Mesoscale structure of oceanographic fields in the north-western tropical atlantic ocean

The distribution of the hydrological and hydrochemical characteristics of seawater is analysed and their relationship with the mesoscale structure of geostrophic currents is described based on experimental data derived in 1984–1990 in the north-western tropical Atlantic Ocean. It is shown that anticyclonic eddies which are formed in the region of retroflection of the North Brazilian coastal current (NBCC) are displayed in a different manner in the field of hydrological characteristics at the surface and in the subsurface layer. Therefore satellite data, which reflect the qualitative pattern of the surface circulation, do not always represent correctly the circulation in the entire ocean's active layer or the integral processes. The observations that have been made up to now do not permit us to state that the eddy-wave transport plays an essential role in the outflow of warm equatorial waters in the north-western tropical Atlantic.Translated by Mikhail M. Trufanov.     

El Niño in 1991–1992 and its manifestations in the tropical Atlantic

A variety of anomalous conditions in the tropical Pacific and Atlantic oceans during the 1991–1992 El Niño event are described. The current El Niño is shown to have specific features, evident in the behaviour of the southern oscillation index and sea surface temperature of the equatorial Pacific Ocean. Also, it was accompanied by warming of the eastern tropical Atlantic. Temperature anomalies of the tropical Atlantic surface water temperature reached their maximum (>3°C) in May–June 1991, i.e. 2–3 months earlier than in the Pacific Ocean.Translated by V. Puchkin.     

Interannual variations in the components of heat budget in the upper layer of the North Atlantic in different seasons

Seasonal variability of interannual fluctuations of the heat balance components of the upper quasi-homogeneous ocean layer (UQL) in the North Atlantic is analyzed by processing the reanalysis data set for the period of 1959–2011. It is shown that interannual variations in the components of the UQL heat budget are characterized by pronounced regional features in all seasons. In the tropics and subtropics, heat balance is quasistationary and is determined by the nonlocal processes, such as heat advection and horizontal mixing. In the subpolar latitudes, nonstationarity (in the spring) and heat fluxes at the UQL boundary (in the autumn and in the winter) are also important. A major role in the interannual variability of the UQL temperature in the vicinity of jet currents of the Gulf Stream type is played in all seasons by the fluctuations of horizontal heat advection. However, the contribution of interannual fluctuations of the individual components of the heat budget to variability of the UQL temperature varies considerably in different seasons. The interannual fluctuations of the local variation in the UQL temperature are characterized by the largest variability in the spring and the lowest one in the autumn. The greatest contribution of the variations in the horizontal heat advection to the change in the UQL temperature at the interannual scale is recorded in the winter, and the lowest one is in the summer. The contribution of the interannual variations in the heat fluxes at the UQL upper boundary to the variability of the UQL temperature is the highest in the summer and the lowest in the autumn. Fluctuations of the heat fluxes at the UQL lower boundary do not have a significant impact on the interannual variations in the UQL temperature for the whole water area. The exception is small areas in the region of the formation of the North Atlantic deep water in the autumn–winter period and in the vicinity of the Equatorial Counter Current in the spring–summer period.     

Interannual and Intra-Monthly Fluctuations of the Wind Field and Sea Surface Temperature in the West African Upwelling Region Based on Satellite Data

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - The relative intensity of fluctuations of the sea surface temperature and wind field in the West African upwelling region within a month (intra-monthly)...     

Long-Term Tendencies of Intensity of Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems Assessed from Different Satellite Data. Part 1: Atlantic Upwellings

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - Comparative estimation of long-term trends in the variability of the largest Atlantic upwellings (Canary and Benguela) has been carried out in this...