Velocity Statistics Inferred from the TOPEX/Poseidon-Jason-1 Tandem Mission Data

Using a parallel-track approach to estimate geostrophic surface velocities, an estimate of the statistics of ocean geostrophic surface currents and momentum stresses is provided on a 10 km along-track resolution from the first 49 repeat cycles (16 months) of the Jason-TOPEX/Poseidon tandem altimetric sea surface height (SSH) data. Results are compared with estimates obtained in a traditional way from along-track SSH data at crossover points and with in situ, Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) measurements obtained on board the VOS Oleander along a nominal path connecting Bermuda with the U.S. mainland. Agreements with the Oleander data are reasonable when simultaneous (in space and time) sampling is available. However, amplitudes of parallel-track geostrophic velocity variances are about 25% lower as compared to Oleander measurements which represent geostrophic and ageostrophic flow components. Estimates of velocity variances show clear signs of an anisotropic eddy field in the vicinity of all major current systems. At the same time estimates of Reynolds stresses and eddy momentum fluxes show a convergence of eddy momentum in all those regions, suggesting a forcing of the mean flow by the eddy field there.     

Wind effects on sub-tidal currents in Puget Sound

Wind effects on sub-tidal currents are studied using current meter records obtained at six moorings across the main basin of Puget Sound. High correlations between wind speeds and currents are found near the surface and at mid-depths of about 100 m. Empirical Orthogonal Function analysis applied to the axial currents in 1984 and 1985 shows that mode 1, containing over 60% of the variance, is highly correlated with wind speed even without any near surface current records. When near surface stratification is strong, direct wind effects are limited to the upper 30 m with counter currents in the lower layer indicating a baroclinic response. The transport in the lower layer almost balances the transport in the upper layer. When near surface stratification is weak, direct wind effects on currents can be detected to about 100 m. In this case, there is no clear and consistent depth at which one can separate the upper from the lower layer. Time series show that the acceleration in the surface layer initially increases in the same direction as the wind when the wind starts blowing, but it reaches a maximum, starts decreasing, and eventually changes to the opposite direction (decelerates) while the wind continues to blow in one direction. Results of a continuously stratified normal mode model and estimations from the observations suggest that friction at solid boundaries is a major cause of these phenomena. The model shows that modal currents of normal modes 2 and 3 are as important as mode 1, although the resultant vertical structure of total current shows a two-layer type pattern with only one zero crossing. The effect of the baroclinic pressure gradient is only apparent at low frequencies and among lower modes.     

沿岸海区冬季垂直环流及其温盐结构的数值研究 Ⅰ.环流的基本特征

为了揭示沿岸海区冬季垂直环流及其温盐结构的分布特征和变化规律，利用三维斜压流体动力学模型，对具有岸界坡度变化、河流入海、海湾、岛屿和海槽的理想海区冬季的垂直环流及其温盐结构进行了数值模拟。其环流的数值结果表明，冬季沿岸海区的垂直环流普遍呈逆时针流动。在近表层为向岸流，沿岸为下降流，近表层以下为离岸流；近表层以下的离岸流在外海有明显的上升趋势；沿岸下降流自表层至底层逐渐由强变弱；就整个海区而言，随着自南往北海区水深的逐渐变浅和岸界地形坡度的由大变小，其沿岸下降流则由强变弱。     

A new hypothesis about the surface circulation in the eastern basin of the mediterranean sea

In time, the circulation of the Atlantic Water (AW) in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea has been described differently, according to two major representations. The historical one, which began with the scheme from Nielsen in 1912 and has been refined up to the 1980s, favours a counterclockwise circulation in the whole basin, with AW flowing in its southern part as a broad flow off Libya and Egypt (from the Ionian to the Levantine subbasins), then continuing along Middle-East and Turkey before flowing back westwards. The more recent one, issued in the 1990s, favours a clockwise circulation in the northern part of the Ionian continuing offshore across the basin from the Cretan to the central part of the Levantine as the so-called “Mid-Mediterranean Jet”. This jet is depicted then as splitting both clockwise in the southeastern part of the basin and counterclockwise off Turkey (where this representation agrees with the former). Because the recent representation cannot be considered as a refinement of the historical ones, we have been interested in understanding why a given data set available to everybody is interpreted in such different ways.In the Algerian subbasin, the combined use of satellite infrared images and a significant amount of in situ data sets (hydrology and both Eulerian and Lagrangian current measurements) allowed us to solve a similar controversy. Therefore, we examined the circulation features in the eastern basin, undertaking the detailed analysis of 1000 daily and weekly composite images spanning the period 1996–2000, and of monthly composite images available since 1985. Whenever in situ observations were available, we have confronted them with the satellite thermal signatures and have shown that both are consistent. This paper focuses on the overall (basin scale) results while the detailed ones are published in an other paper. The new scheme we propose is basically a refined version of the historical ones: the circulation of AW is counterclockwise in the whole eastern basin but it is more constrained alongslope than previously thought, and the broadening historically schematised appears to be due to intense mesoscale eddies mainly generated by the instability of this circulation.     

Numerical Study of the Upper-Layer Circulation in the South China Sea

Upper-layer circulation in the South China Sea has been investigated using a three-dimensional primitive equation eddy-resolving model. The model domain covers the region from 99° to 122°E and from 3° to 23°N. The model is forced by the monthly averaged European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) model winds and the climatological monthly sea surface temperature data from National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC). Inflow and outflow through the Taiwan Strait and the Sunda shelf are prescribed monthly from the Wyrtki estimates. Inflow of the Kuroshio branch current in the Luzon Strait is assumed to have a constant volume transport of 12 Sv (1 Sv = 10⁶ m³/s), and the outflow from the open boundary to the east of Taiwan is adjusted to ensure the net volume transport through all open boundaries is zero at any instant. The model reveals that a cyclonic circulation exists all year round in the northern South China Sea. During the winter time this cyclonic eddy is located off the northwest of Luzon, coinciding with the region of positive wind stress curl in this season. This cyclonic eddy moves northward in spring due to the weakening of the northeast winds. The cyclonic circulation becomes weak and stays in the continental slope region in the northern South China Sea in the summer period. The southwest wind can raise the water level along the west coast of Luzon, but there is no anticyclonic circulation in the northern South China Sea. After the onset of the northeast monsoon winds in fall, the cyclonic eddy moves back to the region off the west coast of Luzon. In the southern South China Sea and off the Vietnam coast, the model predicts a similar flow structure as in the previous related studies. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

等密度面P矢量方法在南海环流诊断研究中的应用

海流的直接测量困难而又昂贵,而采用一些数学模式间接获取流场信息也有其局限性,比如初始场、边界条件和黏性参数的确定存在较大的人为性和不确定性等问题.然而,随着海上现场观测资料的增多,近年来利用温盐资料诊断环流的研究工作也越来越多,例如采用β螺旋方法[1]、P矢量方法[2]和改进逆模式方法[3]等等;这些诊断研究成果,在一定程度上弥补了海洋环流研究中,由于海流观测资料不足而带来的缺陷.在众多诊断环流计算方法中,近年来用得较多的是P矢量方法[2,4,5],1).     

最近6.5～2.2 Ma黄土高原粉尘通量变化及其指示的东亚冬季风演化和亚洲干旱化

黄土高原红粘土沉积与北太平洋885/886孔深海沉积记录的亚洲粉尘沉积通量对比显示,海陆风尘记录万年尺度的变化趋势一致,指示了6．5Ma以来亚洲内陆干旱化和冬季风环流变化的历史：6．5MaRP粉尘源区出现一定程度的干旱化,粉尘通量增加,为红粘土的形成提供了物质基础;5．2～3．6MaBP源区气候较为湿润,冬季风环流偏弱,导致粉尘通量大幅下降;3．6～2．6MaBP。由于青藏高原加速隆升,导致源区气候迅速干旱,冬季风环流发展,粉尘通量急剧增加。但海陆粉尘通量变化也存在差异,显示出区域及半球或全球尺度上粉尘输送方式的不同。     

Study on short-range numerical forecasting of ocean current in the East China Sea Ⅱ. Three-dimensional diagnostic model and its application in the Bohai Sea

Ｓｔｕｄｙｏｎｓｈｏｒｔ－ｒａｎｇｅｎｕｍｅｒｉｃａｌｆｏｒｅｃａｓｔｉｎｇｏｆｏｃｅａｎｃｕｒｒｅｎｔｉｎｔｈｅＥａｓｔＣｈｉｎａＳｅａ—ＩＩ．Ｔｈｒｅｅ－ｄｉｍｅｎｓｉｏｎａｌｄｉａｇｎｏｓｔｉｃｍｏｄｅｌａｎｄｉｔｓａｐｐｌｉｃａｔｉｏｎｉｎｔ...