Westward-propagating Signals Research Articles

Decadal variability of nutrients and biomass in the southern region of Kuroshio Extension

The phytoplankton and zooplankton biomass as well as nutrients in the southern region of Kuroshio Extension (KE) presents obvious decadal variability. Both local and remote links between biomass and physical properties are investigated by comparing satellite observations and the outputs from a biological-physical coupled model. The Regional Ocean Model System (ROMS) and Carbon, Silicate, and Nitrogen Ecosystem (CoSiNE) cover the entire Pacific Ocean. The ROMS-CoSiNE model captures the spatial distribution and decadal variation of the key biological variables including phytoplankton and zooplankton biomass and nutrients in the upper ocean around the KE. The decadal variation in the region is mainly caused by the westward-propagating signals that originate from the central and eastern North Pacific. Specifically, these signals are induced by the decadal oscillation of vertical displacement related to large-scale decadal Pacific modes, such as the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation (NGPO). The evidence obtained here includes not only from surface variables (sea surface height and surface chlorophyll) but also from the variables in the deeper ocean (thermocline, subsurface nutrients, upper 100-m phytoplankton and zooplankton biomass) in the KE region. The signals of the variables in the southern KE region significantly lag that of the NPGO in the central and eastern North Pacific by about 2–4 years. The upper ocean nitrogen budget to conducted to evaluate the contribution of vertical and horizontal advection for the decadal variation of nutrients.

Mechanisms of Eddy-Driven Variability of the Florida Current

AbstractIn this study, mechanisms causing year-to-year changes in the Florida Current seasonality are investigated using controlled realistic numerical experiments designed to isolate the western boundary responses to westward-propagating open ocean signals. The experiments reveal two distinct processes by which westward-propagating signals can modulate the phase of the Florida Current variability, which we refer to as the “direct” and “indirect” response mechanisms. The direct response mechanism involves a two-stage response to open ocean anticyclonic eddies characterized by the direct influence of Rossby wave barotropic anomalies and baroclinic wall jets that propagate through Northwest Providence Channel. In the indirect response mechanism, open ocean signals act as small perturbations to the stochastic Gulf Stream variability downstream, which are then transmitted upstream to the Florida Straits through baroclinic coastally trapped signals that can rapidly travel along the U.S. East Coast. Experiments indicate that westward-propagating eddies play a key role in modulating the phase of the Florida Current variability, but not the amplitude, which is determined by its intrinsic variability in our simulations. Results from this study further suggest that the Antilles Current may act as a semipermeable barrier to incoming signals, favoring the interaction through the indirect response mechanism. The mechanisms reported here can be potentially linked to year-to-year changes in the seasonality of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and may also be present in other western boundary current systems.

Distinct Mechanisms of Decadal Subsurface Heat Content Variations in the Eastern and Western Indian Ocean Modulated by Tropical Pacific SST

Decadal variability of the subsurface ocean heat content (OHC) in the Indian Ocean is investigated using a coupled climate model experiment, in which observed eastern tropical Pacific sea surface temperature (EPSST) anomalies are specified. This study intends to understand the contributions of external forcing relative to those of internal variability associated with EPSST, as well as the mechanisms by which the Pacific impacts Indian Ocean OHC. Internally generated variations associated with EPSST dominate decadal variations in the subsurface Indian Ocean. Consistent with ocean reanalyses, the coupled model reproduces a pronounced east–west dipole structure in the southern tropical Indian Ocean and discontinuities in westward-propagating signals in the central Indian Ocean around 100°E. This implies distinct mechanisms by which the Pacific impacts the eastern and western Indian Ocean on decadal time scales. Decadal variations of OHC in the eastern Indian Ocean are attributed to 1) western Pacific surface wind anomalies, which trigger oceanic Rossby waves propagating westward through the Indonesian Seas and influence Indonesian Throughflow transport, and 2) zonal wind anomalies over the central tropical Indian Ocean, which trigger eastward-propagating Kelvin waves. Decadal variations of OHC in the western Indian Ocean are linked to conditions in the Pacific via changes in the atmospheric Walker cell, which trigger anomalous wind stress curl and Ekman pumping in the central tropical Indian Ocean. Westward-propagating oceanic Rossby waves extend the influence of this anomalous Ekman pumping to the western Indian Ocean.

Reduced ascending/descending pass bias in SMOS salinity data demonstrated by observing westward-propagating features in the South Indian Ocean

The European Space Agency (ESA) Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite has been providing data, including sea surface salinity (SSS) measurements, for more than five years. However, the operational ESA Level 2 SSS data are known to have significant spatially and temporally varying biases between measurements from ascending passes (SSSA) and measurements from descending passes (SSSD). This paper demonstrates how these biases are reduced through the use of SSS anomalies. Climatology products are constructed using SMOS Level 2 data to provide daily, one-degree by one-degree climatologies separately for ascending and descending passes using a moving window approach (in time and space). The daily, one-degree products can then be averaged to provide values of climatological SSS at different spatial and/or temporal resolutions. The averaged values of the SMOS climatology products are in good general agreement with data from the World Ocean Atlas 2013. However, there are significant differences at high latitudes, as well as in coastal and dynamic regions, as found by previous studies. Both the mean and standard deviation of the differences between data from ascending passes and data from descending passes for the anomalies are reduced compared with those obtained using the original salinity values. Geophysical signals are clearly visible in the anomaly products and an example is shown in the Southern Indian Ocean of westward-propagating signals that we conclude represent the surface expression of Rossby waves or large-scale non-linear eddies. The signals seen in salinity data agree (in speed) with those from sea surface temperature and sea surface height and are consistent with previous studies.

Kelvin Waves around Antarctica

Abstract The Southern Ocean allows circumpolar structure and the Antarctic coastline plays a role as a waveguide for oceanic Kelvin waves. Under the cyclic conditions, the horizontal wavenumbers and frequencies for circumpolarly propagating waves are quantized, with horizontal wavenumbers 1, 2, and 3, corresponding to periods of about 32, 16, and 11 h, respectively. At these frequencies, westward-propagating signals are detected in sea level variation observed at Antarctic coastal stations. The occurrence frequency of westward-propagating signals far exceeds the statistical significance, and the phase speed of the observed signal agrees well with the theoretical phase speed of external Kelvin waves. Therefore, this study concludes that the observed, westward-propagating sea level variability is a signal of the external Kelvin waves of wavenumbers 1, 2, and 3 around Antarctica. A series of numerical model experiments confirms that Kelvin waves around Antarctica are driven by surface air pressure and that these waves are excited not only by local forcing over the Southern Ocean, but also by remote forcing over the Pacific Ocean. Sea level variations generated over the Pacific Ocean can travel to the western side of the South American coast and cross over Drake Passage to the Antarctic continent, constituting a part of the Kelvin waves around Antarctica.

Deep Meridional Overturning Circulation in the Indian Ocean and Its Relation to Indian Ocean Dipole

Abstract This paper uses the 42-yr German Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (GECCO) synthesis data to analyze and examine the relationship of the Indian Ocean deep meridional overturning circulation (DMOC) with the Indian Ocean dipole mode (IOD). Contributions of various dynamical processes are assessed by decomposing the DMOC into the Ekman and geostrophic transport, the external mode, and a residual term. The first three terms successfully describe the DMOC with a marginal residual term. The following conclusions are obtained. First, the seasonal cycle of the DMOC is mainly determined by the Ekman component. The exception is during the transitional seasons (March–April and September–October) in the northern Indian Ocean Basin, where the geostrophic component dominates. Second, at the beginning phase of the IOD (May–June), the Ekman component dominates the DMOC structure; at and after the peak phase of the IOD (September–December), the DMOC structure is primarily determined by the geostrophic component in correspondence with the well-developed sea surface temperature anomalies, while the wind (and thus the Ekman component) plays a secondary role south of 10°S and contributes negatively within the zonal band of 10° on both sides of the equator. Therefore, there exists a surface to deep-ocean connection through which IOD-related surface wind and ocean temperature anomalies are transferred down to the deep ocean. Westward-propagating signals are observed even in the deep ocean, suggesting possible roles of Rossby waves in transferring the surface signal to the deep ocean.

The Seasonal Effects of ENSO on Atmospheric Conditions Associated with European Precipitation: Model Simulations of Seasonal Teleconnections

Abstract The seasonal upper-tropospheric teleconnection between ENSO and the North Atlantic/European sector is explored through a series of model experiments. A barotropic vorticity equation model is linearized about climatological conditions for each season of the year, and divergence forcing is applied over the equatorial Pacific to mimic El Niño–related convective activity. During boreal fall, winter, and spring, this forcing similarly excites a northeastward-propagating stationary barotropic Rossby wave train that extends across the North Atlantic to the European coast. Strong anomalies develop over the British Isles in the vicinity of the North Atlantic jet exit. Solutions during boreal summer produce no clear wave train; however, evidence exists for a North Atlantic response because of both eastward- and westward-propagating signals. These direct responses over the Atlantic and Europe are qualitatively similar to observed ENSO-associated anomalies during boreal spring and fall, but differ structurally during summer and winter. Further experiments with the vorticity equation model using full Rossby wave source forcing, which included vorticity advection, increase the amplitude of the response over Europe during some seasons; however, structural differences persist. Finally, experiments with the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM), version 4, reveal that the basic northeastward-propagating response is modulated by downstream feedbacks. These changes are most profound during boreal winter and engender an arching wave train pattern that, matching observations, reflects off the jet over North America, propagates southeastward over the North Atlantic, and fails to reach the European coast. Overall, the simulations with CAM correctly depict observed seasonal changes in the magnitude of the ENSO–North Atlantic/European teleconnection by producing a strong fall and winter response but a weaker spring and summer response. The CAM experiments also indicate that the seasonal response is not dependent on antecedent conditions; however, CAM simulations fail to project the upper-tropospheric anomalies appropriately to the lower troposphere.

Decadal Response of the Kuroshio Extension Jet to Rossby Waves: Observation and Thin-Jet Theory*

AbstractThis study examines interannual to decadal variability of the Kuroshio Extension (KE) jet using satellite altimeter observations from 1993 to 2010. The leading empirical orthogonal function (EOF) mode of sea level variability in the KE region represents the meridional shift of the KE jet, followed by its strength changes with a few month lag. This shift of the KE jet lags atmospheric fluctuations over the eastern North Pacific by about three years. Broad sea level anomalies (SLAs) emerge in the eastern North Pacific 3–4 years before the upstream KE jet shift, and propagate westward along the KE jet axis. In the course of the propagation, the meridional scale of the SLAs gradually narrows, and their amplitude increases. This westward propagation of SLAs with a speed of about 5 cm s−1 is attributed to the westward propagation of the meridional shift of the jet, consistent with the thin-jet theory, whose importance has been suggested by previous numerical studies. In addition, the westward-propagating signals tend to conserve their quasigeostrophic potential vorticity anomaly, which may explain the characteristic changes of SLAs during the propagation. After the westward-propagating signals of positive (negative) SLAs reach at the east coast of Japan, the upstream KE jet strengthens (weakens) associated with the strength changes of the northern and southern recirculation gyres. Interestingly, this strength change of the KE jet propagates eastward with a speed of about 6 cm s−1, suggesting an importance of advection by the current.

A Madden-Julian Oscillation Event Realistically Simulated by a Global Cloud-Resolving Model

A Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) is a massive weather event consisting of deep convection coupled with atmospheric circulation, moving slowly eastward over the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Despite its enormous influence on many weather and climate systems worldwide, it has proven very difficult to simulate an MJO because of assumptions about cumulus clouds in global meteorological models. Using a model that allows direct coupling of the atmospheric circulation and clouds, we successfully simulated the slow eastward migration of an MJO event. Topography, the zonal sea surface temperature gradient, and interplay between eastward- and westward-propagating signals controlled the timing of the eastward transition of the convective center. Our results demonstrate the potential making of month-long MJO predictions when global cloud-resolving models with realistic initial conditions are used.

Space–time variations of the TOPEX/POSEIDON-derived heat storage anomaly over the Kuroshio upstream regions

I processed 9.6 years of TOPEX/POSEIDON (T/P) altimeter data and computed the time series of heat storage (HS) anomaly over the Kuroshio upstream regions. Coherence between the heat storage anomaly and the wind stress curl is significant (>0.8) at the annual component over the studied area. Using wavelet analysis, the semiannual component has significantly westward propagating signals at 19 and 27°N. The annual component is significantly strong at 11 and 27°N while westward-propagating signals can be found at the North Equatorial Current regions. The peaks of the annual components of heat storage anomalies occur in summer and the peaks of the annual components of wind stress curl exit in winter. However, generally, the wind stress curl lows are 1 month ahead of the peaks of heat storage anomalies at 1-year component.