scholarly journals Field investigations of coastal sea surface temperature drop after typhoon passages

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 323-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong-Jiing Doong ◽  
Jen-Ping Peng ◽  
Alexander V. Babanin

Abstract. Sea surface temperature (SST) variability affects marine ecosystems, fisheries, ocean primary productivity and human activities and is the primary influence on typhoon intensity. SST drops of a few degrees in the open ocean after typhoon passages have been widely documented; however, few studies have focused on coastal SST variability. The purpose of this study is to determine typhoon-induced SST drops in the near-coastal area (within 1 km of the coast) and understand the possible mechanism. The results of this study were based on extensive field data analysis. Significant SST drop phenomena were observed at the Longdong Buoy in northeastern Taiwan during 43 typhoons over the past 20 years (1998–2017). The mean SST drop (ΔSST) after a typhoon passage was 6.1 ∘C, and the maximum drop was 12.5 ∘C (Typhoon Fungwong in 2008). The magnitude of the SST drop was larger than most of the observations in the open ocean. The mean duration of the SST drop was 24 h, and on average, 26.1 h were required for the SST to recover to the original temperature. The coastal SST drops at Longdong were correlated with the moving tracks of typhoons. When a typhoon passes south of Longdong, the strong and persistent longshore winds induce coastal upwelling and pump cold water up to the surface, which is the dominant cause of the SST drops along the coast. In this study, it was determined that cold water mainly intruded from the Kuroshio subsurface into the Okinawa Trough, which is approximately 50 km from the observation site. The magnitude of coastal SST drops depends on the area of overlap between typhoons generating strong winds and the Kuroshio. The dataset used in this study can be accessed from https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.895002.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong-Jiing Doong ◽  
Jen-Ping Peng ◽  
Alexander V. Babanin

Abstract. Sea surface temperature (SST) variability affects marine ecosystems, fisheries, ocean primary productivity, and human activities and is the primary influence on typhoon intensity. SST drops of a few degrees in the open ocean after typhoon passages have been widely documented; however, few studies have focused on coastal SST variability. The purpose of this study is to determine typhoon-induced SST drops in the near-coastal area (within 1 km of the coast) and understand the possible mechanism. The results of this study were based on extensive field data analysis. Significant SST drop phenomena were observed at the Longdong buoy in northeastern Taiwan during 43 typhoons over the past 20 years (1998~2017). The mean SST drop (∆SST) after a typhoon passage was 6.1 °C, and the maximum drop was 12.5 °C (Typhoon Fungwong in 2008). The magnitude of SST drop was larger than most of the observations in the open ocean. The mean duration of SST drop was 24 hours, and on average, 26.1 hours were required for the SST to recover to the original temperature. The coastal SST drops at Longdong were correlated with the moving tracks of typhoons. When a typhoon passes south of Longdong, the strong and persistent longshore winds induce coastal upwelling and pump cold water up to the surface, which is the dominant cause of SST drops along the coast. In this study, it was determined that cold water mainly intruded from the Kuroshio subsurface in the Okinawa Trough, which is approximately 50 km from the observation site. The magnitude of coastal SST drops depends on the area of overlap between typhoons generating strong winds and the Kuroshio. The dataset used in this study can be accessed by https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.895002.


Ocean Science ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 491-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. I. Shapiro ◽  
D. L. Aleynik ◽  
L. D. Mee

Abstract. There is growing understanding that recent deterioration of the Black Sea ecosystem was partly due to changes in the marine physical environment. This study uses high resolution 0.25° climatology to analyze sea surface temperature variability over the 20th century in two contrasting regions of the sea. Results show that the deep Black Sea was cooling during the first three quarters of the century and was warming in the last 15–20 years; on aggregate there was a statistically significant cooling trend. The SST variability over the Western shelf was more volatile and it does not show statistically significant trends. The cooling of the deep Black Sea is at variance with the general trend in the North Atlantic and may be related to the decrease of westerly winds over the Black Sea, and a greater influence of the Siberian anticyclone. The timing of the changeover from cooling to warming coincides with the regime shift in the Black Sea ecosystem.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (14) ◽  
pp. 6025-6045
Author(s):  
Jing Sun ◽  
Mojib Latif ◽  
Wonsun Park ◽  
Taewook Park

AbstractThe North Atlantic (NA) basin-averaged sea surface temperature (NASST) is often used as an index to study climate variability in the NA sector. However, there is still some debate on what drives it. Based on observations and climate models, an analysis of the different influences on the NASST index and its low-pass filtered version, the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) index, is provided. In particular, the relationships of the two indices with some of its mechanistic drivers including the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) are investigated. In observations, the NASST index accounts for significant SST variability over the tropical and subpolar NA. The NASST index is shown to lump together SST variability originating from different mechanisms operating on different time scales. The AMO index emphasizes the subpolar SST variability. In the climate models, the SST-anomaly pattern associated with the NASST index is similar. The AMO index, however, only represents pronounced SST variability over the extratropical NA, and this variability is significantly linked to the AMOC. There is a sensitivity of this linkage to the cold NA SST bias observed in many climate models. Models suffering from a large cold bias exhibit a relatively weak linkage between the AMOC and AMO and vice versa. Finally, the basin-averaged SST in its unfiltered form, which has been used to question a strong influence of ocean dynamics on NA SST variability, mixes together multiple types of variability occurring on different time scales and therefore underemphasizes the role of ocean dynamics in the multidecadal variability of NA SSTs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Merchant ◽  
Owen Embury ◽  
Claire E. Bulgin ◽  
Thomas Block ◽  
Gary K. Corlett ◽  
...  

Abstract A climate data record of global sea surface temperature (SST) spanning 1981–2016 has been developed from 4 × 1012 satellite measurements of thermal infra-red radiance. The spatial area represented by pixel SST estimates is between 1 km2 and 45 km2. The mean density of good-quality observations is 13 km−2 yr−1. SST uncertainty is evaluated per datum, the median uncertainty for pixel SSTs being 0.18 K. Multi-annual observational stability relative to drifting buoy measurements is within 0.003 K yr−1 of zero with high confidence, despite maximal independence from in situ SSTs over the latter two decades of the record. Data are provided at native resolution, gridded at 0.05° latitude-longitude resolution (individual sensors), and aggregated and gap-filled on a daily 0.05° grid. Skin SSTs, depth-adjusted SSTs de-aliased with respect to the diurnal cycle, and SST anomalies are provided. Target applications of the dataset include: climate and ocean model evaluation; quantification of marine change and variability (including marine heatwaves); climate and ocean-atmosphere processes; and specific applications in ocean ecology, oceanography and geophysics.


2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 2757-2778 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. J. Burls ◽  
A. V. Fedorov

Abstract The mean east–west sea surface temperature gradient along the equator is a key feature of tropical climate. Tightly coupled to the atmospheric Walker circulation and the oceanic east–west thermocline tilt, it effectively defines tropical climate conditions. In the Pacific, its presence permits the El Niño–Southern Oscillation phenomenon. What determines this temperature gradient within the fully coupled ocean–atmosphere system is therefore a central question in climate dynamics, critical for understanding past and future climates. Using a comprehensive coupled model [Community Earth System Model (CESM)], the authors demonstrate how the meridional gradient in cloud albedo between the tropics and midlatitudes (Δα) sets the mean east–west sea surface temperature gradient in the equatorial Pacific. To change Δα in the numerical experiments, the authors change the optical properties of clouds by modifying the atmospheric water path, but only in the shortwave radiation scheme of the model. When Δα is varied from approximately −0.15 to 0.1, the east–west SST contrast in the equatorial Pacific reduces from 7.5°C to less than 1°C and the Walker circulation nearly collapses. These experiments reveal a near-linear dependence between Δα and the zonal temperature gradient, which generally agrees with results from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) preindustrial control simulations. The authors explain the close relation between the two variables using an energy balance model incorporating the essential dynamics of the warm pool, cold tongue, and Walker circulation complex.


2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shoji Hirahara ◽  
Masayoshi Ishii ◽  
Yoshikazu Fukuda

Abstract A new sea surface temperature (SST) analysis on a centennial time scale is presented. In this analysis, a daily SST field is constructed as a sum of a trend, interannual variations, and daily changes, using in situ SST and sea ice concentration observations. All SST values are accompanied with theory-based analysis errors as a measure of reliability. An improved equation is introduced to represent the ice–SST relationship, which is used to produce SST data from observed sea ice concentrations. Prior to the analysis, biases of individual SST measurement types are estimated for a homogenized long-term time series of global mean SST. Because metadata necessary for the bias correction are unavailable for many historical observational reports, the biases are determined so as to ensure consistency among existing SST and nighttime air temperature observations. The global mean SSTs with bias-corrected observations are in agreement with those of a previously published study, which adopted a different approach. Satellite observations are newly introduced for the purpose of reconstruction of SST variability over data-sparse regions. Moreover, uncertainty in areal means of the present and previous SST analyses is investigated using the theoretical analysis errors and estimated sampling errors. The result confirms the advantages of the present analysis, and it is helpful in understanding the reliability of SST for a specific area and time period.


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