Near 13 day barotropic ocean response to the atmospheric forcing in the North Pacific

Authors

Hanna Na, University of Rhode Island
Jae Hun Park, Korea Institute Of Ocean Science & Technology
D. Randolph Watts, University of Rhode Island
Kathleen A. Donohue, University of Rhode Island
Ho Jin Lee, Korea Maritime and Ocean University

Document Type

Article

Date of Original Version

12-26-2012

Abstract

In the Kuroshio Extension System Study (KESS) east of Japan, bottom pressure observations over the 2 year study period exhibit strong high-frequency variability near 13 days. The first cyclostationary empirical orthogonal function mode for the band-pass-filtered KESS bottom pressure explains about 57% of the near 13 day variance and exhibits almost in-phase variability in space with a hint of westward propagation. The 13 day variability is strong during the winter and is driven by the large-scale wind stress curl over a broad region of the North Pacific. Modeling results over the North Pacific closely follow the observations and indicate that topography confines the barotropic response to the west of Emperor Seamount Chain and slows the westward propagation of the near 13 day bottom pressure variability. © 2012. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Publication Title, e.g., Journal

Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans

Volume

117

Issue

12

Citation/Publisher Attribution

Na, Hanna, Jae Hun Park, D. Randolph Watts, Kathleen A. Donohue, and Ho Jin Lee. "Near 13 day barotropic ocean response to the atmospheric forcing in the North Pacific." Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 117, 12 (2012). doi: 10.1029/2012JC008211.