Influence of Anomalous Ocean Heat Transport on the Extratropical Atmospheric Circulation in a High‐Resolution Slab‐Ocean Coupled Model
Abstract Key questions remain about the atmospheric response to variability in the oceanic western boundary currents (WBCs). Here we exploit a unique high‐resolution slab‐ocean coupled climate model to investigate how ocean heat transport (OHT) anomalies in the major WBCs of both hemispheres affect...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL111770 |
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| Summary: | Abstract Key questions remain about the atmospheric response to variability in the oceanic western boundary currents (WBCs). Here we exploit a unique high‐resolution slab‐ocean coupled climate model to investigate how ocean heat transport (OHT) anomalies in the major WBCs of both hemispheres affect the atmospheric circulation. Prescribed OHT anomalies lead to robust changes in convective precipitation anomalies equatorward of the maximum surface warming. The response is deepest and most pronounced over the Northern Hemisphere (NH) WBCs, where it is associated with significant changes in upper tropospheric vertical motion, condensational heating and geopotential heights. The response is relatively shallow over the Southern Hemisphere (SH) WBCs. The findings reveal the robustness of the atmospheric response to OHT anomalies and highlight key hemispheric differences: in the NH, OHT anomalies are balanced by deep atmospheric vertical motion; in the SH, they are balanced primarily by shallow horizontal temperature advection. |
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| ISSN: | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |