Hansi Alice Singh

Hansi Alice Singh

The Climate Dynamics Laboratory

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A Heuristic Model of Dansgaard–Oeschger Cycles. Part I: Description, Results, and Sensitivity Studies

Published in Journal of Climate, 2014

Abstract: A simple model for studying the Dansgaard–Oeschger (D-O) cycles of the last glacial period is presented, based on the T. Dokken et al. hypothesis for D-O cycles. The model is a column model representing the Nordic seas and is composed of ocean boxes stacked below a one-layer sea ice model with an energy-balance atmosphere; no changes in the large-scale ocean overturning circulation are invoked. Parameterizations are included for latent heat polynyas and sea ice export from the column. The resulting heuristic model was found to cycle between stadial and interstadial states at times scales similar to those seen in the proxy observational data, with the presence or absence of perennial sea ice in the Nordic seas being the defining characteristic for each of these states. The major discrepancy between the modeled oscillations and the proxy record is in the length of the interstadial phase, which is shorter than that observed. The modeled oscillations were found to be robust to parameter changes, including those related to the ocean heat flux convergence (OHFC) into the column. Production of polynya ice was found to be an essential ingredient for such sustained oscillatory behavior. A simple parameterization of natural variability in the OHFC enhances the robustness of the modeled oscillations. The authors conclude by discussing the implications of such a hypothesis for the state of the Nordic seas today and its state during the Last Glacial Maximum and contrasting the model to other hypotheses that invoke large-scale changes in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation for explaining millennial-scale variability in the climate system. An extensive time-scale analysis will be presented in the future.

Recommended citation: Singh HA, Battisti DS, Bitz CM. (2014). "A Heuristic Model of Dansgaard–Oeschger Cycles. Part I: Description, Results, and Sensitivity Studies." Journal of Climate. 27(12): pp 4337-4358.

Influence of West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapse on Antarctic surface climate

Published in Geophysical Research Letters, 2015

Abstract: Climate model simulations are used to examine the impact of a collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) on the surface climate of Antarctica. The lowered topography following WAIS collapse produces anomalous cyclonic circulation with increased flow of warm, maritime air toward the South Pole and cold-air advection from the East Antarctic plateau toward the Ross Sea and Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica. Relative to the background climate, areas in East Antarctica that are adjacent to the WAIS warm, while substantial cooling (several ∘C) occurs over parts of West Antarctica. Anomalously low isotope-paleotemperature values at Mount Moulton, West Antarctica, compared with ice core records in East Antarctica, are consistent with collapse of the WAIS during the last interglacial period, Marine Isotope Stage 5e. More definitive evidence might be recoverable from an ice core record at Hercules Dome, East Antarctica, which would experience significant warming and positive oxygen isotope anomalies if the WAIS collapsed.

Recommended citation: Steig EJ, Huybers K, Singh HA, Steiger NJ, Ding Q, Frierson DMW, Popp T, White JWC. (2015). "Influence of West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapse on Antarctic surface climate." Geophysical Research Letters. 42: pp 4862-4868.

A mathematical framework for analysis of water tracers: Part 1: Development of theory and application to the preindustrial mean state

Published in Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 2016

Abstract: A new matrix operator framework is developed to analyze results from climate modeling studies that employ numerical water tracers (WTs), which track the movement of water in the aerial hydrological cycle from evaporation to precipitation. Model WT output is related to the fundamental equation of hydrology, and the moisture flux divergence is subdivided into the divergence of locally evaporated moisture and the convergence of remotely evaporated moisture. The formulation also separates locally and remotely sourced precipitation. The remote contribution (also the remote moisture convergence) may be further subdivided into zonal, meridional, intrabasin, and interbasin parts. This framework is applied to the preindustrial climate as simulated by a global climate model in which water has been tagged in 108 latitude bands in each of the major ocean basins, and in which each major land mass has been tagged separately. New insights from the method reveal fundamental differences between the major ocean basins in locally sourced precipitation, remotely sourced precipitation, and their relative partitioning. Per unit area, the subtropical Atlantic is the largest global moisture source, providing precipitable water to adjacent land areas and to the eastern Pacific tropics while retaining the least for in situ precipitation. Subtropical moisture is least divergent over the Pacific, which is the smallest moisture source (per unit area) for global land areas. Basins also differ in how subtropical moisture is partitioned between tropical, midlatitude, and land regions. Part II will apply this framework to hydrological cycle perturbations due to CO2 doubling.

Recommended citation: Singh HA, Bitz CM, Nusbaumer J, Noone DC. (2016). "A mathematical framework for analysis of water tracers: Part 1: Development of theory and application to the preindustrial mean state." Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems. 8: pp 991–1013.

Greater aerial moisture transport distances with warming amplify interbasin salinity contrasts

Published in Geophysical Research Letters, 2016

Abstract: The distance atmospheric moisture travels is fundamental to Earth’s hydrologic cycle, governing how much evaporation is exported versus precipitated locally. The present-day tropical Atlantic is one region that exports much locally evaporated moisture away, leading to more saline surface waters in the Atlantic compared to the Indo-Pacific at similar latitudes. Here we use a state-of-the-art global climate model equipped with numerical water tracers to show that over half of the atmospheric freshwater exported from the Atlantic originates as evaporation in the northern Atlantic subtropics, primarily between 10∘N and 20∘N, and is transported across Central America via prevailing easterlies into the equatorial Pacific. We find enhanced moisture export from the Atlantic to Pacific with warming is due to greater distances between moisture source and sink regions, which increases moisture export from the Atlantic at the expense of local precipitation. Distance traveled increases due to longer moisture residence times, not simply Clausius-Clapeyron scaling.

Recommended citation: Singh HKA, Donohoe A, Bitz CM, Nusbaumer J, and Noone DC. (2016). "Greater aerial moisture transport distances with warming amplify interbasin salinity contrasts." Geophysical Research Letters. 43: pp 8677-8684.

The Global Climate Response to Lowering Surface Orography of Antarctica and the Importance of Atmosphere–Ocean Coupling

Published in Journal of Climate, 2016

Abstract: A global climate model is used to study the effect of flattening the orography of the Antarctic Ice Sheet on climate. A general result is that the Antarctic continent and the atmosphere aloft warm, while there is modest cooling globally. The large local warming over Antarctica leads to increased outgoing longwave radiation, which drives anomalous southward energy transport toward the continent and cooling elsewhere. Atmosphere and ocean both anomalously transport energy southward in the Southern Hemisphere. Near Antarctica, poleward energy and momentum transport by baroclinic eddies strengthens. Anomalous southward cross-equatorial en- ergy transport is associated with a northward shift in the intertropical convergence zone. In the ocean, anomalous southward energy transport arises from a slowdown of the upper cell of the oceanic meridional overturning circulation and a weakening of the horizontal ocean gyres, causing sea ice in the Northern Hemisphere to expand and the Arctic to cool. Comparison with a slab-ocean simulation confirms the importance of ocean dynamics in determining the climate system response to Antarctic orography. This paper concludes by briefly presenting a discussion of the relevance of these results to climates of the past and to future climate scenarios.

Recommended citation: Singh HA, Bitz CM, Frierson DMW. (2016). "The Global Climate Response to Lowering Surface Orography of Antarctica and the Importance of Atmosphere–Ocean Coupling." Journal of Climate. 29(11): pp 4137-4153.

A Mathematical Framework for Analysis of Water Tracers. Part II: Understanding Large-Scale Perturbations in the Hydrological Cycle due to CO2 Doubling

Published in Journal of Climate, 2016

Abstract: The aerial hydrological cycle response to CO2 doubling from a Lagrangian, rather than Eulerian, per- spective is evaluated using information from numerical water tracers implemented in a global climate model. While increased surface evaporation (both local and remote) increases precipitation globally, changes in transport are necessary to create a spatial pattern where precipitation decreases in the subtropics and in- creases substantially at the equator. Overall, changes in the convergence of remotely evaporated moisture are more important to the overall precipitation change than changes in the amount of locally evaporated moisture that precipitates in situ. It is found that CO2 doubling increases the fraction of locally evaporated moisture that is exported, enhances moisture exchange between ocean basins, and shifts moisture convergence within a given basin toward greater distances between moisture source (evaporation) and sink (precipitation) regions. These changes can be understood in terms of the increased residence time of water in the atmosphere with CO2 doubling, which corresponds to an increase in the advective length scale of moisture transport. As a result, the distance between where moisture evaporates and where it precipitates increases. Analyses of several heuristic models further support this finding.

Recommended citation: Singh HA, Bitz CM, Donohoe A, Nusbaumer J, Noone DC. (2016). "A Mathematical Framework for Analysis of Water Tracers. Part II: Understanding Large-Scale Perturbations in the Hydrological Cycle due to CO2 Doubling." Journal of Climate. 29(18): pp 6765-6782.

Increased Ocean Heat Convergence Into the High Latitudes With CO2 Doubling Enhances Polar-Amplified Warming

Published in Geophysical Research Letters, 2017

Abstract: We isolate the role of the ocean in polar climate change by directly evaluating how changes in ocean dynamics with quasi-equilibrium CO2 doubling impact high-latitude climate. With CO2 doubling, the ocean heat flux convergence (OHFC) shifts poleward in winter in both hemispheres. Imposing this pattern of perturbed OHFC in a global climate model results in a poleward shift in ocean-to-atmosphere turbulent heat fluxes (both sensible and latent) and sea ice retreat; the high latitudes warm, while the midlatitudes cool, thereby amplifying polar warming. Furthermore, midlatitude cooling is propagated to the polar midtroposphere on isentropic surfaces, augmenting the (positive) lapse rate feedback at high latitudes. These results highlight the key role played by the partitioning of meridional energy transport changes between the atmosphere and ocean in high-latitude climate change.

Recommended citation: Singh HKA, Rasch PJ, Rose BEJ. (2017). "Increased Ocean Heat Convergence Into the High Latitudes With CO2 Doubling Enhances Polar-Amplified Warming." Geophysical Research Letters. 44: pp 10583-10591.

A Source–Receptor Perspective on the Polar Hydrologic Cycle: Sources, Seasonality, and Arctic–Antarctic Parity in the Hydrologic Cycle Response to CO2 Doubling

Published in Journal of Climate, 2017

Abstract: Numerical water tracers implemented in a global climate model are used to study how polar hydroclimate responds to CO2-induced warming from a source–receptor perspective. Although remote moisture sources contribute substantially more to polar precipitation year-round in the mean state, an increase in locally sourced moisture is crucial to the winter season polar precipitation response to greenhouse gas forcing. In general, the polar hydroclimate response to CO2-induced warming is strongly seasonal: over both the Arctic and Antarctic, locally sourced moisture constitutes a larger fraction of the precipitation in winter, while remote sources become even more dominant in summer. Increased local evaporation in fall and winter is coincident with sea ice retreat, which greatly augments local moisture sources in these seasons. In summer, however, larger contributions from more remote moisture source regions are consistent with an increase in moisture residence times and a longer moisture transport length scale, which produces a robust hydrologic cycle response to CO2-induced warming globally. The critical role of locally sourced moisture in the hy- drologic cycle response of both the Arctic and Antarctic is distinct from controlling factors elsewhere on the globe; for this reason, great care should be taken in interpreting polar isotopic proxy records from climate states unlike the present.

Recommended citation: Singh HKA, Bitz CM, Donohoe A, Rasch PJ. (2017). "A Source–Receptor Perspective on the Polar Hydrologic Cycle: Sources, Seasonality, and Arctic–Antarctic Parity in the Hydrologic Cycle Response to CO2 Doubling." Journal of Climate. 30(24): pp 9999-10017.

The Active Role of the Ocean in the Temporal Evolution of Climate Sensitivity

Published in Geophysical Research Letters, 2018

Abstract: The temporal evolution of the effective climate sensitivity is shown to be influenced by the changing pattern of sea surface temperature (SST) and ocean heat uptake (OHU), which in turn have been attributed to ocean circulation changes. A set of novel experiments are performed to isolate the active role of the ocean by comparing a fully coupled CO2 quadrupling community Earth System Model (CESM) simulation against a partially coupled one, where the effect of the ocean circulation change and its impact on surface fluxes are disabled. The active OHU is responsible for the reduced effective climate sensitivity and weaker surface warming response in the fully coupled simulation. The passive OHU excites qualitatively similar feedbacks to CO2 quadrupling in a slab ocean model configuration due to the similar SST spatial pattern response in both experiments. Additionally, the nonunitary forcing efficacy of the active OHU (1.7) explains the very different net feedback parameters in the fully and partially coupled responses.

Recommended citation: Garuba OA, Lu J, Liu F, Singh HA. (2018). "The Active Role of the Ocean in the Temporal Evolution of Climate Sensitivity." Geophysical Research Letters. 45: pp 306–315.

Insights into Atlantic multidecadal variability using the Last Millennium Reanalysis framework

Published in Climate of the Past, 2018

Abstract: The Last Millennium Reanalysis (LMR) employs a data assimilation approach to reconstruct climate fields from annually resolved proxy data over years 0–2000CE. We use the LMR to examine Atlantic multidecadal variability (AMV) over the last 2 millennia and find several robust thermodynamic features associated with a positive Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) index that reveal a dynamically consistent pattern of variability: the Atlantic and most continents warm; sea ice thins over the Arctic and retreats over the Greenland, Iceland, and Norwegian seas; and equatorial precipitation shifts northward. The latter is consistent with anomalous southward energy transport mediated by the atmosphere. Net downward shortwave radiation increases at both the top of the atmosphere and the surface, indicating a decrease in planetary albedo, likely due to a decrease in low clouds. Heat is absorbed by the climate system and the oceans warm. Wavelet analysis of the AMO time series shows a reddening of the frequency spectrum on the 50- to 100-year timescale, but no evidence of a distinct multidecadal or centennial spectral peak. This latter result is insensitive to both the choice of prior model and the calibration dataset used in the data assimilation algorithm, suggesting that the lack of a distinct multidecadal spectral peak is a robust result.

Recommended citation: Singh HKA, Hakim GJ, Tardif R, Emile-Geay J, Noone DC. (2018). "Insights into Atlantic multidecadal variability using the Last Millennium Reanalysis framework." Climate of the Past. 14: pp 157–174.

On the Relative Roles of the Atmosphere and Ocean in the Atlantic Multidecadal Variability

Published in Geophysical Research Letters, 2018

Abstract: The relative roles of the ocean and atmosphere in driving the Atlantic multidecadal variability (AMV) are investigated by isolating anomalous sea surface temperature (SST) components forced by anomalous surface heat fluxes and ocean dynamics in fully and partially coupled simulations. The impact of the ocean dynamics-forced SST on air-sea interaction is disabled in the partially coupled simulation in order to isolate the atmosphere-forced variability. The atmosphere-forced AMV component shows weak but significant variability on interdecadal timescales (10- to 30-year periods), while the ocean-forced component exhibits a strong multidecadal variability (25- to 50-year periods). When coupled to the atmosphere, this ocean-forced variability weakens and is imprinted on the coupled surface heat fluxes that further act to damp the ocean-forced SST variability, causing a much weaker fully coupled AMV. Our results suggest that the AMV is largely driven by ocean circulation variability, but its power is also affected by the strength of air-sea coupling.

Recommended citation: Garuba OA, Lu J, Singh HA, Liu F, Rasch PJ. (2018). "On the Relative Roles of the Atmosphere and Ocean in the Atlantic Multidecadal Variability." Geophysical Research Letters. 45: pp 9186–9196.

How Asymmetries Between Arctic and Antarctic Climate Sensitivity Are Modified by the Ocean

Published in Geophysical Research Letters, 2018

Abstract: We investigate how the ocean response to CO2 forcing affects hemispheric asymmetries in polar climate sensitivity. Intermodel comparison of Phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project CO2 quadrupling experiments shows that even in models where hemispheric ocean heat uptake differences are small, Arctic warming still exceeds Antarctic warming. The polar climate impact of this evolving ocean response to CO2 forcing is then isolated using slab ocean experiments in a state-of-the-art climate model. Overall, feedbacks over the Southern Hemisphere more effectively dissipate top-of-atmosphere anomalies than those over the Northern Hemisphere. Furthermore, a poleward shift in ocean heat convergence in both hemispheres amplifies destabilizing ice albedo and lapse rate feedbacks over the Arctic much more so than over the Antarctic. These results suggest that the Arctic is intrinsically more sensitive to both CO2 and oceanic forcings than the Antarctic and that ocean-driven climate sensitivity asymmetry arises from feedback destabilization over the Arctic rather than feedback stabilization over the Antarctic.

Recommended citation: Singh HA, Garuba OA, Rasch PJ. (2018). "How Asymmetries Between Arctic and Antarctic Climate Sensitivity Are Modified by the Ocean." Geophysical Research Letters. 45: pp 13031-13040.

Evaluating a Moist Isentropic Framework for Poleward Moisture Transport: Implications for Water Isotopes over Antarctica

Published in Geophysical Research Letters, 2019

Abstract: The ability to identify moisture source regions and sinks, and to model the transport pathways that link them in simple yet physical ways, is critical for understanding climate today and in the past. Using water tagging and isotopic tracer experiments in the Community Earth System Model, this work shows that poleward moisture transport largely follows surfaces of constant moist entropy. The analysis not only provides insight into why distinct zonal bands supply moisture to high- and low-elevation polar sites but also explains why changes in these source regions are inherently linked to changes in temperature and rainout. Moreover, because the geometry, and specifically length, of the moist isentropic surfaces describes how much integrated rainout occurs, the analysis provides a physical framework for interpreting the isotopic composition of water in poleward-moving air, thus indicating how variations in moisture transport might influence Antarctic ice cores.

Recommended citation: Bailey A, Singh HKA, Nusbaumer J. (2019). "Evaluating a Moist Isentropic Framework for Poleward Moisture Transport: Implications for Water Isotopes over Antarctica." Geophysical Research Letters. 46 (13), pp 7819-7827.

Influence of sea-ice anomalies on Antarctic precipitation using source attribution in the Community Earth System Model

Published in The Cryosphere, 2020

Abstract: We conduct sensitivity experiments using a general circulation model that has an explicit water source tagging capability forced by prescribed composites of pre-industrial sea-ice concentrations (SICs) and corresponding sea surface temperatures (SSTs) to understand the impact of sea-ice anomalies on regional evaporation, moisture transport and source–receptor relationships for Antarctic precipitation in the absence of anthropogenic forcing. Surface sensible heat fluxes, evaporation and column-integrated water vapor are larger over Southern Ocean (SO) areas with lower SICs. Changes in Antarctic precipitation and its source attribution with SICs have a strong spatial variability. Among the tagged source regions, the Southern Ocean (south of 50∘ S) contributes the most (40 %) to the Antarctic total precipitation, followed by more northerly ocean basins, most notably the South Pacific Ocean (27%), southern Indian Ocean (16 %) and South Atlantic Ocean (11 %). Comparing two experiments prescribed with high and low pre-industrial SICs, respectively, the annual mean Antarctic precipitation is about 150 Gt yr−1 (or 6 %) more in the lower SIC case than in the higher SIC case. This difference is larger than the model-simulated interannual variability in Antarctic precipitation (99 Gt yr−1). The contrast in contribution from the Southern Ocean, 102 Gt yr−1, is even more significant compared to the interannual variability of 35 Gt yr−1 in Antarctic precipitation that originates from the Southern Ocean. The horizontal transport pathways from individual vapor source regions to Antarctica are largely determined by large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns. Vapor from lower-latitude source regions takes elevated pathways to Antarctica. In contrast, vapor from the Southern Ocean moves southward within the lower troposphere to the Antarctic continent along moist isentropes that are largely shaped by local ambient conditions and coastal topography. This study also highlights the importance of atmospheric dynamics in affecting the thermodynamic impact of sea-ice anomalies associated with natural variability on Antarctic precipitation. Our analyses of the seasonal contrast in changes of basin-scale evaporation, moisture flux and precipitation suggest that the impact of SIC anomalies on regional Antarctic precipitation depends on dynamic changes that arise from SIC–SST perturbations along with internal variability. The latter appears to have a more significant effect on the moisture transport in austral winter than in summer.

Recommended citation: Wang H, Fyke J, Lenaerts J, Nusbaumer JM, Singh HA, Noone DC, Rasch PJ. (2020). "Influence of Sea Ice Anomalies on Antarctic Precipitation Using Source Attribution", The Cryosphere, 14 (PNNL-SA-147435), doi: 10.5194/tc-2019-69.

An Overview of Antarctic Sea Ice in the Community Earth System Model version 2, Part I: Analysis of the Seasonal Cycle in the Context of Sea Ice Thermodynamics and Coupled Atmosphere‐Ocean‐Ice Processes

Published in Journal of Advances in Modelling Earth Systems, 2020

Abstract: We assess Antarctic sea ice climatology and variability in version 2 of the Community Earth System Model (CESM2), and compare it to that in the older CESM1 and (where appropriate) real‐world observations. In CESM2, Antarctic sea ice is thinner and less extensive than in CESM1, though sea ice area is still approximately 1 million km2 greater in CESM2 than in present‐day observations. Though there is less Antarctic sea ice in CESM2, the annual cycle of ice growth and melt is more vigorous in CESM2 than in CESM1. A new mushy‐layer thermodynamics formulation implemented in the latest version of the Community Ice Code (CICE) in CESM2 accounts for both greater frazil ice formation in coastal polynyas and more snow‐to‐ice conversion near the edge of the ice pack in the new model. Greater winter ice divergence in CESM2 (relative to CESM1) is due to stronger stationary wave activity and greater wind stress curl over the ice pack. Greater wind stress curl, in turn, drives more warm water upwelling under the ice pack, thinning it and decreasing its extent. Overall, differences between Antarctic sea ice in CESM2 and CESM1 arise due to both differences in their sea ice thermodynamics formulations, and differences in their coupled atmosphere‐ocean states.

Recommended citation: Singh HA, Landrum L, Holland MM. (2020). "An Overview of Antarctic Sea Ice in the Community Earth System Model version 2, Part I: Analysis of the Seasonal Cycle in the Context of Sea Ice Thermodynamics and Coupled Atmosphere‐Ocean‐Ice Processes", Journal of Advances in Modelling Earth Systems, AGU CESM2 Special Issue, e2020MS002143, doi: 10.1029/2020MS002143.

Antarctic Sea Ice Expansion, Driven by Internal Variability, in the Presence of Increasing Atmospheric CO2

Published in Geophysical Research Letters, 2020

Abstract: A number of physically based hypotheses have been proposed to explain the surprising expansion of Antarctic sea ice area (SIA) over the satellite era (1979 to 2015). Here, we use a fully coupled state‐of‐the‐art global climate model to show that internal variability alone can produce such multidecadal periods of Antarctic SIA expansion even as atmospheric CO2 increases at observed rates and the planet warms. When our model is started from a relatively warm Southern Ocean state, Antarctic SIA sometimes (in one of three ensemble members) expands over multidecadal time scales at a rate comparable to that over the satellite era. SIA expansion occurs concurrently with rising atmospheric CO2 and warming global surface temperatures, and SIA trends by region and sector resemble those over the satellite era. Our results suggest that internal variability over long time scales in the Southern Ocean region may suffice to explain Antarctic SIA expansion over the satellite era.

Recommended citation: Singh HA, Polvani LM, Rasch PJ. (2020). "Antarctic Sea Ice Expansion, Driven by Internal Variability, in the Presence of Increasing Atmospheric CO2", Geophysical Research Letters, 46 (24), pp 14762-14771, doi: 10.1029/2019GL083758.

Low Antarctic Continental Climate Sensitivity due to High Ice Sheet Orography

Published in NPJ Climate and Atmospheric Science, 2020

Abstract: The Antarctic continent has not warmed in the last seven decades, despite a monotonic increase in the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases. In this paper, we investigate whether the high orography of the Antarctic ice sheet (AIS) has helped delay warming over the continent. To that end, we contrast the Antarctic climate response to CO2-doubling with present-day orography to the response with a flattened AIS. To corroborate our findings, we perform this exercise with two different climate models. We find that, with a flattened AIS, CO2-doubling induces more latent heat transport toward the Antarctic continent, greater moisture convergence over the continent and, as a result, more surface-amplified condensational heating. Greater moisture convergence over the continent is made possible by flattening of moist isentropic surfaces, which decreases humidity gradients along the trajectories on which extratropical poleward moisture transport predominantly occurs, thereby enabling more moisture to reach the pole. Furthermore, the polar meridional cell disappears when the AIS is flattened, permitting greater CO2-forced warm temperature advection toward the Antarctic continent. Our results suggest that the high elevation of the present AIS plays a significant role in decreasing the susceptibility of the Antarctic continent to CO2-forced warming.

Recommended citation: Singh HA, Polvani LM. (2020). "Low Antarctic Continental Climate Sensitivity Due to High Ice Sheet Orography", NPJ Climate and Atmospheric Science, 3 (39), doi: 10.1038/s41612-020-00143-w.

Sea Ice and Atmospheric Circulation Shape the High-Latitude Lapse Rate Feedback

Published in NPJ Climate and Atmospheric Science, 2020

Abstract: Arctic amplification of anthropogenic climate change is widely attributed to the sea-ice albedo feedback, with its attendant increase in absorbed solar radiation, and to the effect of the vertical structure of atmospheric warming on Earth’s outgoing longwave radiation. The latter lapse rate feedback is subject, at high latitudes, to a myriad of local and remote influences whose relative contributions remain unquantified. The distinct controls on the high-latitude lapse rate feedback are here partitioned into “upper” and “lower” contributions originating above and below a characteristic climatological isentropic surface that separates the high-latitude lower troposphere from the rest of the atmosphere. This decomposition clarifies how the positive high-latitude lapse rate feedback over polar oceans arises primarily as an atmospheric response to local sea ice loss and is reduced in subpolar latitudes by an increase in poleward atmospheric energy transport. The separation of the locally driven component of the high-latitude lapse rate feedback further reveals how it and the sea-ice albedo feedback together dominate Arctic amplification as a coupled mechanism operating across the seasonal cycle.

Recommended citation: Feldl N, Po-Chedley S, Singh HA, Hays S, Kushner PJ. (2020). "Sea ice and atmospheric circulation shape the high-latitude lapse rate feedback", NPJ Climate and Atmospheric Science, 3 (41), doi: 10.1038/s41612-020-00146-7.

Disentangling the Coupled Atmosphere‐Ocean‐Ice Interactions Driving Arctic Sea Ice Response to CO2 Increases

Published in Journal of Advances in Modelling Earth Systems, 2020

Abstract: A novel decomposition of the ocean heat energy that contributes to sea ice melt and growth (ocean‐ice and frazil heat) into components that are driven by surface heat flux and ocean circulation changes is used to isolate the evolving roles of the atmosphere and ocean in the Arctic sea ice loss from CO2 increases. A sea ice volume budget analysis is used to separate the impacts of the anomalous frazil/ocean‐ice heat from those of atmosphere‐ice heat on the evolving Arctic sea ice volume. The role of atmosphere‐ocean coupling in augmenting or curtailing the atmosphere‐ and ocean‐driven sea ice losses is further isolated by comparing the ice volume budget and the anomalous frazil/ocean‐ice heat components in partially and fully coupled experiments. Atmosphere‐ice heat fluxes drive most of Arctic sea ice loss in the first decade following CO2 increase by increasing the sea ice top face melt in summer, while ocean circulation changes drive the loss over the longer term through the anomalous increase of heat transport into the Arctic, which drive decreases in frazil ice growth and sea ice extent in winter. Atmosphere‐ocean coupling in the subpolar Atlantic further supports a negative feedback that attenuates the ocean‐driven sea ice losses over time; by accelerating the weakening of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, it causes a large cooling of the subpolar Atlantic and attenuation of the anomalous heat transport into the Arctic in winter, allowing for a seasonal Arctic sea ice in the fully coupled experiment, while the Arctic completely becomes ice free in the partially coupled experiment.

Recommended citation: Garuba OA, Singh HA, Rasch PJ, Hunke E. (2020). "Disentangling the Coupled Atmosphere‐Ocean‐Ice Interactions Driving Arctic Sea Ice Response to CO2 Increases", Journal of Advances in Modelling Earth Systems, 12 (11), e2019MS001902, doi: 10.1029/2019MS001902.

Impacts of Sea Ice Mushy Thermodynamics in the Antarctic on the Coupled Earth System

Published in Geophysical Research Letters, 2021

Abstract: We analyze two preindustrial experiments from the Community Earth System Model version 2 to characterize the impact of sea ice physics on differences in coastal sea ice production around Antarctica and the resulting impact on the ocean and atmosphere. The experiment in which sea ice is a more realistic “mushy” mixture of solid ice and brine has a substantial increase in coastal sea ice frazil and snow ice production that is accompanied by decreasing bottom ice growth and increasing bottom melt. The more realistic “mushy” physics leads to an increase in water mass formation at denser water classes due primarily to surface ice processes. As a result, the subsurface ocean is denser, saltier, and there is an increase in Antarctic Bottom Water formation of E 0.5Sv. For the atmosphere, “mushy” ice physics leads to decreased turbulent heat flux and low level cloud cover near the Antarctic coast.

Recommended citation: DuVivier AK, Holland MM, Landrum L, Singh HA, Bailey DA, & Maroon EA. (2021). "Impacts of Sea Ice Mushy Thermodynamics in the Antarctic on the Coupled Earth System." Geophysical Research Letters. 48(18): e2021GL094287.

Observations Indicate That Clouds Amplify Mechanisms of Southern Ocean Heat Uptake

Published in Journal of Geophysical Research, 2022

Abstract: The Southern Ocean has absorbed most of the excess heat associated with anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Since Southern Ocean observations are sparse in certain regions and seasons, much of our knowledge of ocean heat uptake is based on climate model simulations. However, climate models still inadequately represent some properties of Southern Ocean clouds, and they have not identified the mechanisms by which clouds may affect Southern Ocean heat uptake (SOHU). Here, we use the ERA5 and JRA-55 reanalyses to assess the influence of clouds and other atmospheric processes on SOHU from 1979 to 2020. We find that years with the highest SOHU between 45S and 65S are dominated by ocean heat uptake anomalies during winter and spring, but not during summer or fall. Winter and spring cloud cover are up to 7% higher when SOHU is up to 5.5 W/m2 higher than the climatological seasonal mean, with the largest increases in the South Pacific Ocean. Clouds also contain more liquid water. These changes in cloud properties increase downwelling longwave radiation, amplifying ocean heat uptake. Cloud changes are also concomitant with a more stable lower atmosphere, which suppresses turbulent heat fluxes out of the surface. Overall, we find that SOHU is likely not mediated by enhanced surface shortwave absorption over the observational time period. A better understanding of how atmospheric processes impact ocean heat uptake may help improve our understanding of ocean heat uptake mechanisms in the current generation of climate models.

Recommended citation: Morrison AL, Singh HA, and Rasch PJ. (2022). "Observations Indicate That Clouds Amplify Mechanisms of Southern Ocean Heat Uptake." Journal of Geophysical Research. 127(4): e2021JD035487.

Increased Variability of Biomass Burning Emissions in CMIP6 Amplifies Hydrologic Cycle in the CESM2 Large Ensemble

Published in Geophysical Research Letters, 2022

Abstract: Historical simulations performed for the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 used biomass burning emissions between 1997 and 2014 containing higher spatial and temporal variability compared to emission inventories specified for earlier years, and compared to emissions used in previous (e.g., CMIP5) simulation intercomparisons. Using the Community Earth System Model version 2 Large Ensemble, we show this increased biomass burning emissions variability leads to amplification of the hydrologic cycle poleward of 40°N. Notably, the high variability of biomass burning emissions leads to increased latent heat fluxes, column-integrated precipitable water, and precipitation. Greater ocean heat uptake, weaker meridional energy transport from the tropics, greater atmospheric shortwave and longwave absorption, and lower relative humidity act to moderate this hydrologic cycle amplification. Our results suggest it is not only the secular changes (on multidecadal timescales) in biomass burning emissions that impact the hydrologic cycle, but also the shorter timescale variability in emissions.

Recommended citation: Heyblom KB, Singh HA, Rasch PJ, and DeRepentigny P. (2022). "Increased Variability of Biomass Burning Emissions in CMIP6 Amplifies Hydrologic Cycle in the CESM2 Large Ensemble." Geophysical Research Letters. 49(5): e2021GL096868.

Climate Sensitivity is Sensitive to Changes in Ocean Heat Transport

Published in Journal of Climate, 2022

Abstract: Do changes in ocean heat transport (OHT) that occur with CO2 forcing, impact climate sensitivity in Earth system models? Changes in OHT with warming are ubiquitous in model experiments: when forced with CO2, such models exhibit declining poleward OHT in both hemispheres at most latitudes, which can persist over multicentennial time scales. To understand how changes in OHT may impact how the climate system responds to CO2 forcing, particularly climate sensitivity, we perform a series of Earth system model experiments in which we systematically perturb OHT (in a slab ocean, relative to its preindustrial control climatology) while simultaneously doubling atmospheric CO2. We find that equilibrium climate sensitivity varies substantially with OHT. Specifically, there is a 0.6 K decrease in global mean surface warming for every 10% decline in poleward OHT. Radiative feedbacks from CO2 doubling, and the warming attributable to each of them, generally become more positive (or less negative) when poleward OHT increases. Water vapor feedback differences account for approximately half the spread in climate sensitivity between experiments, while differences in the lapse rate and surface albedo feedbacks account for the rest. Prescribed changes in OHT instigate opposing changes in atmospheric energy transport and the general circulation, which explain differences in atmospheric water vapor and lapse rate between experiments. Our results show that changes in OHT modify atmospheric radiative feedbacks at all latitudes, thereby driving changes in equilibrium climate sensitivity. More broadly, they demonstrate that radiative feedbacks are not independent of the coupled (atmosphere and ocean) dynamic responses that accompany greenhouse gas forcing.

Recommended citation: Singh HA, Feldl N, Kay JE, and Morrison AL. (2022). "Climate Sensitivity is Sensitive to Changes in Ocean Heat Transport." Journal of Climate. 35(9): pp 2653–2674.

Less Surface Sea Ice Melt in the CESM2 Improves Arctic Sea Ice Simulation With Minimal Non-Polar Climate Impacts

Published in Journal of Advances in Modelling Earth Systems, 2022

Abstract: This study isolates the influence of sea ice mean state on pre-industrial climate and transient 1850–2100 climate change within a fully coupled global model: The Community Earth System Model version 2 (CESM2). The CESM2 sea ice model physics is modified to increase surface albedo, reduce surface sea ice melt, and increase Arctic sea ice thickness and late summer cover. Importantly, increased Arctic sea ice in the modified model reduces a present-day late-summer ice cover bias. Of interest to coupled model development, this bias reduction is realized without degrading the global simulation including top-of-atmosphere energy imbalance, surface temperature, surface precipitation, and major modes of climate variability. The influence of these sea ice physics changes on transient 1850–2100 climate change is compared within a large initial condition ensemble framework. Despite similar global warming, the modified model with thicker Arctic sea ice than CESM2 has a delayed and more realistic transition to a seasonally ice free Arctic Ocean. Differences in transient climate change between the modified model and CESM2 are challenging to detect due to large internally generated climate variability. In particular, two common sea ice benchmarks—sea ice sensitivity and sea ice trends—are of limited value for comparing models with similar global warming. More broadly, these results show the importance of a reasonable Arctic sea ice mean state when simulating the transition to an ice-free Arctic Ocean in a warming world. Additionally, this work highlights the importance of large initial condition ensembles for credible model-to-model and observation-model comparisons.

Recommended citation: Kay JE, DeRepentigny P, Holland MM, Bailey DA, DuVivier AK, Blanchard-Wrigglesworth E, Deser C, Jahn A, Singh HA, Smith MM, Webster MA, Edwards J, Lee S-S, Rodgers KB, & Rosenbloom N. (2022). "Less Surface Sea Ice Melt in the CESM2 Improves Arctic Sea Ice Simulation With Minimal Non-Polar Climate Impacts", Journal of Advances in Modelling Earth Systems, 14 (4), e2021MS002679, doi: 10.1029/2021MS002679.

Uncertainty in Preindustrial Global Ocean Initialization Can Yield Irreducible Uncertainty in Southern Ocean Surface Climate

Published in Journal of Climate, 2023

Abstract: How do ocean initial states impact historical and future climate projections in Earth system models? To answer this question, we use the 50-member Canadian Earth System Model (CanESM2) large ensemble, in which individual ensemble members are initialized using a combination of different oceanic initial states and atmospheric microperturbations. We show that global ocean heat content anomalies associated with the different ocean initial states, particularly differences in deep ocean heat content due to ocean drift, persist from initialization at year 1950 through the end of the simulations at year 2100. We also find that these anomalies most readily impact surface climate over the Southern Ocean. Differences in ocean initial states affect Southern Ocean surface climate because persistent deep ocean temperature anomalies upwell along sloping isopycnal surfaces that delineate neighboring branches of the upper and lower cells of the global meridional overturning circulation. As a result, up to a quarter of the ensemble variance in Southern Ocean turbulent heat fluxes, heat uptake, and surface temperature trends can be traced to variance in the ocean initial state, notably deep ocean temperature differences of order 0.1 K due to model drift. Such a discernible impact of varying ocean initial conditions on ensemble variance over the Southern Ocean is evident throughout the full 150 simulation years of the ensemble, even though upper ocean temperature anomalies due to varying ocean initial conditions rapidly dissipate over the first two decades of model integration over much of the rest of the globe.

Recommended citation: Singh HA, Goldenson N, Fyfe JC, and Polvani LM. (2023). "Uncertainty in Preindustrial Global Ocean Initialization Can Yield Irreducible Uncertainty in Southern Ocean Surface Climate", Journal of Climate, 36 (2), pp 383-403, doi: 10.1175/JCLI-D-21-0176.1.

talks

Sea Ice as a Predictor of Atmosphere and Ocean States over the Arctic and Southern Oceans, and Implications for Attribution of Polar Climate Change

Published:

Full Citation:: “Sea Ice as a Predictor of Atmosphere and Ocean States over the Arctic and Southern Oceans, and Implications for Attribution of Polar Climate Change”, Singh HA, Rasch PJ. Contributed Talk. AGU Fall 2018 Meeting, Session: Sea Ice as a Predictor of Atmosphere and Ocean States over the Arctic and Southern Oceans, and Implications for Attribution of Polar Climate Change I.

teaching