Robustness and Mechanisms of the Atmospheric Response Over the Southern Ocean to Idealized Freshwater Input Around Antarctica
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Geophysical Research Letters - 2025 - Xu - Robustness and Mechanisms of the Atmospheric Response Over the Southern Ocean to.pdf
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Published version
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3.01 MB
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Author(s)
Xu, Xiaoqi
Martin, Torge
Beadling, Rebecca L
Liu, Jiping
Bischof, Sabine
Hattermann, Tore
Huo, Wenjuan
Li, Qian
Marshall, John C
Muilwijk, Morven
Date Issued
May 22, 2025
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
Citation
Xu, X., Martin, T., Beadling, R. L., Liu, J., Bischof, S., Hattermann, T., et al. (2025). Robustness and mechanisms of the atmospheric response over the Southern Ocean to idealized freshwater input around Antarctica. Geophysical Research Letters, 52, e2024GL113734.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Enhanced Antarctic ice sheet mass loss yields ocean surface freshening, cooling and sea ice expansion, which result in changes in the atmospheric conditions. Using the Southern Ocean Freshwater Input from Antarctica (SOFIA) multi‐model ensemble, we study the atmospheric response to a 100‐year idealized freshwater release of 0.1 Sv. All models simulate a surface‐intensified tropospheric cooling and lower‐stratospheric warming south of 35°S. Tropospheric cooling is attributed to sea ice expansion and the associated albedo enhancement in winter and a colder sea surface in summer. This cooling yields a downward displacement of the tropopause, reduced stratospheric water vapor content and ultimately warming around 200 hPa. An enhanced southward eddy heat flux explains warming at 10–100 hPa during austral winter. Despite a temporally (and spatially) uniform prescribed freshwater flux, a prominent sea ice seasonal cycle and atmosphere dynamics result in a distinct seasonal pattern in the occurrence and magnitude of the temperature responses.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL113734
