Naval Postgraduate School
Dudley Knox Library
NPS Dudley Knox Library
View Item 
  •   Calhoun Home
  • Faculty and Researchers
  • Faculty and Researchers' Publications
  • View Item
  •   Calhoun Home
  • Faculty and Researchers
  • Faculty and Researchers' Publications
  • View Item
  • How to search in Calhoun
  • My Accounts
  • Ask a Librarian
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Browse

All of CalhounCollectionsThis Collection

My Account

LoginRegister

Statistics

Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

Oceanic Variability Off the Central California Coast

Thumbnail
Download
IconOceanic_variability_off_the_Central_California_coast.pdf (22.61Mb)
Download Record
Download to EndNote/RefMan (RIS)
Download to BibTex
Author
Breaker, Laurence C.
Mooers, Christopher N.K.
Date
1986
Metadata
Show full item record
Abstract
Mesoscale variability off the Central California coast is strongly influenced by coastal upwelling and related processes. Off Point Sur, there is significant space-time variability in oceanic properties over periods of days and distances of several tens of km. However, the internal density field, averaged over space (ca. 120km alongshore) and time (ca. 18 days), reveals the expected characteristics of a coastal upwelling regime, including an equatorward surface jet 25km to 40km offshore and weaker poleward flow below 150m and within 20km of the coast. Upper ocean circulation is strongly influenced by the bathymetry offshore to water depths of at least 1000m. Based on repeated horizontal grids of oceanographic stations, horizontal correlation scales for temperature are of the order of 30km in the upper 100m; hence, a horizontal sampling rate of ca. 10km is desirable. Vertical correlation scales for temperature are of the order of 100m; hence, a vertical sampling rate of ca. 10m is desirable. Similarly, there are indications of a temporal correlation scale of a few weeks; hence, a temporal sampling rate of ca. a few days is desirable. Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOFs) in the cross-shore vertical plane suggest the influence of coastally-trapped motions within 40km of the coast, with an intense alongshore, near-surface, transient coastal jet located ca. 20km offshore. Sudden spring transitions to coastal upwelling conditions are often pronounced in coastal temperature records, and they may precede the offshore migration of the major upwelling front by at least a month or more. The spring transitions occur over a period of about a week. In 1980, the spring transition propagated poleward along the California coast at a speed of ca. 64km d−1. During spring and summer, movement of a coastal upwelling front, often located between 15km and 50km offshore, is a major contributor to cross-shore variability. The upwelling front meanders with an alongshore scale of about 80km, a time scale of 30 to 40 days, and an amplitude scale of 10km RMS, based on satellite infrared (IR) imagery. The along-shore mean position of the major upwelling front migrates offshore during spring and summer. Offshore displacement of the front may be caused by Ekman transport over periods of days-to-weeks, and by Rossby wave dispersion over longer periods. During summer, a time-dependent offshore scale based on Rossby wave dynamics was more appropriate than the baroclinic Rossby radius. Every three to four years, during 1971 through 1984, El Nino episodes produced interannual variability in coastal sea surface temperature (SST) off Central California. Most of the warming occured during fall and winter. El Nino episodes were often followed by major spring transitions. The recent 1982/1983 episode was 2 to 3°C warmer than the three previous episodes over the past 14 years, and its influence lasted almost twice as long.
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.
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10945/61504
Collections
  • Faculty and Researchers' Publications

Related items

Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

  • Thumbnail

    The space-time scales of variability in oceanic thermal structure off the Central California coast 

    Breaker, Laurence Coates (Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 1983-12);
    The space-time scales of variability in ocean thermal structure are examined off the Central California coast. In the active coastal upwelling regime off Pr. Sur, there was an equatorward surface jet 15 to 40 km offshore, ...
  • Thumbnail

    Subtidal circulation over the upper slope to the west of Monterey Bay, California 

    Morales, Juan Aguilar. (Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2003-09);
    Moored current meters were used to describe currents over the continental slope off Monterey Bay, California, from March 1998 to March 2003. The water depth at this location was 1800 m and current observations included of ...
  • Thumbnail

    The California Current system off Monterey, California: physical and biological coupling 

    Collins, C. A.; Pennington, J. T.; Castro, C. G.; Rago, T. A.; Chavez, F. P. (Elsevier, 2003);
    Repeated hydrobiological surveys over the period 1988-2002 perpendicular to the central California coast indicate strong coupling between physical circulation and biological production. An equatorward-flowing jet about ...
NPS Dudley Knox LibraryDUDLEY KNOX LIBRARY
Feedback

411 Dyer Rd. Bldg. 339
Monterey, CA 93943
circdesk@nps.edu
(831) 656-2947
DSN 756-2947

    Federal Depository Library      


Start Your Research

Research Guides
Academic Writing
Ask a Librarian
Copyright at NPS
Graduate Writing Center
How to Cite
Library Liaisons
Research Tools
Thesis Processing Office

Find & Download

Databases List
Articles, Books & More
NPS Theses
NPS Faculty Publications: Calhoun
Journal Titles
Course Reserves

Use the Library

My Accounts
Request Article or Book
Borrow, Renew, Return
Tech Help
Remote Access
Workshops & Tours

For Faculty & Researchers
For International Students
For Alumni

Print, Copy, Scan, Fax
Rooms & Study Spaces
Floor Map
Computers & Software
Adapters, Lockers & More

Collections

NPS Archive: Calhoun
Restricted Resources
Special Collections & Archives
Federal Depository
Homeland Security Digital Library

About

Hours
Library Staff
About Us
Special Exhibits
Policies
Our Affiliates
Visit Us

NPS-Licensed Resources—Terms & Conditions
Copyright Notice

Naval Postgraduate School

Naval Postgraduate School
1 University Circle, Monterey, CA 93943
Driving Directions | Campus Map

This is an official U.S. Navy Website |  Please read our Privacy Policy Notice  |  FOIA |  Section 508 |  No FEAR Act |  Whistleblower Protection |  Copyright and Accessibility |  Contact Webmaster

Export search results

The export option will allow you to export the current search results of the entered query to a file. Different formats are available for download. To export the items, click on the button corresponding with the preferred download format.

A logged-in user can export up to 15000 items. If you're not logged in, you can export no more than 500 items.

To select a subset of the search results, click "Selective Export" button and make a selection of the items you want to export. The amount of items that can be exported at once is similarly restricted as the full export.

After making a selection, click one of the export format buttons. The amount of items that will be exported is indicated in the bubble next to export format.