GFI/BCCR Seminar: The impact of polar mesoscale weather on the North Atlantic Ocean

Ian Renfrew (University of East Anglia, UK):

The impact of polar mesoscale weather on the North Atlantic Ocean

Abstract
A smorgasbord of mesoscale weather systems occur over the subpolar seas of the North Atlantic Ocean: polar lows, barrier winds, tip jets, gap jets and Arctic fronts.

Here I will review progress in our understanding of these mesoscale (5-500 km scale) weather systems with a focus on the recent discoveries coming from International Polar Year projects, such as the Greenland Flow Distortion Experiment and the Norwegian IPY-Thorpex Experiment.

The high winds associated with many of these weather systems induce elevated air-sea fluxes, potentially significant in forcing the ocean. However due to their relatively small scales, mesoscale systems can be missing or poorly represented in climate and ocean models or reanalyses products. This resolution problem will be discussed and some ocean modelling experiments where these systems are deliberately added will be highlighted.