吕宋海峡附近中尺度涡特征的统计分析

采用1993年1月到2008年12月16a融合海面高度距平数据,追踪吕宋海峡附近海域(18°～23°N,116°～126°E)中尺度涡的移动轨迹,结果表明:时间分辨率为7d的卫星高度计资料难以观测到中尺度涡从西北太平洋通过吕宋海峡传进南海的过程,但对1994年吕宋海峡中部观测到的一个气旋涡及其附近中尺度涡的运动轨迹进行分析可见,西北太平洋海面高度变化会与吕宋海峡内部海面高度耦合后向南海传播。海面高度距平数据的时间-经度图表明,西北太平洋海面高度变化信号在西传至吕宋海峡附近(121°～122°E)时出现信号不连续。对21°N,116°～140°E断面的海面高度距平数据按周期分别为1～3月、3～6月、330～390d(年信号)进行分段带通滤波,发现不同周期的西北太平洋信号穿过吕宋海峡传入南海受到的阻隔作用、向西传播的速度以及它们所受的强迫机制均不同。     

Study on circulation and meso-scale eddies in the South China Sea in summer of 1998

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基于GIS 的南海中尺度涡旋典型过程的特征分析

以具有复杂时空演变过程的海洋中尺度涡旋为研究对象,以定量表达和组织涡旋典型过程案例为前提,基于Global NLOM(Naval Research Laboratory Layered Ocean Model)所得的SSH(Sea Surface Height)、SST(Sea Surface Temperature)和表层海流场,对海洋中尺度涡旋进行综合辨认和动态跟踪。以南海为例,通过提取涡旋典型过程中的典型状态,建立中尺度涡旋典型案例库。然后以库中所有过程案例为对象对涡旋进行GIS(Geographic Information System)时空特征分析。所得结果为:(1)南海中尺度涡旋整体上呈东北-西南向分布,涡旋水平移动速度为3~16 cm/s,平均速度为8.4 cm/s。(2)大部分涡旋向西移动。春夏季涡旋主要向西北方向移动,秋冬季涡旋主要向西南方向移动。(3)南海东北部涡旋主要集中在9~10月以及次年的1~2月发生,涡旋先向西北方向移动,后又转向西南方向移动,大部分中尺度涡旋不能西移太远。南海中部气旋涡主要发生在冬、春两季。一部分涡旋沿陆坡向西南运动,其中一些反气旋涡沿南海海盆向西运动。南海东南部在研究期内只有反气旋涡出现,向西或西北偏西运动,这里的涡旋比较弱,但移动距离较长,也有较长的生命周期。南海西南部夏季出现的涡旋多于冬季,且夏季的绝大部分涡旋以偶极子结构出现,该区域涡旋移动的距离较小。该研究引入GIS技术,基于大量时空数据对具有复杂时空特征的中尺度涡旋的信息进行组织、存储,以期通过对涡旋生消过程的时空分析来揭示其演变规律,为进一步研究海洋涡旋的空间推理预测奠定了坚实的基础。     

Nutrient supply to anticyclonic meso-scale eddies off western Australia estimated with artificial tracers released in a circulation model

The phytoplankton distribution off western Australia in the period from April to October is unique in that high biomass is generally associated with anticyclonic eddies and not with cyclonic eddies. As the western Australian region is oligotrophic this anomalous feature must be related to differing nutrient supply pathways to the surface mixed layer of cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies. A suite of modelled abiotic tracers suggests that cyclonic eddies are predominantly supplied by diapycnal processes that remain relatively weak until June–July, when they rapidly increase because of deepening surface mixed layers, which start to tap into the nutrient-replete waters below the euphotic zone. To the contrary, we find that anticyclonic eddies are predominantly supplied by injection of shelf waters, which carry elevated levels of inorganic nutrients and biomass. These injections start with the formation of the eddies in April–May, continue well into the austral winter and reach as far as several hundred kilometers offshore. The diapycnal supply of nutrients is suppressed in anticyclonic eddies since the injection of warm, low-salinity shelf waters delays the erosion of the density gradient at the base of the mixed layer. Our results are consistent with the observed seasonal cycles of chlorophyll a and observation of particulate organic matter export out of the surface mixed layer of an anticyclonic eddy in the region.     

The role of meso-scale eddies in mixed layer deepening and mode water formation in the western North Pacific

Distributions of mixed layer depths around the centers of anti-cyclonic and cyclonic eddies in the North Pacific Ocean were composited by using satellite-derived sea surface height anomaly data and Argo profiling float data. The composite distributions showed that in late winter, deeper mixed layers were more (less) frequently observed inside the cores of the anti-cyclonic (cyclonic) eddies than outside. This relationship was the clearest in the region of 140°E–160°W and 35°N–40°N, where the temperature and salinity of the deep mixed layers were similar to those of the lighter variety of central mode water (L-CMW). A simple one-dimensional bulk mixed layer model showed that both strong sea-surface heat and momentum fluxes and weak preexisting stratification contributed to formation of the deep mixed layer. These conditions were associated with the anti-cyclonic eddies, suggesting that these eddies are important in the formation of mode waters, particularly L-CMW.     

Resolving eddies by local mesh refinement

Nesting in large-scale ocean modeling is used for local refinement to resolve eddy dynamics that would not be accessible otherwise. Unstructured meshes offer this functionality too by adjusting their resolution according to some goal function. However, by locally refining the mesh one does not necessarily achieve the goal resolution, because the eddy dynamics, in particular the ability of eddies to release the available potential energy, also depend on the dynamics on the upstream coarse mesh. It is shown through a suite of experiments with a zonally re-entrant channel that baroclinic turbulence can be out from equilibrium in wide (compared to a typical eddy size) zones downstream into the refined area. This effect depends on whether or not the coarse part is eddy resolving, being much stronger if it is not. Biharmonic viscosity scaled with the cube of grid spacing is generally sufficient to control the smoothness of solutions on the variable mesh. However, noise in the vertical velocity field may be present at locations where the mesh is varied if momentum advection is implemented in the vector invariant form. Smoothness of vertical velocity is recovered if the flux form of momentum advection is used, suggesting that the noise originates from a variant of the Hollingsworth instability.     

Bachelor-modon type eddies and isolated eddies near the coast on anf-plane

The behavior of isolated meso-scale eddies near the coastal boundary is studied by numerical experiments based on the quasi-geostrophic equation in a basin on an f-plane. First, Bachelor-modon type eddies are investigated as an idealized model of isolated eddies close to the wall. The first-mode Bachelor-modon type eddy is found to be robust enough to recover its original form even after it turns a corner of the basin. In contrast, the second mode is unstable; it tends to move away from the wall and finally splits into two eddies proceeding in opposite directions along the wall. An initially Gaussian eddy a little distant from the boundary interacts with a Bachelor-modon type eddy translating along the boundary, sometimes resulting in vortex merging and pairing just as in the head-on collision of two modons on a beta-plane. It is found that an initially Gaussian eddy located moderately close to the coast rapidly settles down to a steadily translating eddy, which can be approximated remarkably well by a first-mode Bachelor-modon type eddy not only in appearance but also in translation velocity within an error of about 20%.     

Tidal currents influenced by topographic eddies in Uchiumi Bay

In the current record taken in Uchuimi Bay during summer in 1990, we find anomalous features that the tidal currents during spring and neap tides are quite different in both speed and direction, and the transition between them takes place suddenly. Relation between the variation of tidal current and the observed internal tide is examined, but they are poorly correlated. By examining the direction and phase of the current, it is inferred that these anomalous features are caused by the influence of topographic eddies formed perioidically in Uchiumi Bay.     

Western Arctic primary productivity regulated by shelf-break warm eddies

The response of phytoplankton to the Beaufort shelf-break eddies in the western Arctic Ocean is examined using the eddy-resolving coupled sea ice–ocean model including a lower-trophic marine ecosystem formulation. The regional model driven by the reanalysis 2003 atmospheric forcing from March to November captures the major spatial and temporal features of phytoplankton bloom following summertime sea ice retreat in the shallow Chukchi shelf and Barrow Canyon. The shelf-break warm eddies spawned north of the Barrow Canyon initially transport the Chukchi shelf water with high primary productivity toward the Canada Basin interior. In the eddy-developing period, the anti-cyclonic rotational flow along the outer edge of each eddy moving offshore occasionally traps the shelf water. The primary production inside the warm eddies is maintained by internal dynamics in the eddy-maturity period. In particular, the surface central area of an anti-cyclonic eddy acquires adequate light, nutrient, and warm environment for photosynthetic activity partly attributed to turbulent mixing with underlying nutrient-rich water. The simulated biogeochemical properties with the dominance of small-size phytoplankton inside the warm eddies are consistent with the observational findings in the western Arctic Ocean. It is also suggested that the light limitation before autumn sea ice freezing shuts down the primary production in the shelf-break eddies in spite of nutrient recovery. These results indicate that the time lag between the phytoplankton bloom in the shelf region following the summertime sea ice retreat and the eddy generation along the Beaufort shelf break is an important index to determine biological regimes in the Canada Basin.     

Diapycnal nutrient fluxes on the northern boundary of Cape Ghir upwelling region

In this study we estimate diffusive nutrient fluxes in the northern region of Cape Ghir upwelling system (Northwest Africa) during autumn 2010. The contribution of two co-existing vertical mixing processes (turbulence and salt fingers) is estimated through micro- and fine-structure scale observations. The boundary between coastal upwelling and open ocean waters becomes apparent when nitrate is used as a tracer. Below the mixed layer (56.15±15.56 m), the water column is favorable to the occurrence of a salt finger regime. Vertical eddy diffusivity for salt (K_s) at the reference layer (57.86±8.51 m, CI 95%) was 3×10⁻⁵ (±1.89×10⁻⁹, CI 95%) m² s⁻¹. Average diapycnal fluxes indicate that there was a deficit in phosphate supply to the surface layer (6.61×10⁻⁴ mmol m⁻² d⁻¹), while these fluxes were 0.09 and 0.03 mmol m⁻² d⁻¹ for nitrate and silicate, respectively. There is a need to conduct more studies to obtain accurate estimations of vertical eddy diffusivity and nutrient supply in complex transitional zones, like Cape Ghir. This will provide us with information about salt and nutrients exchange in onshore–offshore zones.     

Near-equatorial eddies off South America

A considerable amount of the Amazon River water that is discharged into the equatorial Atlantic is then advected northward along the shelf by the strong North Brazil Current (NBC). Being relatively fresh, this water remains in the near-surface layer and can serve as an excellent tracer for the complex and variable flow of the offshore mesoscale eddies. Both surface salinity observations and CZCS (Coastal Zone Color Scanner) imagery can be mapped to estimate the circulation patterns of the eddies. Presented here are two sets of XBT (expendable bathythermograph) sections that give the thermal structure of eddies off the Demerara Rise (6–9°N). They were occupied nearly contemporaneously with CZCS imagery obtained during October 1980 and November 1981. Several studies have shown from ship drift data, from CZCS observations, and from Geosat altimetry that, particularly during late summer and fall, the NBC is found to retroflect offshore to the east, supplying the North Equatorial Counter Current (NECC) and is associated with eddies along the coast. Good agreement is shown between the CZCS and a NAVOCEANO AXBT (airborne bathythermograph) survey during this period as well as observations of surface phytoplankton and geopotential anomaly from an earlier 1964 survey. Estimates of volume transport within the eddy structure indicate that at times the offshore retroflection during spring as well as autumn can amount to 10 × 10⁶ m³ s^–1. The pronounced eddy variability off South America is shown by comparing a number of past hydrographic surveys. These suggest that considerable spatial variability can occur as can seasonal changes in volume transport of the NBC and the associated eddy circulation.     

Meiofauna meso-scale variability in two estuarine habitats

Spatial and temporal variations in meiofauna abundances were measured for 13 months within two estuarine habitats, an intertidal mudflat and a small, usually subtidal pond. Three locales within each habitat were sampled monthly (nine replicate cores per habitat) to quantify nematode and copepod species within-habitat, meso-scale (m-km) variation. Significant levels of variation were found between habitats (all taxa tested), among locales within habitats (all taxa except the harpacticoid species Microarthridion littorale) and among months. The magnitude of variation differed greatly within the two habitats. Species with marsh affinities predominated in two of the three mudflat locales, while the third locale was predominated by subtidal species. This within-habitat heterogeneity was related to the proximity to the marsh and/or to the position on an exposure gradient. Although significant meso-scale variability was also found in the pond, species responses were more individualistic suggesting that physical gradients were not as influential. These data indicate that meso-scale variability should be considered when planning long-term or baseline meiofauna investigations to assure that the study is representative of the habitat and that subsequent ecological inferences are valid.     

Dimethylsulfide production in Sargasso Sea eddies

Lagrangian time series of dimethylsulfide (DMS) concentrations from a cyclonic and an anticyclonic eddy in the Sargasso Sea were used in conjunction with measured DMS loss rates and a model of vertical mixing to estimate gross DMS production in the upper 60 m during summer 2004. Loss terms included biological consumption, photolysis, and ventilation to the atmosphere. The time- and depth (0–60 m)-averaged gross DMS production was estimated to be 0.73±0.09 nM d⁻¹ in the cyclonic eddy and 0.90±0.15 nM d⁻¹ in the anticyclonic eddy, with respective DMS replacement times of 5±1 and 6±1 d. The higher estimated rate of gross production and lower measured loss rate constants in the anticyclonic eddy were equally responsible for this eddy's 50% higher DMS inventory (0–60 m). When normalized to chlorophyll and total dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), estimated gross production in the anticyclonic eddy was about twice that in the cyclonic eddy, consistent with the greater fraction of phytoplankton that were DMSP producers in the anticyclonic eddy. Higher rates of gross production were estimated below the mixed layer, contributing to the subsurface DMS maximum found in both eddies. In both eddies, gas exchange, microbial consumption, and photolysis were roughly equal DMS loss terms in the surface mixed layer (0.2–0.4 nM d⁻¹). Vertical mixing was a substantial source of DMS to the surface mixed layer in both eddies (0.2–0.3 nM d⁻¹) owing to the relatively high DMS concentrations below the mixed layer. Estimated net biological DMS production rates (gross production minus microbial consumption) in the mixed layer were substantially lower (by almost a factor of 3) than those estimated in a previous study of the Sargasso Sea, which may explain the relatively low mixed-layer DMS concentrations found here during July 2004 (3 nM) compared to previous summers (4–6 nM).     

Reconstruction of eddies by assimilating satellite altimeter data into Princeton Ocean Model

An optimal interpolation assimilation model for satellite altimetry data is developed based on Princeton Ocean Model (POM), which is applied in a quasi-global domain, by the method of isotropic correlation between sea level anomaly (SLA) and sea temperature anomaly. The perfor- mance of this assimilation model is validated by the modeled results of SLA and the current patterns. Comparisons between modeling and satellite data show that both the magnitudes and distribution patterns of the simulated SLA are improved by assimilation. The most signiˉcant improvement is that meso-scale systems, e.g., eddies, are well reconstructed. The evolution of an eddy located in the northwest Paciˉc Ocean is traced by using the assimilation model. Model results show that during three months the eddy migrated southwestward for about 6 degrees before merging into the Kuroshio. The three dimensional structure of this eddy on 12 August 2001 is further analyzed. The strength of this warm, cyclonic eddy decreases with the increase of depth. The eddy shows di?erent horizontal patterns at di?erent layers, and the SLA and temperature ˉelds agree with each other well. This study suggests that this kind of data assimilation is economic and reliable for eddy reconstruction, and can be used as a promising technique in further studies of ocean eddies as well as other ˉne circulation structures.     

Global observations of nonlinear mesoscale eddies

Sixteen years of sea-surface height (SSH) fields constructed by merging the measurements from two simultaneously operating altimeters are analyzed to investigate mesoscale variability in the global ocean. The prevalence of coherent mesoscale features (referred to here as “eddies”) with radius scales of O(100 km) is readily apparent in these high-resolution SSH fields. An automated procedure for identifying and tracking mesoscale features based on their SSH signatures yields 35,891 eddies with lifetimes ?16 weeks. These long-lived eddies, comprising approximately 1.15 million individual eddy observations, have an average lifetime of 32 weeks and an average propagation distance of 550 km. Their mean amplitude and a speed-based radius scale as defined by the automated procedure are 8 cm and 90 km, respectively.The tracked eddies are found to originate nearly everywhere in the World Ocean, consistent with previous conclusions that virtually all of the World Ocean is baroclinically unstable. Overall, there is a slight preference for cyclonic eddies. However, there is a preference for the eddies with long lifetimes and large propagation distances to be anticyclonic. In the southern hemisphere, the distributions of the amplitudes and rotational speeds of eddies are more skewed toward large values for cyclonic eddies than for anticyclonic eddies. As a result, eddies with amplitudes >10 cm and rotational speeds >20 cm s⁻¹ are preferentially cyclonic in the southern hemisphere. By contrast, there is a slight preference for anticyclonic eddies for nearly all amplitudes and rotational speeds in the northern hemisphere.On average, there is no evidence of anisotropy of these eddies. Their average shape is well represented as Gaussian within the central 2/3 of the eddy, but the implied radius of maximum rotational speed is 64% smaller than the observed radius of maximum speed. In part because of this mismatch between the radii of maximum axial speed in the observations and the Gaussian approximation, a case is made that a quadratic function that is a very close approximation of the mode profile of the eddy (i.e., the most frequently occurring value at each radius) is a better representation of the composite shape of the eddies. This would imply that the relative vorticity is nearly constant within the interiors of most eddies, i.e., the fluid motion consists approximately of solid-body rotation.Perhaps the most significant conclusion of this study is that essentially all of the observed mesoscale features outside of the tropical band 20°S-20°N are nonlinear by the metric U/c, where U is the maximum circum-average geostrophic speed within the eddy interior and c is the translation speed of the eddy. A value of U/c > 1 implies that there is trapped fluid within the eddy interior. Many of the extratropical eddies are highly nonlinear, with 48% having U/c > 5 and 21% having U/c > 10. Even in the tropics, approximately 90% of the observed mesoscale features are nonlinear by this measure.Two other nondimensional parameters also indicate strong degrees of nonlinearity in the tracked eddies. The distributions of all three measures of nonlinearity are more skewed toward large values for cyclonic eddies than for anticyclonic eddies in the southern hemisphere extratropics but the opposite is found in the northern hemisphere extratropics. There is thus a preference for highly nonlinear extratropical eddies to be cyclonic in the southern hemisphere but anticyclonic in the northern hemisphere.Further evidence in support of the interpretation of the observed features as nonlinear eddies is the fact that they propagate nearly due west with small opposing meridional deflections of cyclones and anticyclones (poleward and equatorward, respectively) and with propagation speeds that are nearly equal to the long baroclinic Rossby wave phase speed. These characteristics are consistent with theoretical expectations for large, nonlinear eddies. While there is no apparent dependence of propagation speed on eddy polarity, the eddy speeds relative to the local long Rossby wave phase speeds are found to be about 20% faster in the southern hemisphere than in the northern hemisphere. The distributions of the propagation directions of cyclones and anticyclones are essentially the same, except mirrored about a central azimuth angle of about 1.5° equatorward. This small, but we believe statistically significant, equatorward rotation of the central azimuth may be evidence of the effects of ambient currents (meridional advection or the effects of vertical shear on the potential vorticity gradient vector) on the propagation directions of the eddies.While the results presented here are persuasive evidence that most of the observed westward-propagating SSH variability consists of isolated nonlinear mesoscale eddies, it is shown that the eddy propagation speeds are about 25% slower than the westward propagation speeds of features in the SSH field that have scales larger than those of the tracked eddies. This scale dependence of the propagation speed may be evidence for the existence of dispersion and the presence of features that obey linear Rossby wave dynamics and have larger scales and faster propagation speeds than the nonlinear eddies. The amplitudes of these larger-scale signals are evidently smaller than those of the mesoscale eddy field since they are not easily isolated from the energetic nonlinear eddies.     

Co-variation of the surface wind speed and the sea surface temperature over mesoscale eddies in the Gulf Stream region:momentum vertical mixing aspect

The co-variation of surface wind speed and sea surface temperature (SST) over the Gulf Stream frontal region is investigated using high-resolution satellite measurements and atmospheric reanalysis data. Results show that the pattern of positive SST-surface wind speed correlations is anchored by strong SST gradient and marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL) height front, with active warm and cold-ocean eddies around. The MABL has an obvious transitional structure along the strong SST front, with greater (lesser) heights over the north (south) side. The significant positive SST-surface wind-speed perturbation correlations are mostly found over both strong warm and cold eddies. The surface wind speed increases (decreases) about 0.32 (0.41) m/s and the MABL elevates (drops) approximate 55 (54) m per 1℃ of SST perturbation induced by warm (cold) eddies. The response of the surface wind speed to SST perturbations over the mesoscale eddies is mainly attributed to the momentum vertical mixing in the MABL, which is confirmed by the linear relationships between the downwind (crosswind) SST gradient and wind divergence (curl).