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Influence of tropical cyclones on sea surface temperature seasonal cycle and ocean heat transporT

Influence of tropical cyclones on sea surface temperature seasonal cycle and ocean heat transporT
Influence of tropical cyclones on sea surface temperature seasonal cycle and ocean heat transporT
Recent studies suggested that tropical cyclones (TCs) contribute significantly to the meridional oceanic heat transport by injecting heat into the subsurface through mixing. Here, we estimate the long-term oceanic impact of TCs by inserting realistic wind vortices along observed TCs tracks in a 1/2° resolution ocean general circulation model over the 1978–2007 period. Warming of TCs’ cold wakes results in a positive heat flux into the ocean (oceanic heat uptake; OHU) of ~480 TW, consistent with most recent estimates. However, ~2/5 of this OHU only compensates the heat extraction by the TCs winds during their passage. Another ~2/5 of this OHU is injected in the seasonal thermocline and hence released back to the atmosphere during the following winter. Because of zonal compensations and equatorward transport, only one-tenth of the OHU is actually exported poleward (46 TW), resulting in a marginal maximum contribution of TCs to the poleward ocean heat transport. Other usually neglected TC-related processes however impact the ocean mean state. The residual Ekman pumping associated with TCs results in a sea-level drop (rise) in the core (northern and southern flanks) of TC-basins that expand westward into the whole basin as a result of planetary wave propagation. More importantly, TC-induced mixing and air-sea fluxes cool the surface in TC-basins during summer, while the re-emergence of subsurface warm anomalies warms it during winter. This leads to a ~10 % reduction of the sea surface temperature seasonal cycle within TCs basins, which may impact the climate system.
0930-7575
2019-2038
Vincent, Emmanuel M.
06aa233c-bb5e-438e-8672-7a53b826e014
Madec, Gurvan
ffb28deb-4bbd-4a4c-914f-492f813e4864
Lengaigne, Matthieu
3f78eafe-bcd2-41c4-9e0e-3b8bb3c55aa4
Vialard, Jérôme
165dd2c7-d5ec-4bd6-9f20-02e182e38f36
Koch-Larrouy, Ariane
c53ebc39-93b2-49c4-9389-241f9d491c8a
Vincent, Emmanuel M.
06aa233c-bb5e-438e-8672-7a53b826e014
Madec, Gurvan
ffb28deb-4bbd-4a4c-914f-492f813e4864
Lengaigne, Matthieu
3f78eafe-bcd2-41c4-9e0e-3b8bb3c55aa4
Vialard, Jérôme
165dd2c7-d5ec-4bd6-9f20-02e182e38f36
Koch-Larrouy, Ariane
c53ebc39-93b2-49c4-9389-241f9d491c8a

Vincent, Emmanuel M., Madec, Gurvan, Lengaigne, Matthieu, Vialard, Jérôme and Koch-Larrouy, Ariane (2013) Influence of tropical cyclones on sea surface temperature seasonal cycle and ocean heat transporT. Climate Dynamics, 41 (7-8), 2019-2038. (doi:10.1007/s00382-012-1556-0).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Recent studies suggested that tropical cyclones (TCs) contribute significantly to the meridional oceanic heat transport by injecting heat into the subsurface through mixing. Here, we estimate the long-term oceanic impact of TCs by inserting realistic wind vortices along observed TCs tracks in a 1/2° resolution ocean general circulation model over the 1978–2007 period. Warming of TCs’ cold wakes results in a positive heat flux into the ocean (oceanic heat uptake; OHU) of ~480 TW, consistent with most recent estimates. However, ~2/5 of this OHU only compensates the heat extraction by the TCs winds during their passage. Another ~2/5 of this OHU is injected in the seasonal thermocline and hence released back to the atmosphere during the following winter. Because of zonal compensations and equatorward transport, only one-tenth of the OHU is actually exported poleward (46 TW), resulting in a marginal maximum contribution of TCs to the poleward ocean heat transport. Other usually neglected TC-related processes however impact the ocean mean state. The residual Ekman pumping associated with TCs results in a sea-level drop (rise) in the core (northern and southern flanks) of TC-basins that expand westward into the whole basin as a result of planetary wave propagation. More importantly, TC-induced mixing and air-sea fluxes cool the surface in TC-basins during summer, while the re-emergence of subsurface warm anomalies warms it during winter. This leads to a ~10 % reduction of the sea surface temperature seasonal cycle within TCs basins, which may impact the climate system.

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More information

Published date: October 2013
Organisations: Marine Systems Modelling

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 362996
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/362996
ISSN: 0930-7575
PURE UUID: 28fc3cd2-78f3-47c2-a511-a082f73c79d0

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Date deposited: 10 Mar 2014 16:36
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 16:17

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Contributors

Author: Emmanuel M. Vincent
Author: Gurvan Madec
Author: Matthieu Lengaigne
Author: Jérôme Vialard
Author: Ariane Koch-Larrouy

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