Extended Abstract (48K)15.6
Atmospheric conditions associated with oceanic convection in the south-east Labrador Sea
D.a.J. Sproson, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom; and I. Renfrew and K. Heywood
It has been speculated that low-level reverse tip-jets,
caused by the interaction of synoptic-scale atmospheric flow
and Greenland, are an important mechanism for forcing
open ocean convection in the south-east Labrador Sea. Here
float data and meteorological reanalysis fields from the
winter of 1996/1997, in combination with a simple mixedlayer
ocean model, are used to show that, although
relatively deep ocean convection did occur during this
winter, the primary forcing mechanism was cold-air
outbreaks from the Labrador coast rather than the smaller
scale reverse tip-jets. During this winter, the North Atlantic
Oscillation (NAO) was in a weak positive phase. Similar
treatments of the winters of 1994/1995 (strong, positive
NAO) and 1995/1996 (strong, negative NAO) suggest that
the result is robust regardless of the state of the NAO.
Session 15, Coupled ocean-atmosphere interactions and their contribution to climate variability on all time scales: Part 4
Thursday, 15 January 2009, 3:30 PM-5:00 PM, Room 128AB
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