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Article: The Heat Balance of the Western Hemisphere Warm Pool
- Article from:
- Journal of Climate
- Article date:
- July 15, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright American Meteorological Society Jul 15, 2005. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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ABSTRACT
The thermodynamic development of the Western Hemisphere warm pool and its four geographic subregions are analyzed. The subregional warm pools of the eastern North Pacific and equatorial Atlantic are best developed in the boreal spring, while in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean, the highest temperatures prevail during the early and late summer, respectively. For the defining isotherms chosen (≥27.5°, ≥28.0°, ≥28.5°C) the warm pool depths are similar to the mixed-layer depth (20-40 m) but are considerably less than the Indo-Pacific warm pool depth (50-60 m). The heat balance of the WHWP subregions is examined through two successive types of analysis: first by ...