北太平洋副热带海洋环流气候变化研究

北太平洋副热带环流的变化在全球气候变化和热量的经向输送中占重要地位。本文对近10年有关北太平洋副热带海洋环流气候变化的研究进行了综述。主要研究成果有：用卫星高度计首次观测到全球海洋Rossby波的传播特征；确定了气候意义下北太平洋副热带逆流为2支．揭示了其中一支与北太平洋模态水的存在有关，另一支是夏威夷群岛附近海洋．大气-陆地相互作用的结果；首次发现了台湾以东黑潮流量有显著的准100天振荡等。本文还提出了在北太平洋副热带环流研究中目前存在的新科学问题。     

Indices of strength and location for the North Pacific Subtropical and Subpolar Gyres

The adjustment of the North Pacific Subtropical and Subpolar Gyres towards changes in wind stress leads to different time-scale variabilities, which plays a significant role in climate changes. Based on the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) and Global Ocean Data Assimilation System (GODAS) datasets, the variations of the Subtropical and Subpolar Gyres are diagnosed using "three-dimension Ocean Circulation Diagnostic Method", and established three types of index series describe the strength, meridional and depth center of the Subtropical and Subpolar Gyres. The above indices present the seasonal, interannual and interdecadal variabilities of the Subtropical and Subpolar Gyres, which proves well. Both the Gyres are the strongest in winter, but the Subtropical Gyre is the weakest in summer and the Subpolar Gyre is the weakest in autumn. The Subtropical Gyre moves northward from February to March, southward in October, and to the southernmost in around January, while the Subpolar Gyre moves northward in spring, southward in summer, northward again in autumn and reaching the extreme point in winter to the south. The common feature of the interannual and interdecadal variabilities is that the two gyres were weaker and to the north before 1976-1977, while they were stronger and to the south after 1976-1977. The Subpolar Gyre has made a paramount contribution to the variability on interdecadal scales. As is indicated with the Subpolar Gyre strength indices, there was an important shift from weak to strong around 1976-1977, and the correlation coefficient with the North Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) indices was 0.45, which was far better than that between the Subtropical Gyre strength indices and the PDO. Tests show that influenced by small and mesoscale eddies, the magnitude of large-scale gyres strength is strongly dependent on data resolution. But seasonal interannual and interdecadal large-scale variabilities of the two gyres presented with indices is less affected by model resolution.     

东南印度洋各锋位置和走向的季节变化及其与风场变化的关系

利用剖面浮标的温盐观测资料和上层温度观测资料以及ECCO风应力数据研究了东南印度洋各主要海洋锋的位置、走向和风场的季节变化,并初步分析了亚热带锋(STF)和亚南极锋(SAF)的成锋机制.季节平均的夏季和冬季厄加勒斯锋(AF)分别可以延伸到80°E和82°E,AF在多数情况下可能与SAF和南亚热带锋(SSTF)汇合共同通过Kerguelen-Amsterdam Passage.在克尔盖伦海台以东海盆区,冬季SAF和PF的路径均比夏季偏南,在其他海域二者路径的季节差别不大.克尔盖伦海台以东的深海盆由北向南正负风应力旋度高值中心交替出现,且位置季节变化很小.85°~105°E之间零风应力旋度线位置冬季比夏季偏北.STF位于辐聚区,埃克曼抽吸导致的表层水辐聚可能是STF产生和维持的原因.SAF位置的季节南北摆动幅度小于风应力零旋度线的季节摆动幅度,夏季SAF位置略偏于风应力正旋度区,而冬季大多位于负旋度区,因此风应力旋度不是SAF形成的直接原因.     

An eastward flow at lower middle latitudes derived from a three-layer model of a wind-driven ocean circulation

The steady state wind-driven circulation in an immiscible three-layer ocean bounded only by a meridional east coast and a flat bottom is studied. Particular attention is paid to the occurrence of internal modes of motions in the Sverdrup transports (Sverdrup, 1947). The thicknesses of the upper two layers are of the same order and are allowed to vary up to the same order as the layer thicknesses themselves. Frictional transfer of momentum across the interfaces and the frictional boundary layer at the east coast are neglected. An eastward flow is obtained in the uppermost layer at lower middle latitudes. Though the particular feature in the wind-stress distribution as revealed byYoshida andKidokoro (1967a, 1967b) is not taken into account, the results show good agreement with the observed flow pattern of the Subtropical Countercurrent. Beneath the Subtropical Countercurrent a westward flow is predicted. These flows exhibit an internal mode of motions associated with a subsurface thermal front.     

Low-frequency variations of the Eastern Subtropical Front in the North Pacific in an eddy-resolving ocean general circulation model: roles of central mode water in the formation and maintenance

Temporal variations (1960–2005) of the Eastern Subtropical Front (ESTF) in the North Pacific are investigated using historical-run output data of the eddy-resolving Meteorological Research Institute Community Ocean Model, forced by atmospheric reanalysis dataset. Simulated ESTF is distributed in a region of zonal band of 24°N–30°N east of the International Date Line, and is located at the southern boundary of the central mode water (CMW) north of the front. The ESTF intensity clearly shows an interdecadal variation with a timescale of about 20?years. This variation is associated with that in the potential vorticity of CMW, which originates in the CMW formation region farther north about 3?years earlier due to changes in the surface wind forcing.     

Long-Term Variability of North Pacific Subtropical Mode Water in Response to Spin-Up of the Subtropical Gyre

The Meteorological Research Institute's ocean general circulation model (MRI-OGCM) has been used to investigate the temperature variability of the North Pacific Subtropical Mode Water (NPSTMW) over a time series longer than 5 years via the spin-up of the subtropical gyre. Besides an interannual variation, the wintertime sea surface temperature in the area where the NPSTMW is formed, and the temperature of the NPSTMW itself, both change remarkably in a >5-year time scale. An analysis of heat budgets showed that the long-term changes in NPSTMW temperature are due mainly to a leading advection of heat by the Kuroshio Extension and compensating surface heat flux. As a result of a dynamical adjustment to the wind stress fields, the transports of the Kuroshio and the Kuroshio Extension increased in the mid 1970s with a lag of 3 years after the wind stress curl in the central North Pacific. The increased heat advection by the Kuroshio Extension induces a warming in the mixed layer in the NPSTMW formation area, followed by a warming of the NPSTMW itself. Both these warming actions increase the heat release to the atmosphere. These results imply that the surface heat flux over the Kuroshio Extension area varies in response to the change in the ocean circulation through the spin-up of the subtropical gyre. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Review on North Pacific Subtropical Countercurrents and Subtropical Fronts: role of mode waters in ocean circulation and climate

A Subtropical Countercurrent (STCC) is a narrow eastward jet on the equator side of a subtropical gyre, flowing against the broad westward Sverdrup flow. Together with theories, recent enhanced observations and model simulations have revealed the importance of mode waters in the formation and variability of North Pacific STCCs. There are three distinct STCCs in the North Pacific, maintained by low potential vorticity (PV) that mode waters carry from the north. Model simulations show that changes in mode water ventilation result in interannual to interdecadal variations and long-term changes of STCCs. STCCs affect the atmosphere through their surface thermal effects, inducing anomalous cyclonic wind curl and precipitation along them. Thus, mode waters are not merely passive water masses but have dynamical and climatic effects. For temporal variability, atmospheric forcings are also suggested to be important in addition to the variability of mode waters. STCCs exist in other oceans and they are also flanked by mode waters on their poleward sides, suggesting that they are maintained by similar dynamics.     

Splitting of the subtropical gyre in the western North Pacific

Examined here is a hypothetical idea of the splitting of the subtropical gyre in the western North Pacific on the basis of two independent sources of data,i.e., the long-term mean geopotential-anomaly data compiled by the Japanese Oceanographic Data Center and the synoptic hydrographic (STD) data taken by the Hakuho Maru in the source region of the Kuroshio and the Subtropical Countercurrent in the period February and March 1974. Both of the synoptic and the long-term mean dynamic-topographic maps reveal three major ridges, which indicate that the western subtropical gyre is split into three subgyres. Each subgyre is made up of the pair of currents, the Kuroshio and the Kuroshio Countercurrent, the Subtropical Countercurrent and a westward flow lying just south of the Countercurrent (18°N–21°N), and the northern part of the North Fquatorial Current and an eastward flow at around 18°N. The subgyres are more or less composed of a train of anticyclonic eddies with meridional scales of between 300 and 600 km, so that the volume transport of the subgyres varies by a factor of two or more from section to section. The upper-water characteristics also support the splitting of the subtropical gyre; the water characteristics are fairly uniform within each subgyre, but markedly different between them. The northern rim of each subgyre appears as a sharp density front accompanied by an eastward flow. The bifurcations of the sharp density fronts across the western boundary current indicate that the major part of the surface waters in the North Equatorial Countercurrent is not brought into the Kuroshio. The western boundary current appears as a continuous feature of high speed, but the waters transported change discontinuously at some places.     

Low-frequency variations of the Gulf-Stream transport: description and mechanisms

On the basis of the contemporary array of oceanographic and hydrometeorological data, we compute the characteristics of variations of the Gulf-Stream transport in 1950–2004. The role played by the low-frequency oscillations of vorticity of the wind field and turbulent heat fluxes in the North Atlantic in the formation of the analyzed variations is estimated. We reveal a significant (on a 5% confidence level) positive linear trend of the monthly average Gulf-Stream transport manifested in the increase in the Gulf-Stream transport by 13 Sv for the investigated period. On the basis of the established estimates, we make a conclusion that about a quarter of the interannual variations of the Gulf-Stream transport is caused by the low-frequency oscillations of vorticity of the wind field in the Subtropical Atlantic. Moreover, the Gulf-Stream transport is delayed relative to the wind oscillations by about 2 yr. An important role in the changes in the Gulf-Stream transport is played by the response of the system of west boundary currents to the quasiperiodic action of turbulent heat fluxes on the surface of the ocean connected with the North-Atlantic Oscillation. The intensification of turbulent heat fluxes in the Northern Subpolar Cyclonic Gyre and their weakening in the north part of the Subtropical Anticyclonic Gyre are accompanied by the intensification of the Gulf Stream observed after 3–5 yr. The anomalies of turbulent heat fluxes of the opposite sign are followed by weakening of the Gulf Stream also after a period of 3–5 yr. We also mention a potentially important role played the Pacific decadal oscillation in maintaining the decadal variations of the intensity of Gulf Stream. The influence of this oscillation on the Gulf-Stream transport is realized both via the changes in the wind field in different phases of oscillations and due to its influence on the heat exchange of the ocean with the atmosphere.     

Significance of non‐rotational wind stress in the seasonal variation of continental torque

The physical mechanism by which seasonally varying atmospheric wind stress exerted on the sea surface is communicated to the solid earth as oceanic pressure torque (continental torque) and bottom frictional torque is investigated with a linear shallow‐water numerical model of barotropic oceans. The model has a realistic land–ocean distribution and is driven by a seasonally varying climatic wind stress. A novel way to decompose the wind stress into rotational and non‐rotational components is devised. The rotational component drives ocean circulations as classical theories of wind‐driven circulations demonstrate. The non‐rotational component does not produce ocean circulations within the framework of a barotropic shallow‐water model, but balances with the pressure gradient force due to surface displacement in the steady state. Based on this decomposition, it is shown that most of the continental torque which plays a major role in producing the seasonal variation of length of day (LOD) is caused by the non‐rotational component of the wind stress. Both continental torque due to the wind‐driven circulation produced by the rotational component of the wind stress and the bottom frictional torque are of minor importance.     

热带海洋中非稳定波的不对称现象

热带非稳定波（ＴＩＷｓ）关于赤道的径向不对称是其突出特征之一。本文利用二层半线性海洋模式研究各种不对称背景条件对非稳定波不对称性的影响。结果表明，在大西洋和太平洋上热带非稳定波（ＴＩＷｓ）的不对称性似是由于南赤道流的两个分支和海面温度锋面对于赤道的不对称性，而不是由于北赤道逆流的出现。     

Phytoplankton, nutrients and hydrography in the frontal zone between the Southwest Indian Subtropical gyre and the Southern Ocean

A survey was made of the Southwest Indian Ocean frontal region between 30 and 50°E containing the Agulhas Return, Subtropical and Subantarctic Fronts. From CTD, SeaSoar and extracted samples the distribution of nitrate, silicate and chlorophyll a is shown to be strongly linked to the front and water mass structure, varying zonally and meridionally. Surface chlorophyll a concentrations were low to the north and south leaving a band of elevated chlorophyll between the Subtropical and Subantarctic Fronts. The low concentration of chlorophyll a to the north, in Subtropical Water, was clearly due to nitrate limitation. Between the Subtropical and Subantarctic Fronts, where the chlorophyll a concentrations were highest, the surface layer showed silicate depletion limiting diatom growth. South of the Subantarctic Front there were deep extending, low concentrations of chlorophyll a, but despite plentiful supplies of macro-nutrients and a well-stratified surface layer, high concentrations of chlorophyll a were absent. Changes from west to east were associated with the meandering of the Southern Ocean Fronts, especially the Subtropical Front, and their strength and proximity to each other. Concentrations of chlorophyll a peaked where the Agulhas Return, Subtropical and Subantarctic Fronts were in close proximity. Combined frontal structures appear to have particularly pronounced vertical stability and are associated with enhanced upwelling of nutrients and leakage of nutrients across the front. Light levels are high within the shallow stable layer. Such conditions are clearly favourable for biological growth and support the development of larger-celled phytoplankton communities.     

Interannual variability of the North Pacific Subtropical Countercurrent: role of local ocean–atmosphere interaction

Seasonal and interannual variability of the Subtropical Countercurrent (STCC) in the western North Pacific are investigated using observations by satellites and Argo profiling floats and an atmospheric reanalysis. The STCC displays a clear seasonal cycle. It is strong in late winter to early summer with a peak in June, and weak in fall. Interannual variations of the spring STCC are associated with an enhanced subtropical front (STF) below the surface mixed layer. In climatology, the SST front induces a band of cyclonic wind stress in May north of the STCC on the background of anticyclonic curls that drive the subtropical gyre. The band of cyclonic wind and the SST front show large interannual variability and are positively correlated with each other, suggesting a positive feedback between them. The cyclonic wind anomaly is negatively correlated with the SSH and SST below. The strong (weak) cyclonic wind anomaly elevates (depresses) the thermocline and causes the fall (rise) in the SSH and SST, accelerating (decelerating) STCC to the south. It is suggested that the anomalies in the SST front and STCC in the preceding winter affect the subsequent development of the cyclonic wind anomaly in May. Results from our analysis of interannual variability support the idea that the local wind forcing in May causes the subsequent variations in STCC.     

Interannual variations in the Hawaiian Lee Countercurrent

The Hawaiian Lee Countercurrent (HLCC) is an eastward surface current flowing against the broad westward flow of the North Pacific subtropical circulation. Analyses of satellite altimeter data over 16 years revealed that the HLCC is characterized by strong interannual variations. The strength and meridional location of the HLCC axis varied significantly year by year. The eastward velocity of the HLCC was higher when the location of the axis was stable. Mechanisms for the interannual variations were explored by analyses of the altimeter data and results from a simple baroclinic model. The interannual variations in the strength of the HLCC did not correlate with those of the wind stress curl (WSC) dipole formed on the leeward side of the Hawaii Islands, although the WSC dipole has been recognized as the generation mechanism of the HLCC. Meridional gradients of the sea surface height anomaly (SSHA) across the HLCC generated by baroclinic Rossby waves propagating westward from the east of the Hawaii Islands were suggested as a possible mechanism for the interannual variations in the HLCC. The spatial patterns in the observed SSHAs were reproduced by a linear baroclinic Rossby wave model forced by wind fields from a numerical weather prediction model. Further analysis of the wind data suggested that positive and negative anomalies of WSC associated with changes in the trade winds in the area east of the Hawaii Islands are a major forcing for generating SSHAs that lead to the HLCC variations with a time lag of about 1 year.     

Variability of the meridional transport processes in the Southern Ocean and its possible relation to El Niño

The article deals with the influence of wind and atmospheric pressure on the barotropic variability of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). This effect is studied using a global barotropic model under idealized and realistic atmospheric forcings. The results of barotropic modeling demonstrate that variations in the wind forcing over the ACC, together with the effects of the topography and coastline, lead to the variability in the meridional water flux in the Southern Ocean. The variability of these fluxes is negatively correlated with the wind strength over the ACC. A possible link between the short-period variability of the water flux in the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean and El Niño is demonstrated using 3D ocean modeling and correlation analysis. It is shown that the variability of the meridional water flux caused by atmospheric perturbations over the ACC can lead to short-period density anomalies in the Southern Ocean north of 47°S, which later can be transferred to low latitudes by means of the wave mechanism described in [15] and strongly influence the tropical region.     

A spectral barotropic model of the wind-driven world ocean

A global spectral barotropic ocean model is introduced to describe the depth-averaged flow. The equations are based on vorticity and divergence (instead of horizontal momentum); continents exert a nearly infinite drag on the fluid. The coding follows that of spectral atmospheric general circulation models using triangular truncation and implicit time integration to provide a first step for seamless coupling to spectral atmospheric global circulation models and an efficient method for filtering of ocean wave dynamics. Five experiments demonstrate the model performance: (i) Bounded by an idealized basin geometry and driven by a zonally uniform wind stress, the ocean circulation shows close similarity with Munk’s analytical solution. (ii) With a real land–sea mask the model is capable of reproducing the spin-up, location and magnitudes of depth-averaged barotropic ocean currents. (iii) The ocean wave-dynamics of equatorial waves, excited by a height perturbation at the equator, shows wave dispersion and reflection at eastern and western coastal boundaries. (iv) The model reproduces propagation times of observed surface gravity waves in the Pacific with real bathymetry. (v) Advection of tracers can be simulated reasonably by the spectral method or a semi-Langrangian transport scheme. This spectral barotropic model may serve as a first step towards an intermediate complexity spectral atmosphere–ocean model for studying atmosphere–ocean interactions in idealized setups and long term climate variability beyond millennia.     

A spectral barotropic model of the wind-driven world ocean

A global spectral barotropic ocean model is introduced to describe the depth-averaged flow. The equations are based on vorticity and divergence (instead of horizontal momentum); continents exert a nearly infinite drag on the fluid. The coding follows that of spectral atmospheric general circulation models using triangular truncation and implicit time integration to provide a first step for seamless coupling to spectral atmospheric global circulation models and an efficient method for filtering of ocean wave dynamics. Five experiments demonstrate the model performance: (i) Bounded by an idealized basin geometry and driven by a zonally uniform wind stress, the ocean circulation shows close similarity with Munk’s analytical solution. (ii) With a real land–sea mask the model is capable of reproducing the spin-up, location and magnitudes of depth-averaged barotropic ocean currents. (iii) The ocean wave-dynamics of equatorial waves, excited by a height perturbation at the equator, shows wave dispersion and reflection at eastern and western coastal boundaries. (iv) The model reproduces propagation times of observed surface gravity waves in the Pacific with real bathymetry. (v) Advection of tracers can be simulated reasonably by the spectral method or a semi-Langrangian transport scheme. This spectral barotropic model may serve as a first step towards an intermediate complexity spectral atmosphere–ocean model for studying atmosphere–ocean interactions in idealized setups and long term climate variability beyond millennia.     

Subtropical Mode Water south of Honshu,Japan in the spring of 1988 and 1989

The distribution and characteristics of Subtropical Mode Water (STMW) south of Honshu, the main island of Japan, were investigated using CTD, XBT, and dissolved oxygen data taken by the research vessels in the spring of 1988 and 1989. A comparatively low inventory of STMW was shown in spring 1988 during the large-meander period of the Kuroshio south of Honshu, while in spring 1989 during the non-large-meander period, the observation showed a considerable inventory of STMW which had outcropped east of 140°E in the preceding winter. These observations, together with published temperature maps, surface current charts, time series of vertical temperature profiles along 140°E, and wintertime Monsoon Index consistently support the climatology of the STMW circulation recently presented by the authors. That is, the change of the Kuroshio Countercurrent associated with the large meander of the Kuroshio most likely cuts off the westward/southwestward advection of STMW from its formation area east of 140°E.     

Formation mechanism of the Weddell Sea Polynya and the impact on the global abyssal ocean

An experiment using a global ocean–ice model with an interannual forcing data set was conducted to understand the variability in the Southern Ocean. A winter-persisting polynya in the Weddell Sea (the Weddell Polynya, WP) was simulated. The process of WP breaking out after no-WP years was explored using the successive WPs found in the late 1950s. The results suggested that the anomalously warm deep water, saline surface layer, and a cyclonic wind stress over the Maud polynya region in early winter are essential for the surface layer to be dense enough to trigger deep convections which maintain a winter-persisting polynya; also, the reanalyzed surface air temperature (SAT) over the observed polynya region is too high for an ocean–ice model’s bulk formula to yield sufficient upward heat fluxes to induce WP formation. Therefore the Weddell Polynya, a series of WPs observed from satellite in the mid-1970s, is reproduced by replacing the SAT with a climatological one. Subsequent to the successive WP events, density anomalies excited in the Weddell Sea propagate northward in the Atlantic deep basins. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is enhanced through the increased meridional density gradient. The enhanced ACC and its meandering over the abyssal ridges excite buoyancy anomalies near the bottom at the southwestern end of the South Pacific basin. The buoyancy signals propagate northward and eventually arrive in the northern North Pacific.