A coupled model,which is employed to study the dominating factor and key area of El Nino cycle formation,consists of a dynamical ocean model and a statistical atmospheric model.The coupled model with seasonal forcing successfully reproduces the El Nino event cycle which exhibits quasi-regular oscillations with a preferred period of about 4 years.The results show that the heat content(HC) is transported between the eastern and the western tropical Pacific areas.The spatial distribution of HC anomalies for four phases of the whole cycle clearly shows a possible formation mechanism of El Nino.Experiments further suggest that sea surface temperature in the tropical Pacific and HC in the central tropical Pacific are the most important factors and the central tropical Pacific is the most important area for determining formation of El Nino cycle. 相似文献
Time-series data on upper-ocean temperature, Vessel-Mounted Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (VM-ADCP) measured currents
and surface meteorological parameters have been obtained for the first time in the southern Bay of Bengal at 7‡N, 10‡N, and
13‡N locations along 87‡E during October–November, 1998 under BOBMEX-Pilot programme. These data have been analysed to examine
the diurnal variability of upper oceanic heat budget and to estimate the eddy diffusivity coefficient of heat in the upper
layer. Diurnal variation of near-surface temperature is typical at northern location (13‡N) with a range of 0.5‡C while the
diurnal range of temperature is enhanced to 0.8‡C at the central location (10‡N) due to intense solar radiation (1050 W/m2), clear skies and low wind speeds. At the southern location (7‡N), the diurnal variation of temperature is atypical with
the minimum temperature occurring at 2000 hrs instead of at early morning hours. In general, the diurnal curve of temperature
penetrated up to 15 to 20 m with decreasing diurnal range with depth. The VM-ADCP measured horizontal currents in the upper
ocean were predominantly easterly/northeasterly at southern location, north/northerly at central location and northwesterly
at northern location, thus describing a large-scale cyclonic gyre with the northward meridional flow along 87‡E. The magnitudes
of heat loss at the surface due to air-sea heat exchanges and in the upper 50 m layer due to vertical diffusion of heat are
highest at the southern location where intense convective activity followed by overcast skies and synoptic disturbance prevailed
in the lower atmosphere. This and the estimated higher value (0.0235 m2/s) of eddy diffusivity coefficient of heat in the upper ocean (0–50 m depth) suggest that 1-D processes controlled the upper
layer heat budget at the southern location. On the other hand, during the fair weather conditions, at the central and northern
locations, the upper layer gained heat energy, while the sea surface lost (gained) heat energy at northern (central) location.
This and lower values of eddy diffusivity coefficient of heat (0.0045 and 0.0150 m2/s) and the northward intensification of horizontal currents at these locations suggest the greater role of horizontal heat
advection over the 1-D processes in the upper ocean heat budget at these two locations. 相似文献