Upscalling processes in an ocean-atmosphere multiscale coupled model

Abstract:

This work explores new pathways toward a better representation of the multi-scale physics that drive climate variability. We are analysing the key upscaling processes by which small-scale localized errors have a knock-on effect onto global climate. We focus on the Peru-Chilli coastal upwelling, an area known to hold among the strongest models biases in the Tropics.

Our approach is based on the development of a multiscale coupling interface allowing us to couple WRF with the NEMO oceanic model in a configuration including 2-way nested zooms in the oceanic and/or the atmospheric component of the coupled model. Upscalling processes are evidenced and quantified by comparing three 20-year long simulations of a tropical channel (45°S-45°N), which differ by their horizontal resolution: 0.75° everywhere, 0.75°+0.25° zoom in the southeastern Pacific or 0.25° everywhere. This set of three 20-year long simulations was repeated with 3 different sets of parameterizations to assess the robustness of our results.

Our results show that adding an embedded zoom over the southeastern Pacific only in the atmosphere cools down the SST along the Peru-Chili coast, which is a clear improvement. This change is associated with a displacement of the low-level cloud cover, which moves closer to the coast cooling further the coastal area SST. Offshore, we observe the opposite effect with a reduction of the cloud cover with higher resolution, which increases solar radiation and warms the SST. Increasing the resolution in the oceanic component show contrasting results according to the different set parameterization used in the experiments. Some experiment shows a coastal cooling as expected, whereas, in other cases, we observe a counterintuitive response with a warming of the coastal SST. Using at the same time an oceanic and an atmospheric zoom mostly combines the results obtained when using the 2-way nesting in only one component of the coupled model. In the best case, we archive by this means a reduction of the coastal SST of several degrees in agreement with the observations.

Our work also showed that upscalling effects (modification of the simulations out of the zoom area) are insignificant when using WRF forced by a prescribed SST. Air-Sea coupling is the only way to see upscalling effects, even if the embedded zoom is applied only in the atmosphere.