SEASONAL HEAT BUDGET IN THE TROPICAL WESTERN PACIFIC OCEAN IN A GLOBAL GCMⅠ.GENERAL DESCRIPTION

This paper describes the large scale aspects of the seasonal surface heat budget and discusses itsmain forcing mechanisms in the tropical Western Pacific Ocean.The high-resolution generalcirculation model (Semtner & Chervin,1992)used in this study reproduced well the observed upper-layer thermal structure and circulation.It is shown that at least on the average of the study region(20°S-20°N,west boundary-160°E)the semiannual variation is a dominant signal for all heat budgetcomponents and is presumably due to the sun’s passing across the equator twice a year,but that thecomponents have substantial differences in amplitude.The local Ekman divergence in the region doesnot change significantly through the year.As a result,the change in surface heat content is roughlyhalf due to ocean-atmosphere heat exchange and half due to heat advection by remotely forced verti-cal motion.Horizontal currents do not play a significant role directly by advection,because the wat-er which enters the region is not very muc     

SEASONAL HEAT BUDGET IN THE TROPICAL WESTERN PACIFIC OCEAN IN A GLOBAL GCM Ⅱ. IN FIVE SUBREGIONS

The general features of the seasonal suuface heat budget in the tropical western Pacific Ocean,20°S-20°N, western boundary-160°E, were documented by Qu (1995) using a high-resolution generalcirculation model (GCM, Semtner & Chervin,1992) ard existing observations.Close inspection of thesmaller areas, with the whole region further partitioned into six parts, showed different mechanisms balancethe seasonal surface heat budget in different parts of the region The results of study on five subregionsare detailed in this article. In the equatorial (3°S - 3°N) aed North Equatorial Countercurrent(3°N-9°N) region, the surface the flux the does not change significantly throughout the year, so the surface heat content is determined largely by vertical motion near the equator and roughly helf due to horizontal and halfdue to vertical circulation in the region of the North Equatorial Countercurrent(NECC). In the othersubregions (9°N-20°N, 20°S -11°S aed 11°S -3°S ), however, in addition to ocean dynamics     

Seasonal variability of zonal heat advection in the mixed layer of the tropical Pacific

Zonal heat advection （ZHA） plays an important role in the variability of the thermal structure in the tropical Pacific Ocean, especially in the western Pacific warm pool （WPWP）. Using the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation （SODA） Version 2.02/4 for the period 1958-2007, this paper presents a detailed analysis of the climatological and seasonal ZHA in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Climatologically, ZHA shows a zonal- band spatial pattern associated with equatorial currents and contributes to forming the irregular eastern boundary of the WPWP （EBWP）. Seasonal variation of ZHA with a positive peak from February to July is most prominent in the Nifio3.4 region, where the EBWP is located. The physical mechanism of the seasonal cycle in this region is examined. The mean advection of anomalous temperature, anomalous advection of mean temperature and eddy advection account for 31%, 51%, and 18% of the total seasonal variations, respectively. This suggests that seasonal changes of the South Equatorial Current induced by variability of the trade winds are the dominant contributor to the anomalous advection of mean temperature and hence, the seasonality of ZHA. Heat budget analysis shows that ZHA and surface heat flux make comparable contributions to the seasonal heat variation in the Nifio3.4 region, and that ZHA cools the upper ocean throughout the calendar year except in late boreal spring. The connection between ZHA and EBWP is further explored and a statistical relationship between EBWP, ZHA and surface heat flux is established based on least squares fitting.     

Surface heat budget and solar radiation allocation at a melt pond during summer in the central Arctic Ocean

The heat budget of a melt pond surface and the solar radiation allocation at the melt pond are studied using the 2010 Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition data collected in the central Arctic. Temperature at a melt pond surface is proportional to the air temperature above it. However, the linear relationship between the two varies, depending on whether the air temperature is higher or lower than 0℃. The melt pond surface temperature is strongly influenced by the air temperature when the latter is lower than 0℃. Both net longwave radiation and turbulent heat flux can cause energy loss in a melt pond, but the loss by the latter is larger than that by the former. The turbulent heat flux is more than twice the net longwave radiation when the air temperature is lower than 0℃. More than 50% of the radiation energy entering the pond surface is absorbed by pond water. Very thin ice sheet on the pond surface(black ice) appears when the air temperature is lower than 0℃; on the other hand, only a small percentage(5.5%) of net longwave in the solar radiation is absorbed by such a thin ice sheet.     

Seasonal variability of salinity budget and water exchange in the northern Indian Ocean from HYCOM assimilation

Based on HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) assimilation and observations, we analyzed seasonal variability of the salinity budget in the southeastern Arabian Sea (AS) and the southern part of the Bay of Bengal (BOB), as well as water exchange between the two basins. Results show that fresh water flux cannot explain salinity changes in salinity budget of both regions. Oceanic advection decreases salinity in the southeastern AS during the winter monsoon season and increases salinity in the southern BOB during the summer monsoon season. In winter, the Northeast Monsoon Current (NMC) carries fresher water from the BOB westward into the southern AS; this westward advection is confined to 4°-6°N and the upper 180 m south of the Indian peninsula. Part of the less saline water then turns northward, decreasing salinity in the southeastern AS. In summer, the Southwest Monsoon Current (SMC) advects high-salinity water from the AS eastward into the BOB, increasing salinity along its path. This eastward advection of high-salinity water south of the India Peninsula extends southward to 2°N, and the layer becomes shallower than in winter. In addition to the monsoon current, the salinity difference between the two basins is important for salinity advection.     

Sea surface height variations in the Mindanao Dome region in response to the northern tropical Pacific winds

Sea surface height (SSH) variability in the Mindanao Dome (MD) region is found to be one of the strong variations in the northern Pacific. It is only weaker than that in the Kuroshio Extension area, and is comparable to that in the North Pacific Subtropical Countercurrent region. Based on a 1.5-layer reduced gravity model, we analyzed SSH variations in this region and their responses to northern tropical Pacific winds. The average SSH anomaly in the region varies mainly on a seasonal scale, with significant periods of 0.5 and 1 year, ENSO time scale2-7years, and time scale in excess of 8 years. Annual and long-term variabilities are comparably stronger. These variations are essentially a response to the northern tropical Pacific winds. On seasonal and ENSO time scales, they are mainly caused by wind anomalies east of the region, which generate westward-propagating, long Rossby waves. On time scales longer than 8 years, they are mostly induced by local Ekman pumping. Long-term SSH variations in the MD region and their responses to local winds are examined and discussed for the first time .