Physical processes that drive the seasonal evolution of the Southwestern Tropical Atlantic Warm Pool |
| |
| Institution: | 1. Centro de Estudos do Mar, CEM, Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Av. Beira Mar s/n, Pontal do Paraná, 83255-000, PR, Brazil;2. Departamento de Física da Terra e do Meio Ambiente, da Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), Campus Ondina, Salvador 40170-280, BA, Brazil;3. LOCEAN-IRD/CNRS/UPMC/MNHN, UMR 7159, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 4 Place Jussieu, Paris, 75252, France;4. Fundação Cearense de Meteorologia e Recursos Hídricos (FUNCEME), Av. Rui Barbosa 1246, Fortaleza, 60115-221, CE, Brazil;5. Departamento de Oceanografia da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco—UFPE Cidade Universitária, Av. Arquitetura, s/n, Recife, 50740-550, PE, Brazil;1. ITEAM, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera, s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain;2. ICITECH, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera, s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain;1. Department of Earth Science, University of Rome Sapienza, P.le A. Moro, 5, 00185 Rome, Italy;2. CNR-IGAG (Istituto di Geologia Ambientale e Geoingegneria), UOS Roma, P.le A. Moro, 5, 00185 Rome, Italy;1. School of Human Settlements and Civil Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China;2. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1063, USA;3. State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an 710075, China |
| |
| Abstract: | The thermodynamics of the seasonal evolution of the Southwestern Tropical Atlantic Warm Pool (hereafter SWTAWP), which is delimited by the 28 °C isotherm, is investigated using the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS). Results indicate that the net heat flux is responsible for the appearance and extinction of the SWTAWP. From March to May, the SWTAWP attains its maximum development and sometimes merges with equatorial warm waters towards the African continent, whose development follows the same period. Along the equator, the combination of oceanic terms (i.e., advection and diffusion) is important to promote the separation – when it occurs – of equatorial warm waters from southwestern tropical waters, which develops off the Brazilian coast. An analysis of the relative contribution of the temperature tendency terms of the mixed layer (ML) heat budget over the appearance, development and extinction of the SWTAWP is also done. The most important term for warming and cooling inside of the ML is the net heat flux at the sea surface. The ML is heated by the atmosphere between October and April, whereas the upper ocean cools down between May and September. The highest heat content values occur during the lower-temperature period (August to October), which is linked to the deepening of the ML during this time period. The horizontal advection along the equator is important, particularly at the eastern domain, which is influenced by the cold tongue. In this area, the vertical diffusive term is also significant; however, it presents values near zero outside the equator. These results contribute to a better understanding of the behavior of the heat budget within the tropical Atlantic, as previous studies over this region focused along the equator only. |
| |
| Keywords: | Air–sea interactions Heat budget Mixed layer Net heat flux Seasonal cycle Tropical Atlantic |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ |
|
