Rectification effects of regional air–sea interactions over western boundary current on large-scale sea surface temperature and extra-tropical storm tracks

Abstract The warm Western Boundary Currents (WBCs) and their zonal extensions are persistent, deep, strong and narrow oceanic currents. They are known to anchor and energize the Extra-Tropical storm tracks by frontal thermal air–sea interactions. However, even in the latest generation of climate mod...

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Main Authors: Lionel Renault, Thomas Arsouze, Fabien Desbiolles, Justin Small
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2024-12-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-82667-2
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author Lionel Renault
Thomas Arsouze
Fabien Desbiolles
Justin Small
author_facet Lionel Renault
Thomas Arsouze
Fabien Desbiolles
Justin Small
author_sort Lionel Renault
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The warm Western Boundary Currents (WBCs) and their zonal extensions are persistent, deep, strong and narrow oceanic currents. They are known to anchor and energize the Extra-Tropical storm tracks by frontal thermal air–sea interactions. However, even in the latest generation of climate models, WBCs are characterized by large biases, and both the present storm-track activity and its recent intensification are poorly estimated. Mesoscale air–sea interactions, and in particular the Current Feedback to the Atmosphere (CFB) have been shown to be important in ocean and in particular WBC dynamics as they modify the energy budget of the ocean. CFB causes eddy-killing by drag friction between currents and the atmosphere. It damps the oceanic eddy activity, and, thus, weakens the eddy-mean flow interaction, stabilizing WBCs. Based on cutting-edge high-resolution coupled global simulations, we show that the stabilization of WBCs by CFB modulates the mean Sea Surface Temperature and its meridional gradients as well and the turbulent heat fluxes between the ocean and the atmosphere. This alters the baroclinicity of the lower atmosphere, which in turn modulates the extra tropical storm-tracks intensity by up to 15%.
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spelling doaj-art-50f3d177fabe421184ae0fa3df5759122025-01-05T12:30:58ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222024-12-0114111310.1038/s41598-024-82667-2Rectification effects of regional air–sea interactions over western boundary current on large-scale sea surface temperature and extra-tropical storm tracksLionel Renault0Thomas Arsouze1Fabien Desbiolles2Justin Small3LEGOS, University of Toulouse, IRD, CNRS, CNES, UPSBarcelona Supercomputing CenterLEGOS, University of Toulouse, IRD, CNRS, CNES, UPSClimate and Global Dynamics Laboratory, NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research, 1850 Table Mesa DriveAbstract The warm Western Boundary Currents (WBCs) and their zonal extensions are persistent, deep, strong and narrow oceanic currents. They are known to anchor and energize the Extra-Tropical storm tracks by frontal thermal air–sea interactions. However, even in the latest generation of climate models, WBCs are characterized by large biases, and both the present storm-track activity and its recent intensification are poorly estimated. Mesoscale air–sea interactions, and in particular the Current Feedback to the Atmosphere (CFB) have been shown to be important in ocean and in particular WBC dynamics as they modify the energy budget of the ocean. CFB causes eddy-killing by drag friction between currents and the atmosphere. It damps the oceanic eddy activity, and, thus, weakens the eddy-mean flow interaction, stabilizing WBCs. Based on cutting-edge high-resolution coupled global simulations, we show that the stabilization of WBCs by CFB modulates the mean Sea Surface Temperature and its meridional gradients as well and the turbulent heat fluxes between the ocean and the atmosphere. This alters the baroclinicity of the lower atmosphere, which in turn modulates the extra tropical storm-tracks intensity by up to 15%.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-82667-2
spellingShingle Lionel Renault
Thomas Arsouze
Fabien Desbiolles
Justin Small
Rectification effects of regional air–sea interactions over western boundary current on large-scale sea surface temperature and extra-tropical storm tracks
Scientific Reports
title Rectification effects of regional air–sea interactions over western boundary current on large-scale sea surface temperature and extra-tropical storm tracks
title_full Rectification effects of regional air–sea interactions over western boundary current on large-scale sea surface temperature and extra-tropical storm tracks
title_fullStr Rectification effects of regional air–sea interactions over western boundary current on large-scale sea surface temperature and extra-tropical storm tracks
title_full_unstemmed Rectification effects of regional air–sea interactions over western boundary current on large-scale sea surface temperature and extra-tropical storm tracks
title_short Rectification effects of regional air–sea interactions over western boundary current on large-scale sea surface temperature and extra-tropical storm tracks
title_sort rectification effects of regional air sea interactions over western boundary current on large scale sea surface temperature and extra tropical storm tracks
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-82667-2
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AT thomasarsouze rectificationeffectsofregionalairseainteractionsoverwesternboundarycurrentonlargescaleseasurfacetemperatureandextratropicalstormtracks
AT fabiendesbiolles rectificationeffectsofregionalairseainteractionsoverwesternboundarycurrentonlargescaleseasurfacetemperatureandextratropicalstormtracks
AT justinsmall rectificationeffectsofregionalairseainteractionsoverwesternboundarycurrentonlargescaleseasurfacetemperatureandextratropicalstormtracks