Inventory of EU Marine Climate Change Research

DYNAMITE - Understanding the Dynamics of the Coupled Climate System

Project website:
http://dynamite.nersc.no/

Summary information
Funding:	FP6 - Specific Targeted Research Project
Total cost:	3122214
Ec contribution:	1999998
Start date:	2005-03-01
End date:	2008-02-29
Duration:	36 months
Coordinator:	Helge Drange
Organisation:	Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center – Norway
Themes:	Temperature changes; ice melting; storm frequency and intensity; biological impacts
Regio:	Arctic; North Atlantic
Keywords:	Global warming; North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO); Arctic Oscillation (AO); Coupled atmosphere-ocean/sea ice variability; Coupled atmosphere-ocean/sea ice modelling
Project name:	DYNAMITE - Understanding the Dynamics of the Coupled Climate System
Project summary:	Abstract Deeper understanding of the intrinsic variability and stability properties of the main climate variability modes is needed to assess confidence in the detection, attribution and prediction of global and regional climate change, to improve seasonal predictions, and to understand the shortcomings of current prediction systems. DYNAMITE will explore the fundamental dynamical mechanisms of two of the most important modes of climate variability: the North Atlantic Oscillation/Arctic Oscillation (NAO/AO) and the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The project will elucidate key theoretical and practical aspects of the NAO/AO and ENSO through analyses of available observations, application of classical and new theory, and use of idealised and state-of the- art numerical models of the atmosphere, ocean, land-surface, sea-ice, marine biology, and the coupled climate system. Specifically, DYNAMITE will advance the understanding of strongly and weakly coupled processes underlying the natural variability of ENSO and NAO/AO; it will evaluate the representation of the coupled processes underlying ENSO and the NAO in state-of-the-art models used to predict climate change; it will advance understanding of the response of ENSO and NAO/AO to climate change; and it will assess the role of ocean biology in the variability of the tropical coupled climate system, including ENSO. DYNAMITE will be implemented by a partnership of world class climate research institutions, including a candidate country and several SMEs. All of the results and findings gained in DYNAMITE will be transferred to the climate modelling community both in and outside Europe by bi-annual electronic newsletters and a dedicated and open DYNAMITE model workshop at the end of the project. DYNAMITE will improve the European capability to make predictions of the state of the climate system from seasons to centuries ahead, thereby contributing to the competitiveness and sustainability of the European Union. Objectives Progress in understanding the fundamental modes of the climate system, in particular the coupled ocean-atmosphere system, is essential to improve the detection, attribution and prediction of global and regional climate change. DYNAMITE will explore the fundamental dynamics of, and the similarities and differences between, two of the most important modes of climate variability: the North Atlantic Oscillation/Arctic Oscillation (NAO/AO) and the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The project will elucidate key theoretical and practical aspects of NAO/AO and ENSO through a coordinated, focussed and open effort based on analyses of available observations, application of classical and new theory, and use of idealised and state-of-the-art numerical atmosphere, ocean/ sea ice, coupled atmosphere-ocean/sea ice and coupled atmosphere-ocean/sea ice-ecosystem General Circulation Models (GCMs). DYNAMITE will advance understanding of the intrinsic characteristics of NAO/AO and ENSO, and also the response of these modes to enhanced concentrations of greenhouse gases. Based on this, the specific objectives of DYNAMITE are: - To quantify strongly and weakly coupled processes underlying the natural variability of ENSO and NAO/AO; - To evaluate the representation of the coupled processes underlying ENSO (wind stress, weather noise, phase synchronisation and locking, tropical scale interactions, wave activity) and the NAO (SST, snow cover, sea ice cover, troposphere/stratosphere coupling) in state-of-the-art models used to predict climate change; - To identify the response of ENSO and NAO/AO to climate change; - To quantify the role of ocean biology in the variability of the tropical coupled climate system, including ENSO. A central part of DYNAMITE is a set of co-ordinated model experiments. Detailed protocols for experimental design, implementation and analysis have been defined with the aim to address: - How the ocean responds to realistic and idealised NAO-forcing, - How the atmosphere responds to realistic and idealised SST and sea ice anomalies, - How the short and long term atmosphere-ocean coupling strength inluence ENSO, - How NAO and ENSO may change as a result of global warming, - How the marine biota may influence the coupled atmosphere-ocean climate system, - How NAO and ENSO are coupled.
Project outputs:	A list of DYNAMITE and related publications is available on the project website.