scholarly journals A 20-Yr Average of the Indonesian Throughflow: Regional Currents and the Interbasin Exchange

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (9) ◽  
pp. 1965-1978 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan E. Wijffels ◽  
Gary Meyers ◽  
J. Stuart Godfrey

Abstract Twenty years of monthly or more frequent repeat expendable bathythermograph data are used to estimate the mean geostrophic velocity and transport relative to 750 m of the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) and its partitioning through the major outflow straits into the Indian Ocean. Ekman transports are estimated from satellite and atmospheric reanalysis wind climatologies. A subsurface maximum near 100 m characterizes the geostrophic ITF, but Ekman flows drive a warm near-surface component as well. A subsurface intensified fresh Makassar Jet feeds the Lombok Strait Throughflow (∼2 Sv; 1Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1) and an eastward flow along the Nusa Tenggara island chain [the Nusa Tenggara Current (6 Sv)]. This flow feeds a relatively cold 3.0-Sv flow through the Ombai Strait and Savu Sea. About 4–5 Sv pass through Timor Passage, fed by both the Nusa Tenggara Current and likely warmer and saltier flow from the eastern Banda Sea. The Ombai and Timor Throughflow feature distinctly different shear profiles; Ombai has deep-reaching shear with a subsurface velocity maximum near 150 m and so is cold (∼15.5°–17.1°C), while Timor Passage has a surface intensified flow and is warm (∼21.6°–23°C). At the western end of Timor Passage the nascent South Equatorial Current is augmented by recirculation from a strong eastward shallow flow south of the passage. South of the western tip of Java are two mean eastward flows—the very shallow, warm, and fresh South Java Current and a cold salty South Java Undercurrent. These, along with the inflow of the Eastern Gyral Current, recirculate to augment the South Equatorial Current, and greatly increase its salinity compared to that at the outflow passages. The best estimate of the 20-yr-average geostrophic plus Ekman transport is 8.9 ± 1.7 Sv with a transport-weighted temperature of 21.2°C and transport-weighted salinity of 34.73 near 110°E. The warm temperatures of the flow can be reconciled with the much cooler estimates based on mooring data in Makassar Strait by accounting for an unmeasured barotropic and deep component, and local surface heat fluxes that warm the ITF by 2°–4°C during its passage through the region.

2007 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 325-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
U. W. Humphries ◽  
D. J. Webb

Abstract. The Indonesian Throughflow is analysed in two runs of the OCCAM 1/4 degree global ocean model, one using monthly climatological winds and one using ECMWF analysed six-hourly winds for the period 1993 to 1998. The long-term model throughflow agrees with observations and the value predicted by Godfrey's Island Rule. The Island Rule has some skill in predicting the annual signal each year but is poor at predicting year to year and shorter term variations in the total flow especially in El Nino years. The spectra of transports in individual passages show significant differences between those connecting the region to the Pacific Ocean and those connecting with the Indian Ocean. This implies that different sets of waves are involved in the two regions. Vertical profiles of transport are in reasonable agreement with observations but the model overestimates the near surface transport through the Lombok Strait and the dense overflow from the Pacific through the Lifamatola Strait into the deep Banda Sea. In both cases the crude representation of the passages by the model appears responsible. In the north the model shows, as expected, that the largest transport is via the Makassar Strait. However this is less than expected and instead there is significant flow via the Halmahera Sea. If Godfrey's Island Rule is correct and the throughflow is forced by the northward flow between Australia and South America, then the Halmahers Sea route should be important. It is the most southerly route around New Guinea to the Indian Ocean and there is no apparent reason why the flow should go further north in order to pass through the Makassar Strait. The model result thus raises the question of why in reality the Makassar Strait route appears to dominate the throughflow.


Ocean Science ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 183-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
U. W. Humphries ◽  
D. J. Webb

Abstract. The Indonesian Throughflow is analysed in two runs of the OCCAM 1/4 degree global ocean model, one using monthly climatological winds and one using ECMWF analysed six-hourly winds for the period 1993 to 1998. The long-term model throughflow agrees with observations and the value predicted by Godfrey's Island Rule. The Island Rule has some skill in predicting the annual signal each year but is poor at predicting year to year and shorter term variations in the total flow, especially in El Niño years. The spectra of transports in individual passages show significant differences between those connecting the region to the Pacific Ocean and those connecting with the Indian Ocean. On investigation we found that changes in the northern transports were strongly correlated with changes in the position of currents in the Celebes Sea and off Halmahera. Vertical profiles of transport are in reasonable agreement with observations but the model overestimates the near surface transport through the Lombok Strait and the dense overflow from the Pacific through the Lifamatola Strait into the deep Banda Sea. In both cases the crude representation of the passages by the model appears responsible. In the north the model shows, as expected, that the largest transport is via the Makassar Strait. However this is less than expected and instead there is significant flow via the Halmahera Sea. If Godfrey's Island Rule is correct and the throughflow is forced by the northward flow between Australia and South America, then the Halmahers Sea route should be important. It is the most southerly route around New Guinea to the Indian Ocean and there is no apparent reason why the flow should go further north in order to pass through the Makassar Strait. The model result thus raises the question of why in reality the Makassar Strait route appears to dominate the throughflow.


1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (21) ◽  
pp. 2573-2576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnold L. Gordon ◽  
Shubin Ma ◽  
Donald B. Olson ◽  
Peter Hacker ◽  
Amy Ffield ◽  
...  

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
S S C. Shenoi ◽  
D. Shankar ◽  
S. R. Shetye

Abstract The accuracy of data from the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) model for estimating the heat budget of the upper ocean is tested in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. SODA is able to reproduce the changes in heat content when they are forced more by the winds, as in wind-forced mixing, upwelling, and advection, but not when they are forced exclusively by surface heat fluxes, as in the warming before the summer monsoon.


2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanaz Moghim ◽  
Andrew Jay Bowen ◽  
Sepideh Sarachi ◽  
Jingfeng Wang

Abstract A new algorithm is formulated for retrieving hourly time series of surface hydrometeorological variables including net radiation, sensible heat flux, and near-surface air temperature aided by hourly visible images from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) and in situ observations of mean daily air temperature. The algorithm is based on two unconventional, recently developed methods: the maximum entropy production model of surface heat fluxes and the half-order derivative–integral model that has been tested previously. The close agreement between the retrieved hourly variables using remotely sensed input and the corresponding field observations indicates that this algorithm is an effective tool in remote sensing of the earth system.


2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (22) ◽  
pp. 9041-9057 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Chiao Liang ◽  
Jin-Yi Yu ◽  
Eric S. Saltzman ◽  
Fan Wang

During 2013–15, prolonged near-surface warming in the northeastern Pacific was observed and has been referred to as the Pacific warm blob. Here, statistical analyses are conducted to show that the generation of the Pacific blob is closely related to the tropical Northern Hemisphere (TNH) pattern in the atmosphere. When the TNH pattern stays in its positive phase for extended periods of time, it generates prolonged blob events primarily through anomalies in surface heat fluxes and secondarily through anomalies in wind-induced ocean advection. Five prolonged (≥24 months) blob events are identified during the past six decades (1948–2015), and the TNH–blob relationship can be recognized in all of them. Although the Pacific decadal oscillation and El Niño can also induce an arc-shaped warming pattern near the Pacific blob region, they are not responsible for the generation of Pacific blob events. The essential feature of Pacific blob generation is the TNH-forced Gulf of Alaska warming pattern. This study also finds that the atmospheric circulation anomalies associated with the TNH pattern in the North Atlantic can induce SST variability akin to the so-called Atlantic cold blob, also through anomalies in surface heat fluxes and wind-induced ocean advection. As a result, the TNH pattern serves as an atmospheric conducting pattern that connects some of the Pacific warm blob and Atlantic cold blob events. This conducting mechanism has not previously been explored.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (24) ◽  
pp. 10105-10121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Cheng ◽  
Lisa M. Beal ◽  
Ben P. Kirtman ◽  
Dian Putrasahan

We investigate the interannual variability of Agulhas leakage in an ocean-eddy-resolving coupled simulation and characterize its influence on regional climate. Many observational leakage estimates are based on the study of Agulhas rings, whereas recent model studies suggest that rings and eddies carry less than half of leakage transport. While leakage variability is dominated by eddies at seasonal time scales, the noneddy leakage transport is likely to be constrained by large-scale forcing at longer time scales. To investigate this, leakage transport is quantified using an offline Lagrangian particle tracking approach. We decompose the velocity field into eddying and large-scale fields and then recreate a number of total velocity fields by modifying the eddying component to assess the dependence of leakage variability on the eddies. We find that the resulting leakage time series show strong coherence at periods longer than 1000 days and that 50% of the variance at interannual time scales is linked to the smoothed, large-scale field. As shown previously in ocean models, we find Agulhas leakage variability to be related to a meridional shift and/or strengthening of the westerlies. High leakage periods are associated with east–west contrasting patterns of sea surface temperature, surface heat fluxes, and convective rainfall, with positive anomalies over the retroflection region and negative anomalies within the Indian Ocean to the east. High leakage periods are also related to reduced inland convective rainfall over southeastern Africa in austral summer.


2018 ◽  
Vol 57 (7) ◽  
pp. 1423-1439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie E. Lang ◽  
Jessica M. McDonald ◽  
Lauriana Gaudet ◽  
Dylan Doeblin ◽  
Erin A. Jones ◽  
...  

AbstractLake-effect storms (LES) produce substantial snowfall in the vicinity of the downwind shores of the Great Lakes. These storms may take many forms; one type of LES event, lake to lake (L2L), occurs when LES clouds/snowbands develop over an upstream lake (e.g., Lake Huron), extend across an intervening landmass, and continue over a downstream lake (e.g., Lake Ontario). The current study examined LES snowfall in the vicinity of Lake Ontario and the atmospheric conditions during Lake Huron-to-Lake Ontario L2L days as compared with LES days on which an L2L connection was not present [i.e., only Lake Ontario (OLO)] for the cold seasons (October–March) from 2003/04 through 2013/14. Analyses of snowfall demonstrate that, on average, significantly greater LES snowfall totals occur downstream of Lake Ontario on L2L days than on OLO days. The difference in mean snowfall between L2L and OLO days approaches 200% in some areas near the Tug Hill Plateau and central New York State. Analyses of atmospheric conditions found more-favorable LES environments on L2L days relative to OLO days that included greater instability over the upwind lake, more near-surface moisture available, faster wind speeds, and larger surface heat fluxes over the upstream lake. Last, despite significant snowfalls on L2L days, their average contribution to the annual accumulated LES snowfall in the vicinity of Lake Ontario was found to be small (i.e., 25%–30%) because of the relatively infrequent occurrence of L2L days.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-49
Author(s):  
Chelsea E. Snide ◽  
Ángel F. Adames ◽  
Scott W. Powell ◽  
Víctor C. Mayta

AbstractThe initiation of the Madden-Julian Oscillation over the Indian Ocean is examined through the use of a moisture budget that applies a version of the weak temperature gradient (WTG) approximation that does not neglect dry adiabatic vertical motions. Examination of this budget in ERA-Interim reveals that horizontal moisture advection and vertical advection by adiabatic lifting govern the moistening of the troposphere for both primary and successive MJO initiation events. For both types of initiation events, horizontal moisture advection peaks prior to the maximum moisture tendency, while adiabatic lifting peaks after the maximum moisture tendency. Once convection initiates, moisture is maintained by anomalous radiative and adiabatic lifting. Adiabatic lifting during successive MJO initiation is attributed to the return of the circumnavigating circulation from a previous MJO event, while in primary events the planetary-scale circulation appears to originate over South America. Examination of the same budget with data from the DYNAMO northern sounding array shows that adiabatic lifting contributes significantly to MJO maintenance, with a contribution that is comparable to that of surface heat fluxes. However, results from the DYNAMO data disagree with those from ERA-Interim over the importance of adiabatic lifting to the moistening of the troposphere prior to the onset of convection. In spite of these differences, the results from the two data sets show that small departures from WTG balance in the form of dry adiabatic motions cannot be neglected when considering MJO convective onset.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mareike Körner ◽  
Peter Brandt ◽  
Marcus Dengler

<p>The Angolan shelf system represents a highly productive ecosystem that exhibits pronounced seasonal variability. Productivity peaks in austral winter when seasonally prevailing upwelling favorable winds are weakest. Thus, other processes than local wind-driven upwelling contribute to the near-coastal cooling and nutrient supply during this season. Possible processes that lead to changes of the mixed-layer heat content does not only include local mechanism but also the passage of remotely forced coastally trapped waves. Understanding the driving mechanism of changes in the mixed-layer heat content that may be locally or remotely forced are vital for understanding of upward nutrient supply and biological productivity off Angola. Here, we investigate the seasonal mixed layer heat budget by analyzing atmospheric and oceanic causes for heat content variability. We calculate monthly estimates of surface heat fluxes, horizontal advection from near-surface velocities, horizontal eddy advection, and vertical entrainment. Additionally, diapycnal heat fluxes at the mixed-layer base are determined from shipboard and glider microstructure data. The results are discussed in reference to the variability of the eastern boundary circulation, surface heat fluxes and wind forcing.</p>


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