Untangling the mistral and seasonal atmospheric forcing driving deep convection in the Gulf of Lion: 2012–2013

Douglas Keller Jr., Yonatan Givon, Romain Pennel, Shira Raveh-Rubin, and Philippe Drobinski

Data sets

The ERA-Interim reanalysis: configuration and performance of the data assimilation system (https://www.ecmwf.int/en/forecasts/datasets/reanalysis-datasets/era-interim) D. P. Dee, S. M. Uppala, A. J. Simmons, P. Berrisford, P. Poli, S. Kobayashi, U. Andrae, M. A. Balmaseda, G. Balsamo, P. Bauer, P. Bechtold, A. C. M. Beljaars, L. van de Berg, J. Bidlot, N. Bormann, C. Delsol, R. Dragani, M. Fuentes, A. J. Geer, L. Haimberger, S. B. Healy, H. Hersbach, E. V. Hólm, L. Isaksen, P. Kållberg, M. Köhler, M. Matricardi, A. P. McNally, B. M. Monge-Sanz, J.-J. Morcrette, B.-K. Park, C. Peubey, P. de Rosnay, C. Tavolato, J.-N. Thépaut, and F. Vitart https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.828

HyMeX: A 10-Year Multidisciplinary Program on the Mediterranean Water Cycle (https://mistrals.sedoo.fr/HyMeX/) P. Drobinski, V. Ducrocq, P. Alpert, E. Anagnostou, K. Béranger, M. Borga, I. Braud, A. Chanzy, S. Davolio, G. Delrieu, C. Estournel, N. Filali Boubrahmi, J. Font, V. Grubišić, S. Gualdi, V. Homar, B. Ivančan-Picek, C. Kottmeier, V. Kotroni, K. Lagouvardos, P. Lionello, M. C. Llasat, W. Ludwig, C. Lutoff, A. Mariotti, E. Richard, R. Romero, R. Rotunno, O. Roussot, I. Ruin, S. Somot, I. Taupier-Letage, J. Tintore, R. Uijlenhoet, and H. Wernli https://doi.org/10.1175/bams-d-12-00242.1

CTD SOP2, Provence – Tethys 2 (https://mistrals.sedoo.fr/HyMeX/) I. Taupier-Letage https://doi.org/10.6096/MISTRALS-HYMEX.950

Model code and software

Model of the Regional Coupled Earth system (MORCE): Application to process and climate studies in vulnerable regions (https://gitlab.in2p3.fr/ipsl/lmd/intro/regipsl/regipsl) P. Drobinski, A. Anav, C. Lebeaupin Brossier, G. Samson, M. Stéfanon, S. Bastin, M. Baklouti, K. Béranger, J. Beuvier, R. Bourdallé-Badie, L. Coquart, F. D’Andrea, N. de Noblet-Ducoudré, F. Diaz, J.-C. Dutay, C. Ethe, M.-A. Foujols, D. Khvorostyanov, G. Madec, M. Mancip, S. Masson, L. Menut, J. Palmieri, J. Polcher, S. Turquety, S. Valcke, and N. Viovy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2012.01.017

Code to Analyze and Plot Data for Untangling the mistral and seasonal atmospheric forcing driving deep convection in the Gulf of Lion: 2012–2013 D. Keller Jr. https://gitlab.com/dkllrjr/untangling_deep_conv_2012_2013_code

Short summary

The mistral winds are believed to be the primary source of cooling of the Gulf of Lion, leading to deep convection in the region, a process that mixes the ocean column from the seafloor to the sea surface. However, we have found that seasonal atmospheric changes also significantly cool the Gulf of Lion waters to cause deep convection, rather than mistral winds being the sole source, contributing roughly two-thirds of the required cooling, with the mistral winds contributing the final third.