Northward transport of pacific summer water along the Northwind Ridge in the Western Arctic Ocean

The recent sea-ice reduction in the Arctic Ocean is not spatially uniform, but is disproportionally large around the Northwind Ridge and Chukchi Plateau compared to elsewhere in the Canada Basin. In the Northwind Ridge region, Pacific Summer Water (PSW) delivered from the Bering Sea occupies the subsurface layer. The spatial distribution of warm PSW shows a quite similar pattern to the recent ice retreat, suggesting the influence of PSW on the sea-ice reduction. To understand the regionality of the recent ice retreat, we examine the dynamics and timing of the delivery of the PSW into this region. Here, we adopt a two-layer linearized potential vorticity equation to investigate the behavior of Rossby waves in the presence of a topographic discontinuity in the high latitude ocean. The analytical results show a quite different structure from those of mid-latitude basins due to the small value of β. Incident barotropic waves excited by the sea-ice motion with large annual variation can be scattered into both barotropic and baroclinic modes at the discontinuity. Since the scattered baroclinic Rossby wave with annual frequency cannot propagate freely, a strong baroclinic current near the topographic discontinuity is established. The seasonal variation of current near the topographic discontinuity would cause a kind of selective switching system for shelf water transport into the basin. In our simple analytical model, the enhanced northward transport of summer water and reduced northward transport of winter water are well demonstrated. The present study indicates that these basic dynamics imply that a strengthening of the surface forcing during winter in the Canada Basin could cause sea-ice reduction in the Western Arctic through the changes of underlying Pacific Summer Water.     

Atlas of Japan (East) Sea hydrographic properties in summer, 1999

Hydrographic properties from CTD and discrete bottle sample profiles covering the Japan (East) Sea in summer, 1999, are presented in vertical sections, maps at standard depths, maps on isopycnal surfaces, and as property–property distributions. This data set covers most of the Sea with the exception of the western boundary region and northern Tatar Strait, and includes nutrients, pH, alkalinity, and chlorofluorocarbons, as well as the usual temperature, salinity, and oxygen observations.     

A Comparison of Simulated Particle Fluxes Using NEMURO and Other Ecosystem Models in the Western North Pacific

JGOFS has revealed the importance of marine biological activity to the global carbon cycle. Ecological models are valuable tools for improving our understanding of biogeochemical cycles. Through a series of workshops, the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES) developed NEMURO (North Pacific Ecosystem Model Understanding Regional Oceanography) a model, specifically designed to simulate the lower trophic ecosystem in the North Pacific Ocean. Its ability to simulate vertical fluxes generated by biological activities has not yet been validated. Here compare NEMURO with several other lower trophic level models of the northern North Pacific. The different ecosystem models are each embedded in a common three-dimensional physical model, and the simulated vertical flux of POM and the biomass of phytoplankton are compared. The models compared are: (1) NEMURO, (2) the Kishi and Nakata Model (Kishi et al., 1981), (3) KKYS (Kawamiya et al., 1995, 2000a, 2000b), and (4) the Denman model (Denman and Peña, 2002). With simple NPZD models, it is difficult to describe the production of POM (Particulate Organic Matter) and hence the simulations of vertical flux are poor. However, if the parameters are properly defined, the primary production can be well reproduced, even though none of models we used here includes iron limitation effects. On the whole, NEMURO gave a satisfactory simulation of the vertical flux of POM in the northern North Pacific.     

Seasonal Variability of Near-Surface Heat Budget of Selected Oceanic Areas in the North Tropical Indian Ocean

The results obtained from an Ocean General Circulation Model (OGCM), the Modular Ocean Model 2.2, forced with the National Center for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research reanalysis data, and observational data have been utilized to document the climatological seasonal cycle of the upper ocean response in the Tropical Indian Ocean. We address the various roles played by the net surface heat flux and the local and remote ocean dynamics for the seasonal variation of near-surface heat budget in the Tropical Indian Ocean. The investigation is based in seven selected boxes in the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and the Equatorial Indian Ocean. The changes of basin-wide heat budget of ocean process in the Arabian Sea and the Western Equatorial Indian Ocean show an annual cycle, whereas those in the Bay of Bengal and the Eastern Equatorial Indian Ocean show a semi-annual cycle. The time tendency of heat budget in the Arabian Sea depends on both the net surface heat flux and ocean dynamics while on the other hand, that in the Bay of Bengal depends mainly on the net surface flux. However, it has been found that the changes of heat budget are very different between western and eastern regional sea areas in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, respectively. This difference depends on seasonal variations of the different local wind forcing and the different ocean dynamics associated with ocean eddies and Kelvin and Rossby waves in each regional sea areas. We also discuss the comparison and the connection for the seasonal variation of near-surface heat budget among their regional sea areas. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Air-Sea Gas Transfer Velocity in Stormy Winter Estimated from Radon Deficiency

Thirteen vertical profiles of ²²⁶Ra and ²²²Rn in the near-surface water were obtained in the western North Pacific in winter, and the gas transfer velocities across the air-sea interface were estimated. The transfer velocities found by applying a steady state model varied widely from 2.1 to 30.2 m day⁻¹ with a mean of 9.4 m day⁻¹. The mean value is almost 5 times higher than that in summer in other oceans, and the maximum value is a record high for world oceans. This is partly due to the inadequacy of the steady state model, which overestimates when stronger winds blow in more recent days than the ²²²Rn half-life of about 4 days. In fact, a strong low pressure zone passed through the station about 2 days earlier, which was one of the low pressure zones that with a period of develop once a week or so in the northwestern North Pacific in winter. Instead of steady-state removal, if half of the radon removal occurred sporadically every 7 days, and the last removal took place two days before the observation, the transfer velocity would be 26 m day⁻¹. Our mean transfer velocity, which is less than 20% different from the steady state value including both overestimated and underestimated values, 9.4 ± 4.8 m day⁻¹, seems to represent the mean state of this region in winter. This suggests that the gas exchange fluxes under extremely rough conditions in the open ocean are larger than those estimated by using a transfer velocity equation with a linear or quadratic relationship with wind speed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Outflow of the Intermediate Oyashio Water from Sagami Bay to the Shikoku Basin

Since the Intermediate Oyashio Water (IOW) gradually accumulates in Sagami Bay, it can reasonably be supposed that the IOW also flows out from Sagami Bay, even though it may be altered by mixing with other waters. We have occasionally observed a water less than 34.2 psu with a potential density of 26.8 at the southeastern area off Izu Peninsula in July 1993 by the training vessel Seisui-maru of Mie University. Observational data supplied by the Japan Meteorological Agency and the Kanagawa Prefectural Fisheries Experimental Station show that the IOW of less than 34.1 psu was observed at northern stations of the line PT (KJ) off the Boso Peninsula and to the east of Oshima in the late spring 1993. Based upon these observations, it is concluded that the IOW flows out from Sagami Bay into the Shikoku Basin along southeastern area off the Izu Peninsula. The less saline water (<34.2 psu) was also observed to the west of Miyake-jima during the same cruise, and the westward intrusion of IOW from south of the Boso Peninsula to the Shikoku Basin through the gate area of the Kuroshio path over the Izu Ridge was detected. This event indicated that the IOW branched south of the Boso Peninsula and flowed into Sagami Bay and/or into the gate area over the Izu Ridge. The southward intrusion of IOW into the south of the Boso Peninsula is discussed in relation to the latitudinal location of the main axes of the Kuroshio and the Oyashio. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

North Pacific Subtropical Mode Waters Observed in Long XBT Cross Sections along 32.5°N Line

The S/V Shoyo, of the Hydrographic Department, Japan Coast Guard, has conducted high-density expendable bathythermograph (XBT) measurements along the 32.5°N line in the North Pacific every year from 1990 to 1993 as a part of the Japanese-World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE). These XBT data are analyzed here, focusing on year-to-year variations of the inventory and core layer temperature (CLT) of the North Pacific subtropical mode water (NPSTMW). Large year-to-year changes are found in the NPSTMW CLTs estimated in longitudes between 140°E and 160°E. CLT values were found of 17.4°C in 1990, 17.1°C in 1991, 17.3°C in 1992 and 17.6°C in 1993. Inspection of the wintertime westerlies over the formation area and sea surface temperature distribution revealed that this change in CLT can be qualitatively attributed to the strength of atmospheric cooling in the formation area in the previous winter. Although a large year-to-year variation of NPSTMW inventory was also found, it is hard to state any relationship between CLT and atmospheric forcing. There is a possibility that different observational seasons may affect the inventory. It has also been found that the thermocline depth in 1991 was shallower in the sea area east of 180° than in 1992 and 1993. Associated with this change, the North Pacific central mode water (NPCMW), characterized by thermostad with temperatures ranging from 14°C to 11°C, appears in the sea area east of 180° in the 1992 and 1993 cross sections. The 1993 cross section, which ranged from the Japanese coast to the west coast of North America, possessed another thermostad in the surface layer, with a temperature of about 17°C in the eastern part of the cross section, off California. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Correction method for full-depth current velocity with lowered acoustic Doppler current profiler (LADCP)

A new method is presented to process and correct full-depth current velocity data obtained from a lowered acoustic Doppler current profiler (LADCP). The analysis shows that, except near the surface, the echo intensity of a reflected sound pulse is closely correlated with the magnitude of the difference in vertical shear of velocity between downcast and upcast, indicating an error in velocity shear. The present method features the use of echo intensity for the correction of velocity shear. The correction values are determined as to fit LADCP velocity to shipboard ADCP (SADCP) and LADCP bottom-tracked velocities. The method is as follows. Initially, a profile of velocity relative to the sea surface is obtained by integrating vertical shears of velocity after low-quality data are rejected. Second, the relative velocity is fitted to the velocity at 100–800 dbar measured by SADCP to obtain an “absolute” velocity profile. Third, the velocity shear is corrected using the relationship between the errors in velocity shears and echo intensity, in order to adjust the velocity at sea bottom to the bottom-tracked velocity measured by LADCP. Finally, the velocity profile is obtained from the SADCP-fitted velocity at depths less than 800 dbar and the corrected velocity shear at depths greater than 800 dbar. This method is valid for a full-depth LADCP cast throughout which the echo intensity is relatively high (greater than 75 dB in the present analysis). Although the processed velocity may include errors of 1–2 cm s⁻¹, this method produced qualitatively good current structures in the Northeast Pacific Basin that were consistent with the deep current structures inferred from silicate distribution, and the averaged velocities were significantly different from those calculated by the Visbeck (2002) method.