Relationships between the Hadley circulation and tropical sea surface temperature with different meridional structures simulated in CMIP6 models

The variability of the Hadley Circulation (HC) is greatly impacted by the meridional structure of sea surface temperature (SST), which has varied effects depending on its symmetrical or asymmetrical pattern relative to the equator. By using the Coupled Comparison Program International Project Phase...

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Main Authors: Yan Li, Mengying Du, Juan Feng, Falei Xu, Wenjun Song
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-03-01
Series:Frontiers in Marine Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1145509/full
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author Yan Li
Mengying Du
Juan Feng
Falei Xu
Wenjun Song
author_facet Yan Li
Mengying Du
Juan Feng
Falei Xu
Wenjun Song
author_sort Yan Li
collection DOAJ
description The variability of the Hadley Circulation (HC) is greatly impacted by the meridional structure of sea surface temperature (SST), which has varied effects depending on its symmetrical or asymmetrical pattern relative to the equator. By using the Coupled Comparison Program International Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) model outputs and reanalysis datasets, this study assesses the capacity of CMIP6 models to simulate the relationship between the HC and tropical SST under different meridional structures, as well as investigates the possible causes for simulation biases. It is shown that the CMIP6 models can successfully reproduce climatological HC, tropical SST, and their spatial patterns of first leading modes under different meridional structures, where the correlation coefficient between simulations and observations reaches 0.8 or above. By comparison, the CMIP6 model outputs exhibit substantial differences in simulating the HC to SST response over the different meridional structures, with obvious inter-model differences. Considering the capability in simulating the HC to tropical SST response, the CMIP6 models are divided into two types, Type I model and Type II model. Models of Type I are those whose simulation results are basically close to the reanalysis data, with the biases being less than 20%. The models of Type II are those whose simulated response ratios are much stronger than those of the reanalysis. It is found that the models of Type II overestimate the intensity of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, and remarkably underestimate the HC and SST correlation in the equatorial symmetric part, resulting in the inability of the models of Type II to capture the connection of the HC and tropical SST. The results indicate that, the component of the CMIP6 models in reproducing the ENSO events has a considerable impact on the simulation of the HC and tropical SST relationship, which offers recommendations for enhancing the capability of models to simulate large-scale tropical air-sea interactions.
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spelling doaj.art-15c02a3f04ac446a8f7e57f408dea8ce2023-03-28T05:12:37ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452023-03-011010.3389/fmars.2023.11455091145509Relationships between the Hadley circulation and tropical sea surface temperature with different meridional structures simulated in CMIP6 modelsYan Li0Mengying Du1Juan Feng2Falei Xu3Wenjun Song4College of Atmospheric Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, ChinaCollege of Atmospheric Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, College of Global Change and Earth System Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, ChinaCollege of Atmospheric Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, ChinaCollege of Atmospheric Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, ChinaThe variability of the Hadley Circulation (HC) is greatly impacted by the meridional structure of sea surface temperature (SST), which has varied effects depending on its symmetrical or asymmetrical pattern relative to the equator. By using the Coupled Comparison Program International Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) model outputs and reanalysis datasets, this study assesses the capacity of CMIP6 models to simulate the relationship between the HC and tropical SST under different meridional structures, as well as investigates the possible causes for simulation biases. It is shown that the CMIP6 models can successfully reproduce climatological HC, tropical SST, and their spatial patterns of first leading modes under different meridional structures, where the correlation coefficient between simulations and observations reaches 0.8 or above. By comparison, the CMIP6 model outputs exhibit substantial differences in simulating the HC to SST response over the different meridional structures, with obvious inter-model differences. Considering the capability in simulating the HC to tropical SST response, the CMIP6 models are divided into two types, Type I model and Type II model. Models of Type I are those whose simulation results are basically close to the reanalysis data, with the biases being less than 20%. The models of Type II are those whose simulated response ratios are much stronger than those of the reanalysis. It is found that the models of Type II overestimate the intensity of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, and remarkably underestimate the HC and SST correlation in the equatorial symmetric part, resulting in the inability of the models of Type II to capture the connection of the HC and tropical SST. The results indicate that, the component of the CMIP6 models in reproducing the ENSO events has a considerable impact on the simulation of the HC and tropical SST relationship, which offers recommendations for enhancing the capability of models to simulate large-scale tropical air-sea interactions.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1145509/fullHadley CirculationSea surface temperatureCMIP6 modelsMeridional structureClimate model
spellingShingle Yan Li
Mengying Du
Juan Feng
Falei Xu
Wenjun Song
Relationships between the Hadley circulation and tropical sea surface temperature with different meridional structures simulated in CMIP6 models
Frontiers in Marine Science
Hadley Circulation
Sea surface temperature
CMIP6 models
Meridional structure
Climate model
title Relationships between the Hadley circulation and tropical sea surface temperature with different meridional structures simulated in CMIP6 models
title_full Relationships between the Hadley circulation and tropical sea surface temperature with different meridional structures simulated in CMIP6 models
title_fullStr Relationships between the Hadley circulation and tropical sea surface temperature with different meridional structures simulated in CMIP6 models
title_full_unstemmed Relationships between the Hadley circulation and tropical sea surface temperature with different meridional structures simulated in CMIP6 models
title_short Relationships between the Hadley circulation and tropical sea surface temperature with different meridional structures simulated in CMIP6 models
title_sort relationships between the hadley circulation and tropical sea surface temperature with different meridional structures simulated in cmip6 models
topic Hadley Circulation
Sea surface temperature
CMIP6 models
Meridional structure
Climate model
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1145509/full
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