Ocean Processes in Climate Dynamics

One of the most crucial but still very poorly understood topics of oceanographic science is the role of ocean processes in contributing to the dynamics of climate and global change. This book presents a series of high level lectures on the major categories of ocean/atmosphere processes. Three of these major issues are the focus of the lectures: (1) air--sea interaction processes; (2) water mass formation, dispersion and mixing; (3) general circulation, with specific emphasis on the thermohaline component. Global examples in the world ocean are provided and discussed in the lectures. In parallel, the Mediterranean Sea is a laboratory basin in providing analogues of the above global processes relevant to climate dynamics. They include the Mediterranean thermohaline circulation with its own `conveyor belt'; intermediate and deep water mass formation and transformations, dispersion and mixing. No other book in the field provides a review of fundamental lectures on these processes, coupled with global examples and their Mediterranean analogues.

Air-Sea Exchanges and Meridional Fluxe.- 1. Air-sea exchanges.- 1.1 Momentum transfer.- 1.2 Mass transfer.- 1.3 The heat flux.- 1.4 Density flux.- 2. Meridional heat transport.- 2.1 Error estimates.- 2.2 Ocean fresh water transport.- 3. Conclusion.- Lagrangian and Eulerian Measurements of Ocean Transport Processe.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Eulerian and Lagrangian frameworks.- 2.1 Eulerian-average equations.- 2.2 Lagrangian-average equations.- 2.3 Comparing the reference frames.- 3. Transport measures from current followers.- 3.1 Measures of stirring and dispersion.- 3.2 Describing tracer evolution.- 4. Ocean measurements of lateral transport.- 4.1 Taylor diffusivity.- 4.2 Particle separation.- 4.2 Mean velocity sampling errors.- 4.4 Mean velocity biases.- 5. Diapycnal fluxes.- 5.1 Large-scale budgets.- 5.2 The Osborn-Cox model.- 5.3 Sampling dissipation.- Dispersion and Mixing in the Ocea.- 1. Introduction.- 1.1 Parameterisation.- 1.2 Sensitivity analysis.- 1.3 Spectral gap.- 1.4 Three approaches.- 2. Inference.- 2.1 Abyssal basin budgets.- 2.2 The Mediterranean salt tongue.- 2.3 Inverse theories.- 3. Direct measurement.- 3.1 Eddy correlation.- 3.2 Particle dispersion.- 3.3 Relative dispersion.- 3.4 Drifters or dye.- 4. Indirect measurements.- 4.1 Microstructure.- 4.2 Overturns.- 4.3 Shear.- 5. Processes.- 6. Conclusions.- 6.1 Eddy resolving general circulation models.- 6.2 General circulation models.- 7. Discussion.- Ocean Models in Climate Problem.- 1. Introduction.- 1.1 Active and passive roles of the ocean in the climate system.- 1.2 Multiple equilibria of the thermohaline circulation.- 1.3 Mixed thermohaline boundary conditions.- 1.4 Outline of this lecture.- 2. Feedbacks affecting the thermohaline circulation.- 3. Large-scale air-sea heat exchanges.- 3.1 Does the ocean drive the atmosphere, or the atmosphere the ocean.- 3.2 A conceptual model.- 4. Interaction of the hydrological cycle with the thermohaline circulation.- 5. Numerical models of the thermohaline circulation.- 5.1 Which equilibria are possible.- 5.2 Stability and variability of the thermohaline circulation.- 5.3 Alternative thermal boundary conditions in numerical models.- 6. Summary and outlook: towards coupled process models.- Sensitivity Studies on the Role of the Ocean in Climate Chang.- 1. Introduction — CME results on thermohaline overturning.- 2. The surface heat and fresh water flux parameterizations.- 3. A basic experiment.- 4. Sensitivity experiments.- 5. Multiple stable states.- 6. Open boundary conditions.- 7. Discussion.- Modeling the Wind and Thermohaline Circulation in the North Atlantic Ocea.- 1. Introduction — the Community Modeling Effort.- 1.1 Model configuration.- 1.2 Results.- 2. Improving surface boundary conditions.- 3. Open boundary conditions for the CME model.- 4. Internal parameterizations for the CME model.- 5. Discussion.- Studying Thermohaline Circulation in the Ocean by Means of Transient Tracer Dat.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Tracer features and geochemistry.- 3. Information from oceanic tracer distribution.- 3.1 Spreading and pathways.- 3.2 Process information and low-order models.- 4. Tracer evaluation by means of ocean circulation models.- 4.1 System analysis models.- 4.2 Ocean general circulation models.- 5. Conclusions.- Laboratory and Numerical Experiments in Oceanic Convectio.- 1. Introduction.- 2. The influence of the Earth’s rotation on the convective process.- 2.1 Thermale with background rotation.- 2.2 Controlling non-dimensional parameters.- 3. A laboratory analogue of a convecting chimney.- 4. Scaling ideas.- 4.1 The convection layer.- 4.2 The geostrophically adjusted end state.- 4.3 Interpretation of ice experiment.- 4.4 Oceanographic parameters.- 5. Numerical illustrations.- 5.1 Convection in a neutral ocean.- 5.2 Convection in a stratified ocean.- 6. Summary and discussion.- Open Ocean Deep Convection, Mediterranean and Greenland Sea.- 1. Introduction.- 2. The Gulf of Lions, Northwestern Mediterranean.- 2.1 Preconditioning.- 2.2 Deep convection.- 2.3 New results from winter 1991/92.- 2.4 Deep-water properties: seasonal, interannual and long-term changes.- 2.5 Possible relations of cooling and convection to large-scale flow.- 3. Greenland Sea convection and the role of ice.- 3.1 Circulation and preconditioning.- 3.2 Vertical Velocities and Convection.- 4. Summary and conclusions.- The Mediterranean Sea as a Climate Test Basi.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Mean heat and water budgets of the Mediterranean.- 3. Variability.- 3.1 Trends.- 3.2 Seasonal changes.- 3.3 Interannual variability.- 4. Buoyancy flux.- 5. Models.- 6. Discussion.- The Mediterranean Sea, a Test Area for Marine and Climatic Interaction.- 1. Yearly budgets.- 2. Spatial variability of heat and water transfers.- 3. Recent hydrological changes.- 4. Mediterranean sapropel formation, a change in deep-water formations.- 5. Conclusions.- The Physical and Dynamical Oceanography of the Mediterranean Se.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Air-sea interactions and straits exchanges.- 3. Watermass formation, dispersion and transformation.- 3.1 Deep water.- 3.2 Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW) and Deep Water (LDW).- 4. Circulation and its variabilities.- 4.1 Large scale.- 4.2 Subbasin scale.- 4.3 Mesoscale.- 5. Modelling.- 5.1 Watermass models.- 5.2 General circulation models.- 5.3 Data assimilation into dynamical models.- 6. General circulation summary.- 7. Historical perspective and climatological analysis.- 8. Conclusions and summary.- Modeling the General Circulation of the Mediterranea.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Prognostic models.- 3. Inverse models.- 4. Conclusions.- Data Assimilation: Fundamentals, Global and Mediterranean Example.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Assimilation method: fundamentals.- 3. Global and Mediterranean examples.- 4. Conclusions.- Deep-Water in the Western Mediterranean Sea, Yearly Climatic Signature and Enigmatic Spreadin.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Hydrological data.- 3. Climatic driving-force.- 4. The spreading of the newly-formed dense water.- 5. Homogenization of deep water, the Earth heat flow effect.- 6. Conclusion.- A Tracer Study of the Thermohaline Circulation of the Eastern Mediterranea.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Outline of thermohaline circulation.- 3. Tracer observations, tracer geochemistry and qualitative oceanographic findings.- 3.1 Available tracer data and geochemistry.- 3.2 Tracer distributions.- 3.3 Oceanographic findings from tracer distributions.- 4. System-analysis-model evaluation.- 4.1 The model.- 4.2 Model results.- 5. General circulation model treatment.- 6. Discussion and conclusions.- Dynamical Studies of the Eastern Mediterranean Circulatio.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Features and structures of the general circulation.- 3. Basin and subbasin scale dynamical processes.- 4. Mesoscale dynamical processes.- 5. Conclusions.- Models and Data: A Synergetic Approach in the Western Mediterranean Se.- 1. Introduction.- 2. The structure of the mesoscale algerian eddies.- 3. The circulation of LIW.- 4. The WMDW circulation.- 5. Conclusion.