Links between the mountain torque and the Arctic Oscillation in the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMDz), general circulation model

F. Lott (1) , L. Goudard (1) , A. Martin (1)

1 LMD - Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539)

Recent papers suggest that in the National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis data there is a dynamical link between the mountain torque and the Arctic Oscillation (AO) at periodicities near and below 30 days. This link essentially occurs because the AO is associated with a redistribution of mass from the polar regions to the midlatitudes, hence giving a substantial contribution to the mass term of the atmospheric angular momentum (AAM). These results are confirmed here by using a 30-year simulation done with the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique, zoom (LMDz), general circulation model. In particular, we verify that the changes in mass AAM occurring during intraseasonal variations of the AO are in good part driven by the mountain torque in the model also. In this respect, the LMDz model has the great advantage of closing the AAM budget nearly exactly, which is not the case with the NCEP reanalysis data. As the Antarctic Oscillation (AAO) is also associated with a redistribution of mass from the polar regions to the midlatitudes, its contribution to the AAM budget is also presented. As there are many fewer mountains in the Southern Hemisphere, we show that in the model as well as in the reanalysis the changes in mass AAM during intraseasonal variations of the AAO are in good part equilibrated by changes of opposite sign in wind AAM. The main interest of these results is that the mountain torque drives the changes in AAM, so it can sometimes participate actively in changes of the AO. It has a predictive value that is significant but small, around 10-15% for periodicities near and below one month, while a good fraction of the AO variability occurs at longer timescales.

Mots clés: mountain torque; Arctic Oscillation; atmospheric angular momentum; Earth Science

Domaines: Planète et Univers [physics]

F. Lott, L. Goudard, A. Martin. Links between the mountain torque and the Arctic Oscillation in the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMDz), general circulation model. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 2005, 110, ⟨10.1029/2005JD006073⟩. ⟨hal-04109942⟩