scholarly journals Drifter-derived maps of lateral diffusivity in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans in relation to surface circulation patterns

2004 ◽  
Vol 109 (C5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Zhurbas
Keyword(s):  
Surface Circulation ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Circulation Patterns

scholarly journals Coherence between the Great Salt Lake Level and the Pacific Quasi-Decadal Oscillation

2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (8) ◽  
pp. 2161-2177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shih-Yu Wang ◽  
Robert R. Gillies ◽  
Jiming Jin ◽  
Lawrence E. Hipps
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Great Basin ◽  
Lake Level ◽  
Salt Lake ◽  
Western United States ◽  
Water Vapor Flux ◽  
Vapor Flux ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Circulation Patterns ◽  
Precipitation Variation

Abstract The lake level elevation of the Great Salt Lake (GSL), a large closed basin lake in the arid western United States, is characterized by a pronounced quasi-decadal oscillation (QDO). The variation of the GSL elevation is very coherent with the QDO of sea surface temperature anomalies in the tropical central Pacific (also known as the Pacific QDO). However, such coherence denies any direct association between the precipitation in the GSL watershed and the Pacific QDO because, in a given frequency, the precipitation variation always leads the GSL elevation variation. Therefore, the precipitation variation is phase shifted from the Pacific QDO. This study investigates the physical mechanism forming the coherence between the GSL elevation and the Pacific QDO. Pronounced and coherent quasi-decadal signals in precipitation, streamflow, water vapor flux, and drought conditions are found throughout the Great Basin. Recurrent atmospheric circulation patterns develop over the Gulf of Alaska during the warm-to-cool and cool-to-warm transition phases of the Pacific QDO. These circulation patterns modulate the water vapor flux associated with synoptic transient activities over the western United States and, in turn, lead to the QDO in the hydrological cycle of the Great Basin. As the GSL integrates the hydrological responses in the Great Basin, the hydrological QDO is then transferred to the GSL elevation. Because the GSL elevation consistently lags the precipitation by a quarter-phase (about 3 yr in the quasi-decadal time scale), these processes take an average of 6 yr for the GSL elevation to eventually respond to the Pacific QDO. This creates a half-phase delay of the GSL elevation from the Pacific QDO, thereby forming the inverse, yet coherent, relationship between them. Tree-ring reconstructed precipitation records confirm that the quasi-decadal signal in precipitation is a prominent feature in this region.

Ocean circulation

1962 ◽  
Vol 265 (1322) ◽  
pp. 326-328 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Thermohaline Circulation ◽  
Subsurface Water ◽  
Theoretical Treatment ◽  
Equatorial Undercurrent ◽  
Remarkable Feature ◽  
Deep Circulation ◽  
Surface Circulation ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Made In

Although the main features of the surface circulation have been known for hundreds of years, and the water masses below the surface were mapped out by the great systematic surveys made in the period between the two world wars, the amplitude of the deep circulation is still uncertain, and the detail of the subsurface water movements is still in the main unknown. This lack of knowledge is well illustrated by the recent discovery of the Pacific Equatorial Undercurrent, or Cromwell Current. Flowing eastwards with a speed of 2 to 3 knots at 100 m depth below the equator, its transport, according to Knauss (i960) amounts to 40 million cubic metres of water per second, and it extends for at least 3500 miles. The presence of this remarkable feature was not predicted; nevertheless, many notable advances have been made during the last 10 years in the theoretical treatment of the circulation of the ocean, and some predictions are still awaiting observational test. The vertically integrated mass transport of the Gulf Stream was computed by Munk (1950) in terms of the wind stress on the sea surface, and much subsequent study has been devoted to the wind-driven circulation. The internal thermohaline circulation, driven by density differences in the water, remained relatively neglected until Stommel (1958) devised a model which successfully accounted for several known features of the ocean circulation.

scholarly journals Influence of Dardanelles outflow induced thermal fronts and winds on drifter trajectories in the Aegean Sea

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 239 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. GERIN ◽  
V. KOURAFALOU ◽  
P.-M. POULAIN ◽  
Ş. BESIKTEPE
Keyword(s):  
Black Sea ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Aegean Sea ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Strong Connectivity ◽  
Surface Circulation ◽  
Circulation Patterns ◽  
Modelling Studies

The data provided by 12 drifters deployed in the Northern Aegean Sea in the vicinity of the Dardanelles Strait in August 2008 and February 2009 are used to explore the surface circulation of the basin and the connectivity to the Black Sea. The drifters were deployed within the Dardanelles outflow of waters of Black Sea origin in the Northeastern Aegean. Thanks to the particular choice of the drifter deployment positions, the data set provides a unique opportunity to observe the branching behaviour of the surface currents around Lemnos Island. Such pathways were notpossible to study with previous drifter deployments that were far from the Dardanelles Strait. In addition, the drifter tracks covered the Aegean basin quite thoroughly, mapping major circulation features and supporting the overall general circulation patterns described by previous observational and modelling studies. The collected data display cases in which drifters are driven by winds and thermal fronts. Wind products were used to estimate the influence of the atmospheric forcing on the drifter trajectories. Satellite sea surface temperature images were connected to the drifter tracks, demonstrating a high correlation between the remote and in situ observations. The waters of Black Sea origin were traced all the way to the Southern Aegean, establishing a strong connectivity link between the Aegean and Black Sea basins.

scholarly journals The MEDESS-GIB database: tracking the Atlantic water inflow

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 863-887 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. G. Sotillo ◽  
E. Garcia-Ladona ◽  
A. Orfila ◽  
P. Rodríguez-Rubio ◽  
J. C. Maraver ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Science ◽  
Atlantic Water ◽  
Surface Currents ◽  
Strait Of Gibraltar ◽  
Surface Circulation ◽  
Circulation Patterns ◽  
Spatial Coverage ◽  
Code Type ◽  
The Eu

Abstract. On 9 September 2014, an intensive drifter deployment was carried out in the Strait of Gibraltar. In the frame of the EU MED Program MEDESS-4MS, the MEDESS-GIB experiment consisted of the deployment of 35 satellite tracked drifters, mostly of CODE-type, equipped with temperature sensor sampling at a rate of 30 min. Drifters were distributed along and on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar. The MEDESS-GIB deployment plan was designed as to ensure quasi-synoptic spatial coverage. To this end, 4 boats covering an area of about 680 NM2 in 6 h were coordinated. As far as authors know, this experiment is the most important exercise in the area in terms of number of drifters released. Collected satellite-tracked data along drifter trajectories have been quality controlled and processed to build the here presented MEDESS-GIB database. This paper reports the MEDESS-GIB dataset that comprises drifter trajectories, derived surface currents and in situ SST measurements collected along the buoys tracks. This series of data is available through the PANGAEA (Data Publisher for Earth and Environmental Science) repository, with the following doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.853701. Likewise, the MEDESS-GIB data will be incorporated as part of the Copernicus Marine historical products. The MEDESS-GIB dataset provides a complete Lagrangian view of the surface inflow of Atlantic waters through the Strait of Gibraltar and thus, very useful data for further studies on the surface circulation patterns in the Alboran Sea, and their links with one of the most energetic Mediterranean Sea flows: the Algerian Current.

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