Recently added articles from Journal of Physical Oceanography:
Surface Circulation at the Tip of the Antarctic Peninsula from Drifters
Jan 01, 2009; ... ABSTRACT An array of 40 surface drifters, drogued at 15-m depth, was deployed in February 2007 to the east of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula as part of the Antarctic Drifter Experiment: Links to Isobaths and Ecosystems (ADELIE) project. Data obtained from these drifters and from a ...
Three-Dimensional Structure of Tropical Cells in the Central Equatorial Pacific Ocean*
Jan 01, 2009; ... ABSTRACT The shallow tropical cells (TCs) in the central equatorial Pacific Ocean are characterized by strong equatorial upwelling, near-surface wind-driven poleward flow, downwelling near the cold tongue boundaries, and equatorward flow below the surface mixed layer. Meridional and ...
Evidence for Enhanced Eddy Mixing at Middepth in the Southern Ocean
Jan 01, 2009; ... ABSTRACT Satellite altimetric observations of the ocean reveal surface pressure patterns in the core of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) that propagate downstream (eastward) but slower than the mean surface current by about 25%. The authors argue that these observations are ...
Estimating Bolus Velocities from Data-How Large Must They Be?
Jan 01, 2009; ... ABSTRACT This paper examines the representation of eddy fluxes by bolus velocities. In particular, it asks the following: 1) Can an arbitrary eddy flux divergence of density be represented accurately by a nondivergent bolus flux that satisfies the condition of no normal flow at ...
On the Climatic Impact of Wind Stress
Jan 01, 2009; ... ABSTRACT A climate model is used to study the climatic impact of the stress exerted on the ocean by the atmosphere. When this stress is set to zero everywhere, the climate becomes much colder, with global-mean near-surface air temperature dropping from 14.8° to 6.1°C. The largest ...
The Influence of Lateral Advection on the Residual Estuarine Circulation: A Numerical Modeling Study of the Hudson River Estuary
Jan 01, 2009; ... ABSTRACT In most estuarine systems it is assumed that the dominant along-channel momentum balance is between the integrated pressure gradient and bed stress. Scaling the amplitude of the estuarine circulation based on this balance has been shown to have predictive skill. However, a ...
Overturning Circulation in an Eddy-Resolving Model: The Effect of the Pole-to-Pole Temperature Gradient
Jan 01, 2009; ... ABSTRACT The effect of the pole-to-pole surface temperature difference on the deep stratification and the strength of the global meridional overturning circulation (MOC) is examined in an eddy-resolving ocean model configured in an idealized domain roughly representing the Atlantic ...
The Statistical Theory of Breaking Entrainment Depth and Surface Whitecap Coverage of Real Sea Waves
Jan 01, 2009; ... ABSTRACT Some basic statistics for wave breaking have been derived based on the statistical model of real sea waves. The analytic expressions of breaking entrainment depth and surface whitecap coverage involved with both sea wave characteristics and surface wind velocity have been ...
Stochastic Forcing of Ocean Variability by the North Atlantic Oscillation
Jan 01, 2009; ... ABSTRACT At middle and high latitudes, the magnitude of stochastic wind stress forcing of the ocean by atmospheric variability on synoptic time scales (i.e., "weather" related variability) is comparable to that of the seasonal cycle. Stochastic forcing may therefore have a significant ...
Estimating Air-Sea Heat Fluxes in Semienclosed Basins: The Case of the Gulf of Elat (Aqaba)
Jan 01, 2009; ... ABSTRACT Meteorological and oceanographic data collected at the head of the Gulf of Elat were used to compute the air-sea heat flux components and the heat storage in the water column, which are in turn used to estimate the heat balance of this semienclosed basin. The solar radiation was ...
Pacific Decadal Variability in the View of Linear Equatorial Wave Theory*
Jan 01, 2009; ... ABSTRACT It has recently been proposed, within the framework of the linear shallow-water equations, that tropical Pacific decadal variability (PDV) can be accounted for by basin modes with eigenperiods of 10 to 20 yr, amplifying a midlatitude wind forcing with an essentially white ...
Noise-Induced Multidecadal Variability in the North Atlantic: Excitation of Normal Modes
Jan 01, 2009; ... ABSTRACT In this paper it is proposed that the stochastic excitation of a multidecadal internal ocean mode is at the origin of the multidecadal sea surface temperature variability in the North Atlantic. The excitation processes of the spatial sea surface temperature pattern associated ...
Atmospheric Control on the Thermohaline Circulation
Jan 01, 2009; ... ABSTRACT In an attempt to elucidate the role of atmospheric and oceanic processes in setting a vigorous ocean overturning circulation in the North Atlantic but not in the North Pacific, a comparison of the observed atmospheric circulation and net surface freshwater fluxes over the North ...
On the Interaction of Time-Variable Flows with a Shelfbreak Canyon
Jan 01, 2009; ... ABSTRACT Process-oriented hydrodynamic modeling is employed to study the interaction of along-slope flows with an idealized submarine shelfbreak canyon. The model is forced via prescription of oscillatory flows superposed on steady background flows of various strength and direction ....
On the Dynamics of the Slope Current System along the West European Margin. Part I: Analytical Calculations and Numerical Simulations with Steady-State Forcing
Dec 01, 2008; ... ABSTRACT The dynamics of the baroclinic slope current system along the western European margin in the Bay of Biscay and along the northern Iberian Peninsula are investigated in two different models, one analytical and one numerical. Investigated here is the hypothesis that the ...
On the Dynamics of the Slope Current System along the West European Margin. Part II: Analytical Calculations and Numerical Simulations with Seasonal Forcing
Dec 01, 2008; ... ABSTRACT The seasonality of the baroclinic slope current system along the western European margin in the Bay of Biscay and along the northern Iberian Peninsula is investigated in a joint analysis of an analytical model and numerical simulations with various forcings. A distinction is ...
Circulation and Exchange in Choked Marginal Seas
Dec 01, 2008; ... ABSTRACT A theory for the exchange between a rotating, buoyancy-forced marginal sea and an ocean is developed and tested numerically. Cooling over the marginal sea leads to sinking and sets up a two-layer exchange flow, with a warm surface layer entering from the ocean and a cool layer ...
Current-Induced Modulation of the Ocean Wave Spectrum and the Role of Nonlinear Energy Transfer
Dec 01, 2008; ... ABSTRACT Numerical simulations were performed to investigate current-induced modulation of the spectral and statistical properties of ocean waves advected by idealized and realistic current fields. In particular, the role of nonlinear energy transfer among waves in wave-current ...
A Diagnostic Model of the Nordic Seas and Arctic Ocean Circulation: Quantifying the Effects of a Variable Bottom Density along a Sloping Topography
Dec 01, 2008; ... ABSTRACT A linear diagnostic model, solving for the time-mean large-scale circulation in the Nordic seas and Arctic Ocean, is presented. Solutions on depth contours that close within the Nordic seas and Arctic Ocean are found from vorticity balances integrated over the areas enclosed by ...
Buoyancy-Forced Downwelling in Boundary Currents
Dec 01, 2008; ... ABSTRACT The issue of downwelling resulting from surface buoyancy loss in boundary currents is addressed using a high-resolution, nonhydrostatic numerical model. It is shown that the net downwelling is determined by the change in the mixed layer density along the boundary. For ...