Numerical investigations of seasonal and interannual variability of North Pacific subtropical mode water and its implications for Pacific climate variability

Document Type

Article

Date of Original Version

6-1-2011

Abstract

North Pacific Subtropical Mode Water (NPSTMW) is an essential feature of the North Pacific subtropical gyre imparting significant influence on regional SST evolution on seasonal and longer time scales and, as such, is an important component of basin-scale North Pacific climate variability. This study examines the seasonal to-interannual variability of NPSTMW, the physical processes responsible for this variability, and the connections between NPSTMW and basin-scale climate signals using an eddy-permitting 1979-2006 ocean simulation made available by the Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean, Phase II (ECCO2). The monthly mean seasonal cycle of NPSTMWin the simulation exhibits three distinct phases: (i) formation during November-March, (ii) isolation during March-June, and (iii) dissipation during June-November-each corresponding to significant changes in upper-ocean structure. An interannual signal is also evident in NPSTMWvolume and other characteristic properties with volume minima occurring in 1979, 1988, and 1999. This volume variability is correlated with the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO) with zero time lag. Further analyses demonstrate the connection of NPSTMW to the basin-scale ocean circulation.With this, modulations of upper-ocean structure driven by the varying strength and position of the westerlies as well as the regional air-sea heat flux pattern are seen to contribute to the variability of NPSTMW volume on interannual time scales. © 2011 American Meteorological Society.

Publication Title, e.g., Journal

Journal of Climate

Volume

24

Issue

11

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