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- Title
Transient Growth and Optimal Excitation of Thermohaline Variability.
- Authors
Tziperman, Eli; Ioannou, Petros J.
- Abstract
The physical mechanisms of transient amplification of initial perturbations to the thermohaline circulation (THC), and of the optimal stochastic forcing of THC variability, are discussed using a simple meridional box model. Two distinct mechanisms of transient amplification are found. One such mechanism, with a transient amplification timescale of a couple of years, involves an interaction between the THC induced by rapidly decaying sea surface temperature anomalies and the THC induced by the slower-decaying salinity mode. The second mechanism of transient amplification involves an interaction between different slowly decaying salinity modes and has a typical growth timescale of decades. The optimal stochastic atmospheric forcing of heat and freshwater fluxes are calculated as well. It is shown that the optimal forcing induces low-frequency THC variability by exciting the salinity-dominated variability modes of the THC.
- Subjects
OCEAN temperature; ATMOSPHERIC circulation
- Publication
Journal of Physical Oceanography, 2002, Vol 32, Issue 12, p3427
- ISSN
0022-3670
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1175/1520-0485(2002)032<3427:TGAOEO>2.0.CO;2