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The effect of ocean currents on sea surface temperature anomalies
- Article from:
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Journal of Physical Oceanography
- Article date:
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August 1, 2001
- Author:
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;
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Copyright informationCopyright American Meteorological Society Aug 2001. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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ABSTRACT
Global and regional correlations between observed anomalies in sea surface temperature and height are investigated. A strong agreement between the two fields is found over a broad range of latitudes for different ocean basins. From a global frequency spectrum, a mean SST damping timescale of 2-3 months was found with westward and eastward propagating anomalies contributing more or less equally to the total variance. Time-- longitude plots and wavenumber-frequency spectra show a significant advective forcing of SST anomalies by a first-mode baroclinic eddy or wave field on spatial scales down to 400 km and timescales as short as I month. A scaling analysis of forcing terms in a ...