Tropopause polar vortices and multi-scale Artic predictability

Abstract

Funds are provided to conduct fundamental research to understand and quantify the role in which Tropopause Polar Vortices (TPVs) are an extended-range prediction barrier over the Arctic. To achieve this goal, the PI will investigate the following hypotheses: (1) A limit to warm season Arctic sea ice predictability arises from short time-scale (days to weeks) atmospheric forcings associated with synoptic-scale cyclones, (2) synoptic-scale Arctic surface cyclone predictability is limited by errors originating in upstream TPVs, and (3) limited observations of clouds and water vapor, combined with the relatively small horizontal scale of TPVs, limit the predictability of TPVs and sea ice. These hypotheses will be tested using the fully-coupled Earth system modeling framework, created by the investigators from prior ONR support, called the Model for Prediction Across Scales-Community Earth System Model (MPAS-CESM).

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Jul 10, 2018
Source ID
N000141812223

Entities

People

  • Steven Cavallo

Organizations

  • Office of Naval Research
  • United States Navy
  • University of Oklahoma

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Atmospheric Science/Meteorology
  • Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Modeling, Data Assimilation, and Flux Boundary Layers
  • Polar and Arctic Studies