Wind Stress Curl and Ocean Conditions in the Northeast Pacific: A Mechanism for Ocean Climate Change
Abstract
Wind stress and wind stress curl strongly shape upper
ocean conditions in the North Pacific on a full range of
time scales. The NCEP reanalysis surface daily winds
have been processed to define climatologies and
monthly values and anomalies of wind stress curl over
the Pacific Basin. Prior work by Bakun and Nelson have
shown that cyclonic wind stress in coastal regions
coupled with alongshore equatorward flow can affect
upwelling and therefore coastal temperatures,
stratification, and productivity. By comparing the
evolution of wind stress and curl to SST and
subsurface temperature we are able to investigate the
impact of ekman processes on the seasonal
progression of ocean conditions.
Climatologies show zonal bands of positive curl from
the equator to 20N in winter and from 20N to 35N in
summer. From climatologies, the time of maximum
annual wind curl occurs later in the season with
distance from the equator along the West Coast of
North America spring and fall. Isotherms shoal
seasonally in response to the annual wind stress curl
cycles. Because the ocean response to atmospheric
forcing is "dynamically similar" on annual and longer
periods, the seasonal evolution of the wind field and the
ocean's response will provide insight on the
development of ocean anomalies during extreme events
such as El Niño and decadal oscillations.
Description
US-GLOBEC NEP Poster
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.Collections
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