Solar Physics Division Meeting 2000, June 19-22
Session 2. Corona, Solar Wind, Flares, CMEs, Solar-stellar, Instrumentation, Other
Display, Chair: J. Krall, Monday-Thursday, June 19, 2000, 8:00am-6:00pm, Forum Ballroom

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[2.117] Response to Weak Solar Forcing in a General Circulation Model of the Atmosphere

A.C. Cadavid, J.K. Lawrence (California State University, Northridge), A.A. Ruzmaikin (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

We study the effect of variable external forcing on a dynamical system proposed by Lorenz as a simple general circulation model of the atmosphere. When a strong annual cycle is included, numerical exploration reveals the existence of a variety of multi-year climate states, which fall into two basic types. In the space of external forcing parameters, the different kinds of climate state are interleaved in an intricate pattern at scales < 0.01. This is below the ~0.1 level of observed solar cycle irradiance variability which can thus modulate the model climate state. If the solar cycle is accompanied by a steady drift in forcing, it can produce periodic modulation which appears, disappears and even reverses its phase. A parametric drift by itself produces intervals of steady, but sometimes differing, climates punctuated by intermittent bursts of variability. Different forcing parameters for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres produce different responses to variable forcing.


The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: acadavid@galileo.csun.edu

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