An improvement of the too cold tongue in the tropical Pacific with the development of an ocean-wave-atmosphere coupled numerical model

A common problem in the application of the coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation models (CGCMs) without flux correction is that the simulated equatorial cold tongue in general tends to be too strong, narrow, and extending too far west. The causes are not well understood yet. One possible reason may be the simulated mixed layer depth (MLD) is too shallow in the tropical Pacific due to insufficient vertical mixing in the OGCM. It is believed that the wave-induced vertical mixing can greatly improve the simulation of the MLD and thermocline structure. In this study, the coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model (FGCM-0) incorporated with wave-induced mixing has been employed to simulate the tropical Pacific sea surface temperature (SST). Generally, the wave-induced mixing lowers the SST in the OGCM because the strengthened vertical mixing can bring more cold water upward. However, in the coupled model, the non-uniformity of the space distribution in SST drop generates a horizontal gradient of the sea surface air pressure, and thus yields surface wind field anomaly. The wind anomaly leads to both ocean surface circulation anomaly and downwelling anomaly, which can restrain the overly-westward extension of the cold tongue in the tropical Pacific. Compared with the model results from the original model (FGCM-0), the modeled SST is higher by more than 0.8℃, with a maximum of 1.2℃ in the western Pacific (160—180°E, 0—3°N). The eastern boundary of the isotherm of 26.0℃ also moves from 165°E to 180°E. The overly westward extension of the simulated equatorial cold tongue is suppressed with the incorporation of the wave-induced mixing in the coupled model. The simulated SST shows in general improved results with a maximum improvement of more than 1.0℃. The simulated SST improvement in the north tropical Pacific is much better than that of the south tropical Pacific.

An improvement of the too cold tongue in the tropical Pacific with the development of an ocean-wave-atmosphere coupled numerical model