Gliders Measure Western Boundary Current Transport from the South Pacific to the Equator*

2012 ◽  
Vol 42 (11) ◽  
pp. 2001-2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russ E. Davis ◽  
William S. Kessler ◽  
Jeffrey T. Sherman
Keyword(s):  
El Niño ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Layer Structure ◽  
Western Boundary Current ◽  
Western Boundary ◽  
Boundary Current ◽  
The Core ◽  
A Value ◽  
Coral Sea ◽  
Near Shore

Abstract “Spray” gliders, most launched from small boats near shore, have established a sustainable time series of equatorward transport through the Solomon Sea. The first 3.5 years (mid-2007 through 2010) are analyzed. Coast-to-coast equatorward transport through the Solomon Sea fluctuates around a value of 15 Sv (1 Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1) with variations approaching ±15 Sv. Transport variability is well correlated with El Niño indices like Niño-3.4, with strong equatorward flow during one El Niño and weak flow during two La Niñas. Mean transport is centered in an undercurrent focused in the western boundary current; variability has a two-layer structure with layers separated near 250 m (near the core of the undercurrent) that fluctuate independently. The largest variations are in midbasin, confined to the upper layer, and are well correlated with ENSO. Analysis of velocity and salinity on isopycnals shows that the western boundary current within the Solomon Sea consists of a deep core coming from the Coral Sea and a shallow core that enters the Solomon Sea in mid basin. Analysis of the structure of transport and its fluctuations is presented.

scholarly journals The Deep Western Boundary Current at Cape Farewell: Results from a Moored Current Meter Array

2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 815-829 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheldon Bacon ◽  
Peter M. Saunders
Keyword(s):  
Western Boundary Current ◽  
Western Boundary ◽  
Boundary Current ◽  
Marked Contrast ◽  
The Core ◽  
Deep Western Boundary Current ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Long Term Trend ◽  
Made In

Abstract An analysis is made of data from 30 Aanderaa recording current meters (RCMs) set on nine moorings located east of Cape Farewell, the southern tip of Greenland. The purpose of the measurements was to allow for the estimation of transport in the deep western boundary current (DWBC) below a depth of about 1500 m. The records commenced in September 2005 and lasted from 9.5 to 11.5 months. After calibration of the raw data, 12-h averages of temperature and current were derived and the latter employed to estimate the flow across and along the array direction. The 9.5-month average transport of water colder than 3°C was found to be 7.8 Sv (1 Sv ≡ 1 × 106 m3 s−1) with a standard error of 0.8 Sv. For water denser than σθ = 27.85 kg m−3, the transport is calculated as 4.5 Sv. Whether either of these values is significantly different from comparable measurements made 500 km upstream cannot be determined. In marked contrast, for σθ > 27.8 kg m−3, the transport is estimated as only 9.0 Sv, smaller than the widely accepted value of 13 Sv for nearby measurements made in 1978. A reevaluation of the calculations and assumptions made then allows one to determine the uncertainty of the earlier estimate and thereby conclude that the difference between the previous and present measurements is significant, that is, that the transport has decreased between 1978 and 2005–06. A weakening of the transport during the 9.5-month period is also observed, along with a warming and an increase in salinity in the core of the DWBC. These latter changes are shown to be consistent with interannual variability rather than a long-term trend.

scholarly journals Internal tides in the Solomon Sea in contrasted ENSO conditions

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Tchilibou ◽  
Lionel Gourdeau ◽  
Florent Lyard ◽  
Rosemary Morrow ◽  
Ariane Koch Larrouy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
El Niño ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Tidal Energy ◽  
Dominant Mode ◽  
La Niña ◽  
Internal Tides ◽  
Western Boundary ◽  
Boundary Current ◽  
Surface Cooling ◽  
La Nina

Abstract. The Solomon Sea is a place of intense Low Latitudes Western Boundary current transiting to the equator where mesoscale activity is superimposed on internal tides. In this marginal sea, the cumulated effects of these dynamical constraints result in water mass transformation as observed by in situ observations. The objective of this paper is to document the M2 internal tides in the Solomon Sea and their impacts based on two regional simulations with and without tides. Because the Solomon Sea is under the influence of ENSO, the characteristics of the internal tides are analyzed for two contrasted ENSO conditions: the 1997–1998 El Niño and the 1999 La Niña. The generation, propagation and dissipation of the internal tides are sensitive to changes in stratification and mesoscale activity between El Niño and La Niña. Mode 1 is the dominant mode to propagate baroclinic tidal energy within the Solomon Sea, but the El Niño conditions, with stratification closer to the surface, are favorable for the propagation of mode 2. The la Niña case with a high level of mesoscale activity favors the appearance of incoherent internal tides. These results illustrate the complexity in predicting internal tides in order to access meso and submesoscale signatures from altimetric missions, including the future SWOT mission. Diapycnal mixing induced by the internal tides is efficient in eroding the salinity maximum of the upper thermocline water, and in cooling the surface temperature interacting with the atmosphere. Such effects are particularly visible far from the strong currents, where particles may experience the tidal effects during a longer time. Nevertheless, the impacts are different when considering particular ENSO conditions. The interaction of internal tides with the surface mesoscale activity reduces surface cooling during El Niño 1998, but increases surface warming during La Niña 1999, with possible impacts on regional air sea interaction.

scholarly journals Frequency-Domain Analysis of the Energy Budget in an Idealized Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Model

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 707-726 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paige E. Martin ◽  
Brian K. Arbic ◽  
Andrew McC. Hogg ◽  
Andrew E. Kiss ◽  
James R. Munroe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Frequency Domain ◽  
Time Scales ◽  
Energy Budget ◽  
Western Boundary Current ◽  
Spectral Energy ◽  
Western Boundary ◽  
Intrinsic Variability ◽  
Boundary Current ◽  
Ocean Atmosphere ◽  
Atmosphere Model

AbstractClimate variability is investigated by identifying the energy sources and sinks in an idealized, coupled, ocean–atmosphere model, tuned to mimic the North Atlantic region. The spectral energy budget is calculated in the frequency domain to determine the processes that either deposit energy into or extract energy from each fluid, over time scales from one day up to 100 years. Nonlinear advection of kinetic energy is found to be the dominant source of low-frequency variability in both the ocean and the atmosphere, albeit in differing layers in each fluid. To understand the spatial patterns of the spectral energy budget, spatial maps of certain terms in the spectral energy budget are plotted, averaged over various frequency bands. These maps reveal three dynamically distinct regions: along the western boundary, the western boundary current separation, and the remainder of the domain. The western boundary current separation is found to be a preferred region to energize oceanic variability across a broad range of time scales (from monthly to decadal), while the western boundary itself acts as the dominant sink of energy in the domain at time scales longer than 50 days. This study paves the way for future work, using the same spectral methods, to address the question of forced versus intrinsic variability in a coupled climate system.

scholarly journals Midlatitude–Equatorial Dynamics of a Grounded Deep Western Boundary Current. Part I: Midlatitude Flow and the Transition to the Equatorial Region

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (10) ◽  
pp. 2457-2469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon E. Swaters
Keyword(s):  
Bottom Topography ◽  
Zonal Flow ◽  
Ocean Basin ◽  
Equatorial Region ◽  
Western Boundary Current ◽  
Western Boundary ◽  
Boundary Current ◽  
Qualitative Properties ◽  
Deep Western Boundary Current ◽  
The Tropics

AbstractA comprehensive theoretical study of the nonlinear hemispheric-scale midlatitude and cross-equatorial steady-state dynamics of a grounded deep western boundary current is given. The domain considered is an idealized differentially rotating, meridionally aligned basin with zonally varying parabolic bottom topography so that the model ocean shallows on both the western and eastern sides of the basin. Away from the equator, the flow is governed by nonlinear planetary geostrophic dynamics on sloping topography in which the potential vorticity equation can be explicitly solved. As the flow enters the equatorial region, it speeds up and becomes increasingly nonlinear and passes through two distinguished inertial layers referred to as the “intermediate” and “inner” inertial equatorial boundary layers, respectively. The flow in the intermediate equatorial region is shown to accelerate and turn eastward, forming a narrow equatorial jet. The qualitative properties of the solution presented are consistent with the known dynamical characteristics of the deep western boundary currents as they flow from the midlatitudes into the tropics. The predominately zonal flow across the ocean basin in the inner equatorial region (and its exit from the equatorial region) is determined in Part II of this study.

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