Far‐reaching Hawaiian Lee Countercurrent driven by wind‐stress curl induced by warm SST band along the current

Abstract

Two eddy‐resolving ocean simulations are carried out to study local air‐sea interaction associated with the Hawaiian Lee Countercurrent (HLCC), one forced by the QuikSCAT satellite wind field (QSCAT run) and the other by the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis (NCEP run). The simulated HLCC in the QSCAT run extends west‐southwestward from the Hawaiian Islands much farther than that in the NCEP run. We attribute this difference to difference in the wind fields. In the QSCAT wind field, there exist band‐like structures of positive and negative wind stress curls induced by warm sea surface temperature band associated with the HLCC; however, these features are not apparent in the reanalysis wind field. The QSCAT run provides a good example of local two‐way air‐sea interactions in association with the HLCC. Furthermore, interannual variations are suggested in both the simulated HLCC and wind fields over the HLCC.