ESRL/PSL Seminar Series

Abstract

Strong, mesoscale tip jets and barrier winds that occur over the ocean near southern Greenland have the potential for impacting deep convection in the ocean. The self-organizing map (SOM) training algorithm was used to identify and classify the range of 10 m wind patterns present in the ECMWF Interim Reanalysis (ERA-I) and from a regional simulation using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model at 50 km. The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index is well correlated with the type of tip jet present at Cape Farewell, but the NAO was not well correlated with the absence or presence of barrier flow. WRF has faster barrier winds than ERA-I and simulated patterns with strong barrier-parallel flow more frequently than ERA-I. The magnitude and location of surface turbulent heat flux maxima varies among similar wind patterns and have different implications for ocean forcing. The largest differences in mean turbulent fluxes were found over the marginal ice zone (MIZ) and are likely related to treatment of sea ice. The response of the ocean component of the Regional Arctic System Model (RASM) to the different types of wind events is assessed for the Irminger Sea and the MIZ along Greenland's southeast coast.