highlight the role of SST fronts and moist processes in affecting the characteristics of the midlatitude jet stream and of its associated storm track, particularly their positions.

Description: The motion of surface depressions evolving in a background meandering baroclinic jet is investigated using a two-layer quasigeostrophic model on a beta plane. Synoptic-scale finite-amplitude cyclones are initialized in the lower and upper layer to the south of the jet in a configuration favorable to their baroclinic interaction. The lower-layer cyclone is shown to move across the jet axis from its warm-air to cold-air side. It is the presence of a poleward-oriented barotropic potential vorticity (PV) gradient that makes possible the cross-jet motion through the beta-drift mechanism generalized to a baroclinic atmospheric context. The potential vorticity gradient associated with the jet is responsible for the dispersion of Rossby waves by the cyclones and the development of an anticyclonic anomaly in the upper layer. This anticyclone forms a PV dipole with the upper-layer cyclone that nonlinearly advects the lower-layer cyclone across the jet. In addition, the background deformation is shown to modulate the cross-jet advection. Cyclones evolving in a deformation-dominated environment (south of troughs) are strongly stretched while those evolving in a rotation-dominated environment (south of ridges) remain quasi isotropic. It is shown that the more stretched cyclones trigger a more efficient dispersion of energy, create a stronger upper-layer anticyclone, and move perpendicularly to the jet faster than the less stretched ones. Both the intensity and location of the upper-layer anticyclone explain the distinct cross-jet speeds. A statistical study consisting in initializing cyclones at different locations south of the jet core confirms that the cross-jet motion is faster for the more meridionally elongated cyclones evolving in areas of strongest barotropic PV gradient.