Climate dynamics

Abstract:

The seasonal sensitivity of the Hadley cell to localized diabatic forcing is studied using a dry idealized atmospheric general circulation model. Sensitivities are broadly consistent with Hadley cell responses in observations and climate models to ENSO and global warming-like forcings. However, the exact seasonal sensitivity patterns highlight the importance of reducing the uncertainty in the size and position of expected anthropogenic forcings to understand how the atmospheric circulation will respond. The sensitivities reveal cross-hemispheric Hadley cell responses which project onto the eddy-driven jets and storm tracks. For summer hemisphere heating, the winter Hadley cell extent and jet latitude responses are highly correlated. For winter hemisphere heating, the summer Hadley cell extent and jet speed responses are highly correlated. These seasonal differences arise due to the contrast between the dominant winter Hadley cell and weaker summer Hadley cell.

Abstract:

Year-to-year variability in Northern European summer rainfall has profound societal and economic impacts; however current seasonal forecast systems show no significant forecast skill. Here we show skilful predictions are possible (r~0.5, p<0.001) using the latest high-resolution Met Office near-term prediction system over 1960-2017. The model predictions capture both low-frequency changes (e.g. wet summers 2007-2012) and some of the large individual events (e.g. dry summer 1976). Skill is linked to predictable North Atlantic sea surface temperature variability changing the supply of water vapour into Northern Europe and so modulating convective rainfall. However, dynamical circulation variability is not well predicted in general – although some interannual skill is found. Due to the weak amplitude of the forced model signal (likely caused by missing or weak model responses) very large ensembles (>80 members) are required for skilful predictions. This work is promising for the development of European summer rainfall climate services.

Abstract:

The Global Coupled 3 (GC3) configuration of the Met Office Unified Model is presented. Amongst other applications, GC3 is the basis of the United Kingdom's submission to the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6 (CMIP6). This paper documents the model components that make up the configuration (although the scientific description of these components are in companion papers), and details the coupling between them. The performance of GC3 is assessed in terms of mean biases and variability in long climate simulations using present-day forcing. The suitability of the configuration for predictabiity on shorter timescales (weather and seasonal forecasting) is also briefly discussed. The performance of GC3 is compared against GC2, the previous Met Office coupled model configuration, and against an older configuration (HadGEM2-AO) which was the submission to CMIP5.

In many respects, the performance of GC3 is comparable with GC2, however there is a notable improvement in the Southern Ocean warm sea surface temperature bias which has been reduced by 75%, and there are improvements in cloud amount and some aspects of tropical variability. Relative to HadGEM2-AO, many aspects of the present-day climate are improved in GC3 including tropospheric and stratospheric temperature structure, most aspects of tropical and extra-tropical variability and top-of-atmosphere & surface fluxes. A number of outstanding errors are identified including a residual asymmetric sea surface temperature bias (cool northern hemisphere, warm Southern Ocean), an overly strong global hydrological cycle and insufficient European blocking.

Abstract:

The UK Met Office Unified Model in the Global Coupled 2 (GC2) configuration has a warm bias of up to almost 7K in the Gulf Stream SSTs in the winter season, which is associated with surface heat flux biases and potentially related to biases in the atmospheric circulation. The role of this SST bias is examined with a focus on the tropospheric response by performing three sensitivity experiments. The SST biases are imposed on the atmosphere-only configuration of the model over a small and medium section of the Gulf Stream, and also the wider North Atlantic. Here we show that the dynamical response to this anomalous Gulf Stream heating (and associated shifting and changing SST gradients) is to enhance vertical motion in the transient eddies over the Gulf Stream, rather than balance the heating with a linear dynamical meridional wind or meridional eddy heat transport. Together with the imposed Gulf Stream heating bias, the response affects the troposphere not only locally but also in remote regions of the Northern Hemisphere via a planetary Rossby wave response. The sensitivity experiments partially reproduce some of the differences in the coupled configuration of the model relative to the atmosphere-only configuration and to the ERA-Interim reanalysis. These biases may have implications for the ability of the model to respond correctly to variability or changes in the Gulf Stream. Better global prediction therefore requires particular focus on reducing any large western boundary current SST biases in these regions of high ocean-atmosphere interaction.