Characteristics of cyclone climatology and variability in the Southern Ocean

Wei, Lixin; Qin, Ting

doi:10.1007/s13131-016-0913-y

Cited by 18 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…It progressed southeastward toward the Antarctic continent with a rapid deepening of the low-pressure core until complete lysis on the ice after 5 July. The minimum pressure found along the track simulated by ERA5 was 927 hPa (Figure 2a and S2), which is in the top 1% of winter cyclones in the climate reanalyses (Grieger et al, 2018;Wei & Qin, 2016) and a very rare low pressure condition over the winter Antarctic sea ice (p < 0.01%, Figure S3). The corrected ERA5 maximum wind speed was greater than 33 m/s, while the sustained 1-min wind at the ship location was very close to that threshold (Figure 2a).…”

Section: Synoptic and Miz Featuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The majority of these are middle-and high-latitude synoptic cyclones, with a radius ranging from 500 to 2,000 km (Hoskins & Hodges, 2005;Uotila et al, 2011). Cyclones develop primarily in the Atlantic and Pacific sectors (Grieger et al, 2018;Hoskins & Hodges, 2005;Uotila et al, 2011;Wei & Qin, 2016;Yuan et al, 2009) and typically follow a southeastward trajectory, undergoing net cyclogenesis in the midlatitudes and net cyclolysis closer to the Antarctic continent. The South Atlantic, and especially the ice-covered eastern Weddell Sea, is an area of net cyclolysis for systems originating from open ocean (Hoskins & Hodges, 2005;Yuan et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of an Explosive Polar Cyclone Crossing the Antarctic Marginal Ice Zone

Vichi

Eayrs

Alberello

et al. 2019

Geophysical Research Letters

119

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Antarctic sea ice shows a large degree of regional variability, which is partly driven by severe weather events. Here we bring a new perspective on synoptic sea ice changes by presenting the first in situ observations of an explosive extratropical cyclone crossing the winter Antarctic marginal ice zone (MIZ) in the South Atlantic. This is complemented by the analysis of subsequent cyclones and highlights the rapid variations that ice‐landing cyclones cause on sea ice: Midlatitude warm oceanic air is advected onto the ice, and storm waves generated close to the ice edge contribute to the maintenance of an unconsolidated surface through which waves propagate far into the ice. MIZ features may thus extend further poleward in the Southern Ocean than currently estimated. A concentration‐based MIZ definition is inadequate, since it fails to describe a sea ice configuration which is deeply rearranged by synoptic weather.

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Section: Synoptic and Miz Featuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of an Explosive Polar Cyclone Crossing the Antarctic Marginal Ice Zone

Vichi

Eayrs

Alberello

et al. 2019

Geophysical Research Letters

119

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“…These and other factors mean that sea ice and large-scale atmospheric drivers might influence the behaviour of storms in different ways from those in the Northern Hemisphere. Cyclone activity is well correlated with the SAM, with more cyclones south of 60°S and fewer north of this latitude during the positive SAM phase [ 58 , 130 , 131 ].…”

Section: The Antarcticmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polar Climate Change as Manifest in Atmospheric Circulation

Screen

Bracegirdle

Simmonds

2018

Curr Clim Change Rep

144

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Purpose of ReviewDynamic manifestations of climate change, i.e. those related to circulation, are less well understood than are thermodynamic, or temperature-related aspects. However, this knowledge gap is narrowing. We review recent progress in understanding the causes of observed changes in polar tropospheric and stratospheric circulation, and in interpreting climate model projections of their future changes.Recent FindingsTrends in the annular modes reflect the influences of multiple drivers. In the Northern Hemisphere, there appears to be a “tug-of-war” between the opposing effects of Arctic near-surface warming and tropical upper tropospheric warming, two predominant features of the atmospheric response to increasing greenhouse gases. Future trends in the Southern Hemisphere largely depend on the competing effects of stratospheric ozone recovery and increasing greenhouse gases.SummaryHuman influence on the Antarctic circulation is detectable in the strengthening of the stratospheric polar vortex and the poleward shift of the tropospheric westerly winds. Observed Arctic circulation changes cannot be confidently separated from internal atmospheric variability.

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“…The subpolar outgassing region, south of the Polar Front, coincides with the core of Southern Hemisphere storm tracks (~50–65°S) 13 , 14 and is regarded as the windiest region in the world. Strong storms occur in regular succession (4–8 days 15 ) throughout the year, inflicting intense (>0.8 N m −2 16 ) but short-lived (2–3 days 15 ) surface wind stress.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Storms drive outgassing of CO2 in the subpolar Southern Ocean

Nicholson¹,

Fer

Plessis

et al. 2022

Nat Commun

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The subpolar Southern Ocean is a critical region where CO2 outgassing influences the global mean air-sea CO2 flux (FCO2). However, the processes controlling the outgassing remain elusive. We show, using a multi-glider dataset combining FCO2 and ocean turbulence, that the air-sea gradient of CO2 (∆pCO2) is modulated by synoptic storm-driven ocean variability (20 µatm, 1–10 days) through two processes. Ekman transport explains 60% of the variability, and entrainment drives strong episodic CO2 outgassing events of 2–4 mol m−2 yr−1. Extrapolation across the subpolar Southern Ocean using a process model shows how ocean fronts spatially modulate synoptic variability in ∆pCO2 (6 µatm2 average) and how spatial variations in stratification influence synoptic entrainment of deeper carbon into the mixed layer (3.5 mol m−2 yr−1 average). These results not only constrain aliased-driven uncertainties in FCO2 but also the effects of synoptic variability on slower seasonal or longer ocean physics-carbon dynamics.

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Characteristics of cyclone climatology and variability in the Southern Ocean

Cited by 18 publications

References 32 publications

Effects of an Explosive Polar Cyclone Crossing the Antarctic Marginal Ice Zone

Effects of an Explosive Polar Cyclone Crossing the Antarctic Marginal Ice Zone

Polar Climate Change as Manifest in Atmospheric Circulation

Storms drive outgassing of CO2 in the subpolar Southern Ocean

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