Abstract
Abstract The interannual heat budget of the Pacific equatorial upwelling zone is studied using a primitive equation, a reduced gravity model of the upper Pacific equatorial ocean. The model is forced with monthly mean FSU winds from 1971 to 1990. A meridional overturning cell transports heat poleward with poleward flowing warm surface water compensated by colder, deeper equatorward flow. A horizontal cell transports heat equatorward as warmer equatorward flow, which enters the equatorial zone near the western boundary to feed the Equatorial Undercurrent, is compensated by colder poleward flow in the eastern basin. The heat transported by transient eddies is equatorward. Heat transport anomalies from the 20-year mean balance the time rate of change of heat content on interannual and seasonal timescales. Anomalies of surface heat flux do not contribute significantly to the interannual heat budget. Although each simulated ENSO event develops differently, similarities in the interannual heat budget emerge. He...
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