Predictability of Interannual Variability in the Kuroshio Transport South of Japan Based on Wind Stress Data over the North Pacific

It is expected that a roughly two-year forecast of the Kuroshio transport variation can be made from a past record of wind stress data over the ocean, since it takes nearly ten years for the first-mode baroclinic Rossby wave to traverse the entire basin in the midlatitude North Pacific (∼30°N). We therefore investigated the predictability using an ocean general circulation model driven by the wind stress data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis. Referring to a hindcast experiment as the control run, we carried out fifteen forecast experiments, the initial conditions of which are taken from the hindcast experiment at intervals of two years during the period from the end of 1969 to the end of 1997. Each of the forecast experiments is driven only by wind stress in the year preceding each experiment. The forecasted Kuroshio transport anomaly south of Japan agrees better with the hindcasted one during the first two years of the forecast in most cases. In some cases, however, significant disagreements occur, most of which are likely due to larger unpredictable variations caused by wind stress anomalies near Japan. At the end of forecast year 2, the anomaly correlation coefficient is about 0.7, and rms of the forecast error is smaller than rms of the hindcasted anomaly. These results indicate that the prediction of the interannual variability in the Kuroshio transport could be made two years in advance at a statistically significant level. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Scattering of Semidiurnal Internal Kelvin Wave at Step Bottom Topography

A three-dimensional, multi-level model was used to study the energy dissipation of semidiurnal internal Kelvin waves due to their interaction with bottom topography. A simplified topography consisting of a channel with an additional shallow bay was used to clarify the wave’s scattering process. When the first mode semidiurnal internal wave given at an open boundary arrives at the bay mouth, higher-mode internal waves are generated at a step bottom of the bay mouth. As a result, the energy of the first mode internal Kelvin wave is effectively decayed. The decay rate of the internal Kelvin wave depends on both the width and length of the additional bay. The maximum decay rate was found when a resonance condition occurs the bay, that is, the bay length is equal to a quarter of wave length of the first mode internal wave on the shallow region. The decay rate in the wide bay cases is higher than that in a narrow case, due to a contribution from the scattering due to the Poincare wave that emanates from the corners of the bay head. The decay rate with the additional bay is 1.1–1.8 times that of the case without the additional bay. The decay rate due to the scattering process is found to be of the same order as that of the internal and bottom friction.     

Ecological and physiological features of the mesopelagic mysid,Meterythrops microphthalma,in the Japan Sea

The abundance and vertical distribution pattern of a mysidMeterythrops microphthalma were investigated in the Japan Sea. Results from vertical hauls from 602–982 m depth to the surface around Yamato Rise in April 1987 indicated that the dominance (by biomass) ofM. microphthalma was third to fifth of major zooplankton taxa. Vertical distribution investigated at a single station in Toyama Bay in June, September and December 1986 showed that the most part of population of this mysid inhabited consistently below 250 m depth. No marked diurnal vertical migration was evident. Data on body composition and oxygen consumption rate ofM. microphthalma are presented. Water content of the body was 75.6–83.8% of wet weight, and ash was 11.4–20.4% of dry weight. Carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen were 37.9–47.5%, 6.2–7.4% and 9.4–10.1%, respectively, of dry weight. Oxygen consumption rates were 2.2–11.0µl O₂ individual^–1 hr^–1 at 0.5°C, and were directly proportional to body mass. From the comparison with the published data on epipelagic and bathypelagic mysids it is revealed that both body nitrogen composition and oxygen consumption rate expressed as adjusted metabolic rate [AMR₀₂,µl O₂ (mg body N)^–0.85 hr^–1] ofM. microphthalma are intermediate between high epipelagic and low bathypelagic levels, indicating typical mesopelagic features.     

Japan-equator XBT sections in late November 1989 and in early December 1991

A comparison between Japan-equator XBT sections along 150°E in late November 1989 and along 140°E in early December 1991 is made. The warmest surface water above 29°C diminished to the south of 2–4°N and the surface mixed layer noticeably decreased in thickness in the equatorial region in December 1991; besides, the North Equatorial Countercurrent was intensified. This is considered to be a manifestation of changes in the surface layer of the western equatorial Pacific in the mature phase of El Niño.     

Kuroshio extension variability explored through assimilation of TOPEX/POSEIDON altimeter data into a quasi-geostrophic model

Mesoscale features in the eastward extension of the Kuroshio were investigated using assimilation of TOPEX/POSEIDON (T/P) data into a three-layer quasi-geostrophic model. The T/P data exhibited an elongated state of the southern recirculation gyre in 1993–95 and 1997, between whose two periods the gyre had a contracted state in 1995–96. A few stationary eddies were located in the southern gyre during the contracted state. The baroclinic instability, which was indicated by the phase shift from the uppermost-to the lowest-layer anomalies toward the downstream side, was evident near the Kuroshio Extension (KE) path. Since the instability never appeared in the artificial model without bottom topography, the topographic barrier for the eastward flow in the lowest layer was a necessary condition for the instability. The instability synchronized with the transition in the western region of the KE axis from the elongated to the contracted states. This evolution was interpreted as if the baroclinic instability played some part in the KE states and was a trigger for the transition from the elongated to the contracted states.     

Effects of scattering and resonance on energy dissipation of an internal tide in a narrow shelf

The effects of scattering and resonance on the energy dissipation of an internal tide were investigated using a two-dimensional model which is a reassembled version of the theoretical generation model devised by Rattray et al. (1969) for internal tide. The basic character of the scattering process at the step bottom was first investigated with a wide shelf model. When the internal wave incited from a deep region (Region II) into the shallow shelf region (Region I), a passing wave into the shallow region, a reflected wave into the deep region, and a beam-like wave, i.e. a scattered wave (SW), emanated at the step bottom. The SW, which consists of the superposition of numerous internal modes, propagated upward/downward into both regions. The general properties of the SW were well expressed around the shelf edge, even in the present model with viscosity effect. The amplitude of the SW decreased dramatically when the depth of the velocity maximum of the incident internal wave in Region II corresponded with the depth of the shelf edge. In the narrow shelf model, where the decay distance of the internal wave in Region I is longer than the shelf width, the incident internal wave reflected at the coast to form a standing wave. When the internal wave in Region I is enhanced by the resonance, the energy of the SW in Region II is also intensified. Furthermore, the energy of the modes in Region II predominated when the velocity maximum is identical to that of the dominant mode in Region I. These results suggest that the spatial scale of shelf region is a very important factor governing the energy dissipation of the internal tide through reflection and scattering in a narrow shelf.     

A three-dimensional ocean general circulation model for mesoscale eddies——Ⅱ Diagnostic analysis

A three-dimensional density field associated with mesoscaie unstable waves generated by the 3-D, primitive-equation model (Wang and Ikeda, 1996) is provided to the quasi-geostrophic pressure tendency and ω-equations, and to the (ageostrophic) Q-vector equation. Diagnostic analyses, analogous to the approaches in meteorology: ω-equation and Q-vector method, are for the first time developed to examine the mesoscaie dynamical processes and mechanisms of the unstable waves propagating in the mid-latitude ocean. The weaknesses and strengths of these two diagnostic approaches are evaluated and compared to the model results. The Q-vector method is then recommended to diagnose the vertical motion associated with the mesoscaie dynamics from a hydrographic CTD (conductivity-temperature-depth) array, while the quasi-geostrophic equations produce some small-scale features (errors) in the diagnosed fields.     

Assimilated carbon budget for the hyperiid amphipodThemisto japonica (bovallius) from the Japan sea as influenced by temperature

Using a growth model based on moult number, the assimilated carbon budget was constructed forThemisto japonica growing from the specimens just released from the marsupium to mature adults at 1–15°C. As budget parameters, growth (G), metabolism (Me), moult (Mo), and reproduction (Re) were measured and assimilation (A) was estimated as the sum of these four parameters (A=G+Me +Mo +Re). The results of the lifetime budget indicated that among these parameters the greatest allocation ofA was toMe (70–83%). Lifetime expenditure of carbon forMe was the least at 7°C, andMe increased with either increase or decrease of the temperature from 7°C. A female grown to full adult size at 7°C invested 16.6 % forG, 70.2% forMe, 2.1% forMo, and 11.1% forRe of totalA. General features seen in the partition ofA toG, Me, Mo, andRe forT. japonica are similar to those of other planktonic crustaceans being reported. Considering the profound effect of temperature on the assimilated carbon budget, practical problems in defining the representative habitat temperature for diel vertical migrators likeT. japonica in the field are discussed.