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1. The Impact of Topography and Eddy Parameterization on the Simulated Southern Ocean Circulation Response to Changes in Surface Wind Stress

   https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-20-0142.1  

   Kong, Hailu; Jansen, Malte F. (March 2021, Journal of Physical Oceanography)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract It remains uncertain how the Southern Ocean circulation responds to changes in surface wind stress, and whether coarse-resolution simulations, where mesoscale eddy fluxes are parameterized, can adequately capture the response. We address this problem using two idealized model setups mimicking the Southern Ocean: a flat-bottom channel and a channel with moderately complex topography. Under each topographic configuration and varying wind stress, we compare several coarse-resolution simulations, configured with different eddy parameterizations, against an eddy-resolving simulation. We find that 1) without topography, sensitivity of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) to wind stress is overestimated by coarse-resolution simulations, due to an underestimate of the sensitivity of the eddy diffusivity; 2) in the presence of topography, stationary eddies dominate over transient eddies in counteracting the direct response of the ACC and overturning circulation to wind stress changes; and 3) coarse-resolution simulations with parameterized eddies capture this counteracting effect reasonably well, largely due to their ability to resolve stationary eddies. Our results highlight the importance of topography in modulating the response of the Southern Ocean circulation to changes in surface wind stress. The interaction between mesoscale eddies and stationary meanders induced by topography requires more attention in future development and testing of eddy parameterizations. 

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2. Does Topographic Form Stress Impede Prograde Ocean Currents?

   https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-20-0189.1  

   BAI, YUE; WANG, YAN; STEWART, ANDREW L. (June 2021, Journal of Physical Oceanography)

   Abstract Topographic form stress (TFS) plays a central role in constraining the transport of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), and thus the rate of exchange between the major ocean basins. Topographic form stress generation in the ACC has been linked to the formation of standing Rossby waves, which occur because the current is retrograde (opposing the direction of Rossby wave propagation). However, it is unclear whether TFS similarly retards current systems that are prograde (in the direction of Rossby wave propagation), which cannot arrest Rossby waves. An isopycnal model is used to investigate the momentum balance of wind-driven prograde and retrograde flows in a zonal channel, with bathymetry consisting of either a single ridge or a continental shelf and slope with a meridional excursion. Consistent with previous studies, retrograde flows are almost entirely impeded by TFS, except in the limit of flat bathymetry, whereas prograde flows are typically impeded by a combination of TFS and bottom friction. A barotropic theory for standing waves shows that bottom friction serves to shift the phase of the standing wave’s pressure field from that of the bathymetry, which is necessary to produce TFS. The mechanism is the same in prograde and retrograde flows, but is most efficient when the mean flow arrests a Rossby wave with a wavelength comparable to that of the bathymetry. The asymmetry between prograde and retrograde momentum balances implies that prograde current systems may be more sensitive to changes in wind forcing, for example associated with climate shifts. 

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3. Large-Scale Eddy-Mean Flow Interaction in the Earth's Extratropical Atmosphere

   https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-fluid-121021-035602  

   Nakamura, Noboru (January 2024, Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics)

   Large-scale circulation of the atmosphere in the Earth's extratropics is dominated by eddies, eastward (westerly) zonal winds, and their interaction. Eddies not only bring about weather variabilities but also help maintain the average state of climate. In recent years, our understanding of how large-scale eddies and mean flows interact in the extratropical atmosphere has advanced significantly due to new dynamical constraints on finite-amplitude eddies and the related eddy-free reference state. This article reviews the theoretical foundations for finite-amplitude Rossby wave activity and related concepts. Theory is then applied to atmospheric data to elucidate how angular momentum is redistributed by the generation, transmission, and dissipation of Rossby waves and to reveal how an anomalously large wave event such as atmospheric blocking may arise from regional eddy-mean flow interaction. 

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4. Eddy Influences on the Hadley Circulation

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2018MS001554  

   Davis, Nicholas A.; Birner, Thomas (June 2019, Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems)

   Abstract Variations in the width and strength of the Hadley cells are associated with many radiative, thermodynamic, and dynamical forcings. The physical mechanisms driving these responses remain unclear, in part because of the interactive nature of eddy‐mean flow adjustment. Here, a modeling framework is developed which separates the mean flow and time‐mean eddy flow in a gray radiation general circulation model with simple representations of ocean heat transport and ozone. In the absence of eddies, with moist convection and weak numerical damping, the Hadley cell is confined to the upper troposphere and has a vanishingly small poleward momentum flux. Eddies allow the cell to extend down to the surface, double its heat transport, and flux momentum poleward, the latter two being basic consequences of a deepening of the circulation. Because of convection and damping—which mimics, in part, the effect of eddy stresses—previous work may have underestimated the impact of eddies on earth's circulation. Quasigeostrophic eddy fluxes are sufficient to produce Hadley and Ferrel cells, but with a substantially greater Hadley cell strength than when all eddy impacts are considered, including eddy fluxes of moisture, mass, and momentum and eddy impacts on surface fluxes and clouds. 

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5. Quantifying the Mechanisms of Atmospheric Circulation Response to Greenhouse Gas Increases in a Forcing-Feedback Framework

   https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0778.1  

   Zhang, Pengfei; Chen, Gang; Ming, Yi (June 2021, Journal of Climate)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract While there is substantial evidence for tropospheric jet shift and Hadley cell expansion in response to greenhouse gas increases, quantitative assessments of individual mechanisms and feedback for atmospheric circulation changes remain lacking. We present a new forcing-feedback analysis on circulation response to increasing CO 2 concentration in an aquaplanet atmospheric model. This forcing-feedback framework explicitly identifies a direct zonal wind response by holding the zonal mean zonal wind exerting on the zonal advection of eddies unchanged, in comparison with the additional feedback induced by the direct response in zonal mean zonal wind. It is shown that the zonal advection feedback accounts for nearly half of the changes to the eddy-driven jet shift and Hadley cell expansion, largely contributing to the subtropical precipitation decline, when the CO 2 concentration varies over a range of climates. The direct response in temperature displays the well-known tropospheric warming pattern to CO2 increases, but the feedback exhibits negative signals. The direct response in eddies is characterized by a reduction in upward wave propagation and a poleward shift of midlatitude eddy momentum flux (EMF) convergence, likely due to an increase in static stability from moist thermodynamic adjustment. In contrast, the feedback features a dipole pattern in EMF that further shifts and strengthens midlatitude EMF convergence, resulting from the upper-level zonal wind increase seen in the direct response. Interestingly, the direct response produces an increase in eddy kinetic energy (EKE), but the feedback weakens EKE. Thus, the forcing-feedback framework highlights the distinct effect of zonal mean advecting wind from direct thermodynamic effects in atmospheric response to greenhouse gas increases. 

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