A Comparative Analysis of Upper-Ocean Heat Content Variability from an Ensemble of Operational Ocean Reanalyses

AbstractOcean heat content (HC) is one of the key indicators of climate variability and also provides ocean memory critical for seasonal and decadal predictions. The availability of multiple operational ocean analyses (ORAs) now routinely produced around the world is an opportunity for estimation of uncertainties in HC analysis and development of ensemble-based operational HC climate indices. In this context, the spread across the ORAs is used to quantify uncertainties in HC analysis and the ensemble mean of ORAs to identify, and to monitor, climate signals. Toward this goal, this study analyzed 10 ORAs, two objective analyses based on in situ data only, and eight model analyses based on ocean data assimilation systems. The mean, annual cycle, interannual variability, and long-term trend of HC in the upper 300 m (HC300) from 1980 to 2009 are compared.The spread across HC300 analyses generally decreased with time and reached a minimum in the early 2000s when the Argo data became available. There was a good...

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