Onset of coastal upwelling in a two-layer ocean by wind stress with longshore variation

On the assumption that motions of the barotropic mode are horizontally nondivergent, action of the wind stress with longshore variation on a two-layer ocean adjacent to the meridional east coast is studied. Only the equatorward wind stress is considered. Along the east coast, upwelling is induced by the direct effect of the coast and is confined in a narrow strip with the width of the order of the internal radius of deformation. The upwelling propagates poleward with the internal gravity wave speed. Coastal upwelling induced by the wind stress with longshore variation may be interpreted as the generation and propagation of internal Kelvin waves. Associated with the coastal upwelling, the equatorward flow in the upper layer and the poleward flow in the lower layer are formed as an internal mode of motions. When the bottom topography with the continental shelf and slope is taken into account, occurrence of the poleward undercurrent is delayed by a few days because of the generation of continental shelf waves. And, after the forcing is stopped, the shelf waves propagate poleward away from the upwelling region and the poleward undercurrent fully develops. At the margin of the continental shelf, another upwelling region is induced and propagates poleward.     

The coastal undercurrent— A role of longshore scales in coastal upwelling dynamics

A simple three-dimensional model of a time-dependent coastal upwelling is discussed for time scales of several days to a week, with the linear, two-layer, flat-bottom and $\text{?-}\text{plane}$ approximation. Emphasis is placed on the effects of longshore scales determined by the longshore variabilities in the wind stress distributions. The responses of the inshore motions are shown to depend critically on the longshore scales. For a certain wide range of the scales, the system reveals dominantly baroclinic responses and a full development of the poleward coastal undercurrent without β effect. Somewhat detailed discussions are given on the coastal upwelling, the coastal jet and the poleward undercurrent, which are interpreted simply as the orbital velocities of the forced Kelvin-type waves.     

The circulation of the eastern tropical Pacific: A review

During the 1950s and 1960s, an extensive field study and interpretive effort was made by researchers, primarily at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, to sample and understand the physical oceanography of the eastern tropical Pacific. That work was inspired by the valuable fisheries of the region, the recent discovery of the equatorial undercurrent, and the growing realization of the importance of the El Niño phenomenon. Here we review what was learned in that effort, and integrate those findings with work published since then as well as additional diagnoses based on modern data sets.Unlike the central Pacific, where the winds are nearly zonal and the ocean properties and circulation are nearly independent of longitude, the eastern tropical Pacific is distinguished by wind forcing that is strongly influenced by the topography of the American continent. Its circulation is characterized by short zonal scales, permanent eddies and significant off-equatorial upwelling. Notably, the Costa Rica Dome and a thermocline bowl to its northwest are due to winds blowing through gaps in the Central American cordillera, which imprint their signatures on the ocean through linear Sverdrup dynamics. Strong annual modulation of the gap winds and the meridional oscillation of the Intertropical Convergence Zone generates a Rossby wave, superimposed on the direct forcing, that results in a southwestward-propagating annual thermocline signal accounting for major features of observed thermocline depth variations, including that of the Costa Rica Dome, the Tehuantepec bowl, and the ridge–trough system of the North Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC). Interannual variability of sea surface temperature (SST) and altimetric sea surface height signals suggests that the strengthening of the NECC observed in the central Pacific during El Niño events continues all the way to the coast, warming SST (by zonal advection) in a wider meridional band than the equatorially trapped thermocline anomalies, and pumping equatorial water poleward along the coast.The South Equatorial Current originates as a combination of equatorial upwelling, mixing and advection from the NECC, and Peru coastal upwelling, but its sources and their variability remain unresolved. Similarly, while much of the Equatorial Undercurrent flows southeast into the Peru Undercurrent and supplies the coastal upwelling, a quantitative assessment is lacking. We are still unable to put together the eastern interconnections among the long zonal currents of the central Pacific.     

Coastal upwelling in the California current system

Coastal upwelling in the California Current system has been the subject of large scale studies off California and Baja California, and of small scale studies off Oregon. Recent studies of the winds along the entire coast from 25°N to 50°N indicate that there are significant along-shore variations in the strength of coastal upwelling, which are reflected in the observed temperature distribution. Active upwelling appears to be restricted to a narrow coastal band (about 10–25 km wide) along the entire coast, but the region influenced by coastal upwelling may be much wider. Intensive observations of the upwelling zone during summer off Oregon show the presence of a southward coastal jet at the surface, a mean vertical shear, a poleward undercurrent along the bottom, and persistently sloping isopycnals over the continental shelf; most of the upwelling there occurs during relatively short periods (several days long) of upwelling-favorable winds. During the upwelling season off Oregon, the offshore Ekman transport is carried by the surface Ekman layer, and the onshore return flow occurs through a quasi-geostrophic interior. It is not known whether the structure and dynamics observed off Oregon are typical of the upwelling zone along the entire coast, though some of the same features have been observed off Baja California. Current and future research will eventually show whether the Oregon results are also applicable in the region of persistently strong upwelling-favorable winds off northern California, and in the region of complex bathymetry off central and southern California.     

A poleward jet and an equatorward undercurrent observed off Oregon and northern California, during the 1997–98 El Niño

The timing and intensity of the effects of the 1997–98 El Niño on sea-surface temperature (SST) and coastal sea level along the US west coast are examined using in situ time-series measurements, and the effects on upper ocean currents on the continental shelf and slope off Oregon and northern California are examined using repeated shipborne ADCP transects, a mid-shelf mooring off Newport Oregon and an HF surface current radar. An initial transient positive anomaly was observed in both adjusted sea level and SST during May–June 1997, followed by anomalously high coastal sea levels, generally strongest during September 1997 through February 1998 and abruptly returned to normal in late February 1998, and by positive temperatures anomalies over the mid-shelf that persisted longer, into April 1998. Low-frequency coastal sea-level anomalies propagated poleward at 2.1 m/s. Poleward flow over the shelf and slope was enhanced at most depths during the El Niño, compared with following years. Northward currents in the upper 12 m over the continental shelf off Newport, Oregon averaged 13.7 cm/s stronger during August 1997 through February 1998 than during the same period the following year. Enhanced poleward flow was present at all latitudes sampled during November 1997 and February 1998, particularly over the continental slope. These transects also provided clear views of a fall/winter equatorward undercurrent, which was both strongest and had the most alongshore similarity of form, during the ENSO. Finally, subsurface-intensified anticyclonic eddies originating in the poleward undercurrent appear to be a recurrent feature of the circulation off Newport late in the upwelling season.     

High frequency variability of current in the western channel of the Tsushima/Korea Straits

The temporal characteristics and spatial structures of high frequency variability of the current in the western channel of the Tsushima/Korea Straits (TKS) are studied using ADCP data from 10?years along the cruise line of a regular ferry, “Camilla”, between Busan and Hakata. The eddy kinetic energy analysis shows that the high frequency variability has strong seasonal and spatial dependencies. From December to April, the variability is prominent in the entire western channel of the TKS. From July to October, it is enhanced only in the Korean coastal zone. The EOF analysis for the component of the high frequency currents normal to the ferry route illuminates three types of dominant modes, a transport mode and a vortex mode in the western channel during December–April, and a baroclinic coastal-trapped mode in the Korean coastal zone during July–October. The transport mode with a uniform current direction throughout the channel shows good correlation with the high frequency variability of the volume transport through the western channel with dominant time scales of 3.5 and 7?days. The vortex mode with alternating current directions across the channel explains well the variability of the eddy vorticity in the western channel with dominant time scales of 5–8?days. The baroclinic coastal-trapped mode in the Korean coastal zone has characteristics of both baroclinic Kelvin wave and topographic Rossby wave in the vertical current structure with dominant time scales of 14 and 32?days.     

Double-celled circulation in coastal upwelling

Simple numerical experiments on two-dimensional coastal upwelling are made with emphasis on the role of non-geostrophic solenoidal field of density in the formation of double-celled circulation and multi-celled density front. Geometry of shelf and slope is not taken into account. Existence of poleward undercurrent presumably caused by the longshore variation of the large scale pressure field is also suppressed for the sake of simplicity.The results are, (1) double-celled circulation revealed in the present experiment is closely related with the internal frictional layer, where the horizontal density gradient balances with the vertical gradient of the longshore velocity and the vertical diffusion of the vorticity. (2) density front formed by the emergence of the pycnocline to the sea surface is successively advected offshoreward by the Ekman transport. (3) the pycnocline intersecting the sea surface forms the density front which is nearly vertical on account of the small scale convection. The surface currents converge at the front and construct an anti-clockwise circulation (viewed from the lee side). (4) small coefficient of eddy viscosity and strong wind stress lead the Ekman transport unstable and form a multi-celled structure in the frontal region.     

Interannual variability of upwelling indices in the Southeastern Arabian Sea: A satellite based study

Increase in sea surface temperature with global warming has an impact on coastal upwelling. Past two decades (1988 to 2007) of satellite observed sea surface temperatures and space borne scatterometer measured winds have provided an insight into the dynamics of coastal upwelling in the southeastern Arabian Sea, in the global warming scenario. These high resolution data products have shown inconsistent variability with a rapid rise in sea surface temperature between 1992 and 1998 and again from 2004 to 2007. The upwelling indices derived from both sea surface temperature and wind have shown that there is an increase in the intensity of upwelling during the period 1998 to 2004 than the previous decade. These indices have been modulated by the extreme climatic events like El-Nino and Indian Ocean Dipole that happened during 1991–92 and 1997–98. A considerable drop in the intensity of upwelling was observed concurrent with these events. Apart from the impact of global warming on the upwelling, the present study also provides an insight into spatial variability of upwelling along the coast. Noticeable fact is that the intensity of offshore Ekman transport off 8°N during the winter monsoon is as high as that during the usual upwelling season in summer monsoon. A drop in the meridional wind speed during the years 2005, 2006 and 2007 has resulted in extreme decrease in upwelling though the zonal wind and the total wind magnitude are a notch higher than the previous years. This decrease in upwelling strength has resulted in reduced productivity too.     

Monsoon response of the Somali Current and associated upwelling

The Somali Current typically develops in different phases in response to the onset of the summer monsoon. Each of these phases exists quasistationary for some time ranging from weeks to months. These periods of rather constant circulation patterns are separated by periods of rapid transition.In the early phase of the monsoon response, during May, with weak southerly winds off Somalia, a cross equatorial inertial current develops which turns offshore a few degrees north of the equator with a coastal upwelling wedge just north of the offshore flow. North of that region, an Ekman upwelling regime exists all the way up the coast. At the onset of strong winds in June, a northern anticyclonic gyre develops north of 5°N and a second cold wedge forms north of 8°–9°N, where that current turns offshore. The most drastic change of upwelling pattern occurs in the late phase of the summer monsoon, August/September, when the southern cold wedge propagates northward, indicating a break-down of the two-gyre pattern and development of a continuous boundary current from south of the equator to about 10°N. The wedge propagation during 1976–1978 is discussed, based on satellite observations (EVANS and BROWN, 1981), moored station data during 1978, 1979 and shipboard hydrographic data during 1979. A simple relation between the decrease of local monsoon winds offshore and wedge propagation cannot be determined.The southward coastal undercurrent, which is part of the Ekman upwelling regime north of 5° during the early summer monsoon, seems to turn offshore between 3° and 5°, probably due to a zonal excursion of depth contours in that area. With the spin-up of the deep-reaching northern gyre the undercurrent is extinguished during July to August but seems to get reestablished after the coalescence of the two gyres.     

Three-dimensional circulation in the NW Africa coastal transition zone

High-resolution data collected southeast of the Canary Islands during late winter 2006 are analyzed to describe the hydrography and three-dimensional circulation in the coastal transition zone off NW Africa. The data are optimally interpolated over a regular grid, the geostrophic velocity field is calculated and the Q-vector formulation of the omega equation is used to compute the quasi-geostrophic (QG) mesoscale vertical velocity. The coastal transition zone is divided into upwelling, frontal and offshore regions with distinct physical and dynamic characteristics. The upwelling region is characterized by cold and weakly stratified waters flowing towards the equator, with a poleward undercurrent of approximately 0.05 m s⁻¹ over the continental slope. The frontal region exhibits a southwestward baroclinic jet associated with cross-shore raising isopycnals; the jet transport is close to 1 Sv, with maximum velocities of 0.18 m s⁻¹ at surface decreasing to 0.05 m s⁻¹ at 300 db. Vertical sections across the frontal region show the presence of deep eddies probably generated by the topographic blocking of the islands to the southward current, as well as much shallower eddies that likely have arisen as instabilities of the baroclinic upwelling jet. The QG mesoscale vertical velocity field is patchy, estimated to range from −18 to 12 m day⁻¹, with the largest absolute values corresponding to an anticyclonic eddy located south of Fuerteventura Island. These values are significantly larger than estimates for other vertical velocities: diapycnal vertical velocities associated with mixing in the frontal region (a few meters per day), and wind-induced vertical velocities (non-linear Ekman pumping arising from the interaction between the wind stress and the background vorticity, maximum values of a few meters per day; linear Ekman pumping due to the divergence of Ekman transport, a fraction of a meter per day; or the coastal constraint in the upwelling region, about 0.7 m day⁻¹). However, the patchiness in both the QG mesoscale vertical velocity and the non-linear Ekman pumping velocity cause their integrated vertical transports to be one order of magnitude smaller than either coastal Ekman transport (0.08 Sv), integrated linear Ekman pumping (−0.05 Sv) or diapycnal transfer (about 0.1–0.2 Sv). The pattern of the near-surface fluorescence field is a good indicator of these different contributions, with large homogeneous values in the coastal upwelling region and a patchy structure associated with the offshore mesoscale structures.     

Poleward shift of the coastal upwelling region off the California coast

Yoshida (1967) pointed out that the coastal upwelling region may not coincide with the intense longshore wind region and shift poleward. In order to clarify this poleward shift from the existing data, the monthly mean distributions of the offshore Ekman transport and the coastal upwelling intensity are estimated along the California coast from U. S. Daily Weather Maps and from the CCOFI data in 1949, respectively. The results show that the center of the coastal upwelling region is generally shifted to the north from the position of the maximum offshore Ekman transport. The detailed discussions are given for the case of August 1949 when the shift is seen most clearly.     

Hydrogen peroxide concentrations in the Peru upwelling area

The concentration of hydrogen peroxide was measured in waters off the coast of Peru during June and July 1983. The study period coincided with the end of the 1982/83 El Niño and the onset of coastal upwelling. Depth profiles of hydrogen peroxide concentration exhibit surface maxima and decrease with depth to the base of the mixed layer. Surface peroxide concentrations ranged from 0.8 to 5 × 10^?8 M. Below the mixed layer hydrogen peroxide was below the detection limit (5 × 10^?9 M). Diel variations were observed, with surface peroxide levels increasing during the day and decreasing at night. The nearshore station exhibited lower hydrogen peroxide concentrations than offshore stations, a reversal of the trend found in other coastal regions. This is attributed to the lack of coastal vegetation and runoff, and to active coastal upwelling of deeper water with low hydrogen peroxide concentrations.     

ENSO-induced interannual variability in the southeastern South China Sea

In this study, El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-induced interannual variability in the South China Sea (SCS) is documented using outputs from an eddy-resolving data-assimilating model. It is suggested that during an El Niño (La Niña) event, off-equatorial upwelling (downwelling) Rossby waves induced by Pacific equatorial wind anomalies impinge on the Philippine Islands and excite upwelling (downwelling) coastal Kelvin waves that propagate northward along the west coast of the Philippines after entering the SCS through the Mindoro Strait. The coastal Kelvin waves may then induce negative (positive) sea level anomalies in the southeastern SCS and larger (smaller) volume transport through the Mindoro and Luzon Straits during an El Niño (La Niña) event.     

A numerical study of the effects of wind forcing on the Chile Current System

A high-resolution, multi-level, primitive equation ocean model is used to examine the response of the coastal region from 22.5°S to 35°S of the Chile Current System to both equatorward and climatological wind forcing. The results from both types of forcing show that an equatorward surface current, a poleward undercurrent, upwelling, meanders, filaments and eddies develop in response to the predominant equatorward wind forcing. When climatological wind forcing is used, an offshore branch of the equatorward surface current is also generated. These features are consistent with available observations of the Chile Current System. The model results support the hypothesis that wind forcing is an important mechanism for generating currents, eddies and filaments in the Chile eastern boundary current system and in other eastern boundary current regions which have predominantly equatorward wind forcing.     

Upwelling front and two-cell circulation

A two-cell circulation associated with a front observed in coastal upwelling regions is studied numerically in a three-dimensional level model. An ocean with a flat bottom is forced by the wind stress with a longshore variation. Upwelling is induced in the region next to the coast. In association with the upwelling, the pycnocline slopes up toward the coast and intersects the sea surface forming a front. After that, downwelling is induced just inshore-side of the front and upwelling offshore-side. The transverse circulation in the present model seems to reproduce the observed two-cell circulation. It is found that the generation of the two-cell circulation is due to deviations of the longshore flow from the thermal-wind relation (geostrophy). The deviations are caused by the onshore-offshore movements of the front. Although no vorticity input through the wind stress is assumed, several barotropic vortices are induced by the effect of the inclination of the pycnocline and grow as long as the winds continue to blow. The observed poleward undercurrent may be interpreted as a combination of motions of the internal mode associated with the front and a barotropic flow associated with a cyclonic vortex.     

Patterns of co-variability between physical and biological parameters in the Arabian Sea

The relationship between physical forcing and biological response observed in the Arabian Sea for the years 1978–1986 were examined. Spatial and temporal patterns of variability in a climatological time-series of three possible physical forcing parameters and CZCS-derived phytoplankton pigment concentration during the annual cycle were quantified using single and joint empirical orthogonal function (EOF) and singular-value decomposition (SVD) analyses. Monthly composites of the NASA regional pigment data were interpolated to fill data voids and binned corresponding to the physical flux data. Nearly all the spatial-temporal analyses consistently partitioned a large portion of the variability using only 1 or 2 dominant modes and indicated a lag in the timing of the peak pigment concentration behind the maxima in physical forcing. In all cases, major modes of variability resembled the Southwest Monsoon pattern, with the Northeast Monsoon contributing very little to the total variance and covariance. The Joint EOF and SVD analyses incorporated subtle features surrounding the peak Southwest Monsoon phenomena. Correlation maps of the joint EOF analysis depicted differences in spatial variability of pigment concentration associated with stress and curl, showing areas of curl-driven upwelling distinct from coastal upwelling, with possible off-shore advection of the curl-induced high pigment waters.     

2006年夏季琼东、粤西沿岸上升流研究

利用2006年夏季广东、海南、广西近海的海洋水文调查资料和卫星遥感QuikSCAT风场资料分析琼东、粤西沿岸上升流的空间结构特征, 探讨风场、风应力旋度对上升流的影响以及上升流区水温、海流、海平面对上升流的响应。结果表明:琼东、粤西沿岸上升流区并非相互独立, 从10 m层以下已经连成一片。琼东沿岸上升流主要由夏季西南季风驱动而产生, 风应力旋度也有一定贡献。琼东沿岸上升流的强度比粤西强。琼东沿岸海域的上层海水(18 m以浅)以离岸运动为主, 中下层海水以向岸运动为主。上层的离岸流速大于中下层的向岸流速。琼东沿岸的上升流现象是间歇性的, 与沿岸风速强弱有关。琼东沿岸海域海平面的升降与上升流的强弱有良好的关系, 上升流的强弱滞后于海平面的升降约1～2 d。     

Patterns and processes in the California Current System

The California Current System (CCS) is forced by the distribution of atmospheric pressure and associated winds in relation to the west coast of North America. In this paper, we begin with a simplified case of winds and a linear coast, then consider variability characteristic of the CCS, and conclude by considering future change. The CCS extends from the North Pacific Current (～50°N) to off Baja California, Mexico (～15–25°N) with a major discontinuity at Point Conception (34.5°N). Variation in atmospheric pressure affects winds and thus upwelling. Coastal, wind-driven upwelling results in nutrification and biological production and a southward coastal jet. Offshore, curl-driven upwelling results in a spatially large, productive habitat. The California Current flows equatorward and derives from the North Pacific Current and the coastal jet. Dominant modes of spatial and temporal variability in physical processes and biological responses are discussed. High surface production results in deep and bottom waters depleted in oxygen and enriched in carbon dioxide. Fishing has depleted demersal stocks more than pelagic stocks, and marine mammals, including whales, are recovering. Krill, squid, and micronekton are poorly known and merit study. Future climate change will differ from past change and thus prediction of the CCS requires an understanding of its dynamics. Of particular concern are changes in winds, stratification, and ocean chemistry.     

Spatial and temporal seasonal trends in coastal upwelling off Northwest Africa, 1981–2012

Seasonal coastal upwelling was analyzed along the NW African coastline (11–35°N) from 1981 to 2012. Upwelling magnitudes are calculated by wind speed indices, sea-surface temperature indices and inferred from meteorological station, sea-surface height and vertical water column transport data. A permanent annual upwelling regime is documented across 21–35°N and a seasonal regime across 12–19°N, in accordance with the climatology of previous studies. Upwelling regions were split into three zones: (1) the Mauritania–Senegalese upwelling zone (12–19°N), (2) the strong permanent annual upwelling zone (21–26°N) and (3) the weak permanent upwelling zone (26–35°N). We find compelling evidence in our various indices for the Bakun upwelling intensification hypothesis due to a significant coastal summer wind speed increase, resulting in an increase in upwelling-favorable wind speeds north of 20°N and an increase in downwelling-favorable winds south of 20°N. The North Atlantic Oscillation plays a leading role in modifying interannual variability during the other seasons (autumn–spring), with its influence dominating in winter. The East Atlantic pattern shows a strong correlation with upwelling during spring, while El Niño Southern Oscillation and Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation teleconnections were not found. A disagreement between observationally-based wind speed products and reanalysis-derived data is explored. A modification to the Bakun upwelling intensification hypothesis for NW Africa is presented, which accounts for the latitudinal divide in summer wind regimes.     

冬季婆罗洲岛西北沿岸上升流的时空特征及机理研究

Winter coastal upwelling off northwest Borneo in the South China Sea(SCS) is investigated by using satellite data, climatological temperature and salinity fields and reanalysis data. The upwelling forms in December, matures in January, starts to decay in February and almost disappears in March. Both Ekman transport induced by the alongshore winter monsoon and Ekman pumping due to orographic wind stress curl are favorable for the upwelling. Transport estimates demonstrate that the month-to-month variability of Ekman transport and Ekman pumping are both consistent with that of winter coastal upwelling, but Ekman transport is two times larger than Ekman pumping in January and February. Under the influence of El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation(ENSO), the upwelling shows remarkable interannual variability: during winter of El Ni?o(La Ni?a) years, an anticyclonic(a cyclonic) wind anomaly is established in the SCS, which behaves a northeasterly(southwesterly) anomaly and a positive(negative) wind stress curl anomaly off the northwest Borneo coast, enhancing(reducing) the upwelling and causing anomalous surface cooling(warming) and higher(lower) chlorophyll concentration. The sea surface temperature anomaly(SSTA) associated with ENSO off the northwest Borneo coast has an opposite phase to that off southeast Vietnam, resulting in a SSTA seesaw pattern in the southern SCS in winter.