Decadal Variability of Subsurface Temperature in the Central North Pacific

Decadal variability of subsurface temperature in the North Pacific has been investigated. Two dominant regions were found; the central subarctic region (CSa) and the north-eastern subtropical region (NESt). In CSa, cooling (warming) of wintertime subsurface temperature corresponds to the large (small) temperature gradient and southward (northward) shift of subsurface temperature front, associated with the increase (decrease) of positive wind stress curl and the southward (northward) shift of curl τ zero line with 2 years delay. It is suggested that the relocation of subtropical-subarctic boundary plays an important role. In NESt, importance of heat flux through the sea surface and heat divergence in the Ekman layer is also discussed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

沃克环流上升区赤道低空强西风带的分析

采用ＴＯＧＡ／ＣＯＡＲＥ国际合作考察期间（１９９２年１０月─１９９３年２月）获得的２６７次定点（２°Ｓ，１５５°Ｅ）定时高空大气探测资料，进行计算分析，发现１９９２年１２月─１９９３年２月低空存在一支西风急流，有两次分别持续半月之久，而１９９２年１１月的两次赤道西风急流，因无赤道高空急流配合，仅持续２ｄ便消失。本文还指出：（１）赤道低空西风急流是各种海－气指数产生ＥＮＳＯ异常的重要信息；（２）赤道高空急流有滞后赤道低空急流２ｄ左右的响应关系；（３）赤道低空急流是纬向水汽输送的狭窄通道。     

Gravity torques for surface waves

The effects of the gravity torques acting on the angular momentum of surface gravity waves are calculated theoretically. For short crested waves the gravity torque is caused by the force of gravity on the orbiting fluid particles acting down the slopes of the crests and troughs and in the direction parallel to the crests and troughs. The gravity torque tries to rotate the angular momentum vectors, and thus the waves themselves, counterclockwise in the horizontal plane, as viewed from above, in both hemispheres. The amount of rotation per unit time is computed to be significant assuming reasonable values for the along-crest and trough slopes for waves in a storm area. The gravity torque has a frequency which is double the frequency of the waves. For long crested waves the gravity torque acts in the vertical plane of the orbit and tries to decelerate the particles when they rise and accelerate them when they fall. By disrupting the horizontal cyclostrophic balance of forces on the fluid particles (centrifugal force versus pressure force) the gravity torque accounts qualitatively for the three characteristics of breaking waves: that they break at the surface, that they break at the crest, and that the crest breaks in the direction of wave propagation.     

A climatology of mesoscale model simulated low-level wind jets over Cook Inlet and Shelikof Strait, Alaska

Weather in the North Gulf of Alaska is characterized by a high frequency of deep synoptic-scale low-pressure systems, especially during the cold season. The strong pressure gradients of these storms interact with the extremely rugged terrain of the coastal mountains to produce a variety of channeled flows. These surface wind regimes are not well documented in the scientific community, due to the paucity of observations. Modeling of these phenomena in regions of complex terrain is of great interest to those working with hydrodynamic, wave, and pollutant transport models in coastal and shelf areas. Such models, when coupled with ocean and coastal-ecology counterparts, give a broad view of the role surface winds play in shaping local coastal marine ecosystem in this region. This paper presents a climatology of simulated low-level wind jets over the domain of Cook Inlet and Shelikof Strait along Alaska's south-central coast. Daily simulations using the RAMS model were conducted in a 36-h forecast mode for the cold-season period 10/1/03 to 3/31/04. Systematic analysis of the resulting simulated low-level wind field makes it possible to characterize these jets and gap flows in spatial and temporal detail. The comparison between the RAMS winds and the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)-derived winds when available verifies the existence of these wind jets and the capability of the model to simulate these cases. Clearly, the results of a study in this region depend on the fidelity of the model at these scales (O[5 km]). The SAR comparisons attempt to help establish this. From the 6 months of simulations over Cook Inlet and Shelikof Strait, the low-level wind jets are classified into 10 different regimes by location and orientation. These regimes are categorized into four more general groups: cross-channel westerly, easterly, and up and down Inlet flows. The nature of a particular regime is largely a function of pressure gradient orientation and local topography. Jets in the same group have a similar occurrence distribution with time. Some form of jet occurred in the study region almost daily each month of the period, with December 2003 having the highest frequency of wind jets.     

Instability analysis of three-dimensional ocean shear waves

Ｉｎｓｔａｂｉｌｉｔｙａｎａｌｙｓｉｓｏｆｔｈｒｅｅ－ｄｉｍｅｎｓｉｏｎａｌｏｃｅａｎｓｈｅａｒｗａｖｅｓ￥ＱｉａｏＦａｎｇｌｉ（ＲｅｃｅｉｖｅｄＮｏｖｅｍｂｅｒ６，１９９５，ａｃｃｅｐｔｅｄＮｏｖｅｍｂｅｒ３０．１９９５）Ａｂｓｔｒａｃｔ：Ｂａｓｅ...     

Wave-Current Forces on Slender Circular Cylinders

- A series model tests of wave forces by both regular and irregular waves combined with currents on single piles and bipiles in tandem and parallel arrays have been carried out. Based on Morison Equation, linear wave theory and linear wave spectrum theory as well, the characteristics of inline, lift and resultant forces on cylinders have been analyzed respectively. The drag, inertia and lift coefficients CD, CM and CL f皉 single piles related to KC number and the grouping effect coefficients of inline, lift and resultant forces on bipiles in tandem and parallel arrays related to KC number are given in this paper.     

Numerical Simulation of Multi-Directional Random Seas

Multi-directional irregular waves are simulated on the basis of the given directional spectrum using a double summation model, a single direction per frequency model and a single summation model. Their results are compared. It is shown that the single direction per frequency model proposed in this paper can generate a realistic wave field. The effects of the model parameters on the simulated results are also studied in this paper and corresponding suggestions are given.     

Burial and scour around short cylinder under progressive shoaling waves

The results of a laboratory experimental program aimed at better understanding the scour around and burial of heavy cylindrical objects under oscillating flow on a sandy bed are described. This study was motivated by its application to the dynamics of isolated cobbles/mines on a sandy floor under nonlinear progressive waves, such as that occur in shallow coastal waters beyond the wave-breaking region. In the experiments, nonlinear progressive waves were generated in a long wave tank of rectangular cross-section with a bottom slope. Model mines (short cylinders) were placed on the sandy bottom and the temporal evolution of the bed profile and the velocity field in the near field of the object were observed. Experiments were conducted at relatively high Reynolds numbers for a range of flow conditions, which can be characterized by the Keulegan–Carpenter number and Shields parameter. Depending on the values of these parameters, four different scour regimes around the cylinder including periodical burial of cylinder under migrating sand ripples were observed; they were classified as: (i) no scour/burial, (ii) initial scour, (iii) expanded scour, and (iv) periodic burial cases. A scour regime diagram was developed and the demarcation criteria between different regimes were deduced. Semi-empirical formulae that permit estimation of the scour depth with time, the equilibrium maximum scour depth and length, and conditions necessary for the burial of the cylinder as a function of main external parameters are also proposed.     

Barotropic Response of the Sea of Okhotsk to Wind Forcing

We have examined wind-induced circulation in the Sea of Okhotsk using a barotropic model that contains realistic topography with a resolution of 9.25 km. The monthly wind stress field calculated from daily European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) Re-Analysis data is used as the forcing, and the integration is carried out for 20 days until the circulation attains an almost steady state. In the case of November (a representative for the winter season from October to March), southward currents of velocity 0.1–0.3 m s⁻¹ occur along the bottom contours off the east of Sakhalin Island. The currents are mostly confined to the shelf (shallower than 200 m) and extend as far south as the Hokkaido coast. In the July case (a representative for the summer season from April to September), significant currents do not occur, even in the shallow shelves. The simulated southward current over the east Sakhalin shelf appears to correspond to the near-shore branch of the East Sakhalin Current (ESC), which was observed with the surface drifters. These seasonal variations simulated in our experiments are consistent with the observations of the ESC. Dynamically, the simulated ESC is interpreted as the arrested topographic wave (ATW), which is the coastally trapped flow driven by steady alongshore wind stress. The volume transport of the simulated ESC over the shelf reaches about 1.0 Sv (1 Sv = 10⁶ m³s⁻¹) in the winter season, which is determined by the integrated onshore Ekman transport in the direction from which shelf waves propagate. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.