On the Variability of Wind Power Input to the Oceans with a Focus on the Subpolar North Atlantic
Variations in power input to the ocean using a recent global “reanalysis” extending back to 1871 show a strong trend in the net power input since then, a trend dominated by the Southern Ocean region. This trend is interpreted as a spurious result of the changing observational system. Focusing theref...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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American Meteorological Society
2014
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/85075 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6808-3664 |
| _version_ | 1826213023380930560 |
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| author | Zhai, Xiaoming Wunsch, Carl Isaac |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Zhai, Xiaoming Wunsch, Carl Isaac |
| author_sort | Zhai, Xiaoming |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Variations in power input to the ocean using a recent global “reanalysis” extending back to 1871 show a strong trend in the net power input since then, a trend dominated by the Southern Ocean region. This trend is interpreted as a spurious result of the changing observational system. Focusing therefore on the North Atlantic Ocean, where the database is somewhat more secure, it is found that the input power in the subpolar North Atlantic varies significantly in time, showing a strong relationship to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). During positive NAO index years, power input is greater owing to enhanced synoptic activity. Furthermore, cumulative power input to the subpolar North Atlantic is found to correlate significantly with both the eddy kinetic energy there and the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO), although the physical mechanism at work remains unclear. The assumption that the changing ocean can be neglected relative to the changing atmosphere in calculating the power input is found to be a usefully accurate approximation over the two decades for which changing ocean state estimates are available. Strong dependence on synoptic weather systems of monthly-mean stress distributions implies that past and future climate simulations must account properly for changes in weather systems, not just the large-scale variations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:42:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/85075 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:42:06Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | American Meteorological Society |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/850752024-05-15T02:19:37Z On the Variability of Wind Power Input to the Oceans with a Focus on the Subpolar North Atlantic Zhai, Xiaoming Wunsch, Carl Isaac Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Wunsch, Carl Variations in power input to the ocean using a recent global “reanalysis” extending back to 1871 show a strong trend in the net power input since then, a trend dominated by the Southern Ocean region. This trend is interpreted as a spurious result of the changing observational system. Focusing therefore on the North Atlantic Ocean, where the database is somewhat more secure, it is found that the input power in the subpolar North Atlantic varies significantly in time, showing a strong relationship to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). During positive NAO index years, power input is greater owing to enhanced synoptic activity. Furthermore, cumulative power input to the subpolar North Atlantic is found to correlate significantly with both the eddy kinetic energy there and the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO), although the physical mechanism at work remains unclear. The assumption that the changing ocean can be neglected relative to the changing atmosphere in calculating the power input is found to be a usefully accurate approximation over the two decades for which changing ocean state estimates are available. Strong dependence on synoptic weather systems of monthly-mean stress distributions implies that past and future climate simulations must account properly for changes in weather systems, not just the large-scale variations. 2014-02-24T17:11:36Z 2014-02-24T17:11:36Z 2013-06 2012-12 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0894-8755 1520-0442 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/85075 Zhai, Xiaoming, and Carl Wunsch. “On the Variability of Wind Power Input to the Oceans with a Focus on the Subpolar North Atlantic.” J. Climate 26, no. 11 (June 2013): 3892–3903. © 2013 American Meteorological Society https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6808-3664 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00472.1 Journal of Climate Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Meteorological Society American Meteorological Society |
| spellingShingle | Zhai, Xiaoming Wunsch, Carl Isaac On the Variability of Wind Power Input to the Oceans with a Focus on the Subpolar North Atlantic |
| title | On the Variability of Wind Power Input to the Oceans with a Focus on the Subpolar North Atlantic |
| title_full | On the Variability of Wind Power Input to the Oceans with a Focus on the Subpolar North Atlantic |
| title_fullStr | On the Variability of Wind Power Input to the Oceans with a Focus on the Subpolar North Atlantic |
| title_full_unstemmed | On the Variability of Wind Power Input to the Oceans with a Focus on the Subpolar North Atlantic |
| title_short | On the Variability of Wind Power Input to the Oceans with a Focus on the Subpolar North Atlantic |
| title_sort | on the variability of wind power input to the oceans with a focus on the subpolar north atlantic |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/85075 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6808-3664 |
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