Hughes, P. J. (2006). North Atlantic Decadal Variability of Ocean Surface Fluxes . Master's thesis, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL.
Abstract: The spatial and temporal variability of the surface turbulent heat fluxes over the North Atlantic is examined using the new objectively produced FSU3 monthly mean 1°x1° gridded wind and surface flux product for 1978-2003. The FSU3 product is constructed from in situ ship and buoy observations via a variational technique. A cost function based on weighted constraints is minimized in the process of determining the surface fluxes. The analysis focuses on a low frequency (basin wide) mode of variability where the latent and sensible heat flux anomalies transition from mainly positive to negative values around 1998. It is hypothesized that the longer time scale variability is linked to changes in the large scale circulation patterns possibly associated with the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO; Schlesinger and Ramankutty 1994, Kerr 2000). The changes in the surface heat fluxes are forced by fluctuations in the mean wind speed. Zonal averages show a clear dissimilarity between the turbulent heat fluxes and wind speed for 1982-1997 and 1998-2003 over the region extending from the equator to roughly 40°N. Larger values are associated with the earlier time period, coinciding with a cool phase of the AMO. The separation between the two time periods is much less evident for the humidity and air/sea temperature differences. The largest differences in the latent heat fluxes, between the two time periods, occur over the tropical, Gulf Stream, and higher latitude regions of the North Atlantic, with magnitudes exceeding 15 Wm-2. The largest sensible heat flux differences are limited to areas along the New England coast and poleward of 40°N.
Hughes, P. J., Bourassa, M. A., Rolph, J., & Smith, S. R. (2006). Interdecadal Variability of Surface Heat Fluxes Over the Atlantic Ocean (J. Cote, Ed.). CAS/JSC Working Group on Numerical Experimentation, Research Activities in Atmospheric and Oceanic Modeling. World Meteorological Organization.
Jackson, L. C., Dubois, C., Forget, G., Haines, K., Harrison, M., Iovino, D., et al. (2019). The Mean State and Variability of the North Atlantic Circulation: A Perspective From Ocean Reanalyses. J. Geophys. Res. Oceans , 124 (12), 8969–9003.
Abstract: The transfer of Indian Ocean thermocline and intermediate waters into the South Atlantic via the Agulhas leakage is generally believed to be primarily accomplished through mesoscale eddy processes, essentially anticyclones known as Agulhas Rings. Here we take advantage of a recent eddy tracking algorithm and Argo float profiles to study the evolution and the thermohaline structure of one of these eddies over the course of 1.5 years (May 2013–November 2014). We found that during this period the ring evolved according to two different phases: During the first one, taking place in winter, the mixing layer in the eddy deepened significantly. During the second phase, the eddy subsided below the upper warmer layer of the South Atlantic subtropical gyre while propagating west. The separation of this eddy from the sea surface could explain the decrease in its surface signature in satellite altimetry maps, suggesting that such changes are not due to eddy dissipation processes. It is a very large eddy (7.1×1013 m3 in volume), extending, after subduction, from a depth of 200–1,200 m and characterized by two mode water cores. The two mode water cores represent the largest eddy heat and salt anomalies when compared with the surrounding. In terms of its impact over 1 year, the north‐westward propagation of this long‐lived anticyclone induces a transport of 2.2 Sv of water, 0.008 PW of heat, and 2.2×105 kg s−1 of salt. These results confirm that Agulhas Rings play a very important role in the Indo‐Atlantic interocean exchange of heat and salt.
Jacob, J. C., Armstrong, E. M., Bourassa, M. A., Cram, T., Elya, J. L., Greguska, F. R., III, et al. (2018). OceanWorks: Enabling Interactive Oceanographic Analysis in the Cloud with Multivariate Data. In American Geophysical Union (Vol. Fall Meeting).
Abstract: NASA's Advanced Information System Technology (AIST) Program sponsors the OceanWorks project to establish an integrated data analytics center at the Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center (PO.DAAC). OceanWorks provides a series of interoperable capabilities that are essential for cloud-scale oceanographic research. These include big data analytics, data search with subsecond response, intelligent ranking of search results, subsetting based on data quality metrics, and rapid spatiotemporal matchup of satellite measurements with distributed in situ data. The software behind OceanWorks is being developed as an open source project in the Apache Incubator Science Data Analytics Platform (SDAP – http://sdap.apache.org). In this presentation we describe how OceanWorks enables efficient, scalable, interactive and interdisciplinary oceanographic analysis with multivariate data.
Jeon, C. - H., Buijsman, M. C., Wallcraft, A. J., Shriver, J. F., Arbic, B. K., Richman, J. G., et al. Improving surface tidal accuracy through two-way nesting in a global ocean model. Ocean Modelling , .
Jeon, C. - H., Buijsman, M. C., Wallcraft, A. J., Shriver, J. F., Arbic, B. K., Richman, J. G., et al. (2019). Improving surface tidal accuracy through two-way nesting in a global ocean model. Ocean Modelling , 137 , 98–113.
Abstract: In global ocean simulations, forward (non-data-assimilative) tide models generally feature large sea-surface-height errors near Hudson Strait in the North Atlantic Ocean with respect to altimetry-constrained tidal solutions. These errors may be associated with tidal resonances that are not well resolved by the complex coastal-shelf bathymetry in low-resolution simulations. An online two-way nesting framework has been implemented to improve global surface tides in the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM). In this framework, a high-resolution child domain, covering Hudson Strait, is coupled with a relatively low-resolution parent domain for computational efficiency. Data such as barotropic pressure and velocity are exchanged between the child and parent domains with the external coupler OASIS3-MCT. The developed nesting framework is validated with semi-idealized basin-scale model simulations. The M2 sea-surface heights show very good accuracy in the one-way and two-way nesting simulations in Hudson Strait, where large tidal elevations are observed. In addition, the mass and tidal energy flux are not adversely impacted at the nesting boundaries in the semi-idealized simulations. In a next step, the nesting framework is applied to a realistic global tide simulation. In this simulation, the resolution of the child domain (1/75°) is three times as fine as that of the parent domain (1/25°). The M2 sea-surface-height root-mean-square errors with tide gauge data and the altimetry-constrained global FES2014 and TPXO9-atlas tidal solutions are evaluated for the nesting and no-nesting solutions. The better resolved coastal bathymetry and the finer grid in the child domain improve the local tides in Hudson Strait and Bay, and the back-effect of the coastal tides induces an improvement of the barotropic tides in the open ocean of the Atlantic.
Jeon, C. - H., Buijsman, M. C., Wallcraft, A. J., Shriver, J. F., Arbic, B. K., Richman, J. G., et al. (2019). Improving surface tidal accuracy through two-way nesting in a global ocean model. Ocean Modelling , 137 , 98–113.
Abstract: In global ocean simulations, forward (non-data-assimilative) tide models generally feature large sea-surface-height errors near Hudson Strait in the North Atlantic Ocean with respect to altimetry-constrained tidal solutions. These errors may be associated with tidal resonances that are not well resolved by the complex coastal-shelf bathymetry in low-resolution simulations. An online two-way nesting framework has been implemented to improve global surface tides in the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM). In this framework, a high-resolution child domain, covering Hudson Strait, is coupled with a relatively low-resolution parent domain for computational efficiency. Data such as barotropic pressure and velocity are exchanged between the child and parent domains with the external coupler OASIS3-MCT. The developed nesting framework is validated with semi-idealized basin-scale model simulations. The M2 sea-surface heights show very good accuracy in the one-way and two-way nesting simulations in Hudson Strait, where large tidal elevations are observed. In addition, the mass and tidal energy flux are not adversely impacted at the nesting boundaries in the semi-idealized simulations. In a next step, the nesting framework is applied to a realistic global tide simulation. In this simulation, the resolution of the child domain (1/75°) is three times as fine as that of the parent domain (1/25°). The M2 sea-surface-height root-mean-square errors with tide gauge data and the altimetry-constrained global FES2014 and TPXO9-atlas tidal solutions are evaluated for the nesting and no-nesting solutions. The better resolved coastal bathymetry and the finer grid in the child domain improve the local tides in Hudson Strait and Bay, and the back-effect of the coastal tides induces an improvement of the barotropic tides in the open ocean of the Atlantic.
Jones, B. (2004). Influence of Panamanian Wind Jets on the Southeast Intertropical Convergence Zone . Master's thesis, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL.
Abstract: Gridded QuikSCAT data has been used to show that a strong confluence zone of the Southeast Pacific Intertropical Convergence Zone (SITCZ) existed in 2000 � 2002 during boreal spring, and the Panama wind jet contributes to its variability. Time series analysis of winds off the Gulf of Panama and convergence advection into the Southern Hemisphere (from 80W to 95W) show these winds kept the SE Trades out of the Northern Hemisphere and created a confluent zone in the Southern Hemisphere. A monthly averaged SITCZ is maintained by the deceleration of the SE Trades that flow from warm water toward the equatorial cold tongue, creating a speed convergent zone south of the equator. Images of wind trajectories show zonally orientated SE Trade winds that were deflected from a divergent zone parallel to the coast of South America converge with more meridional Trades over warm waters. Panamanian winds crossed into the Southern Hemisphere to contribute to this convergence. It is hypothesized that this confluent zone can be intensified by the Panamanian winds. In 2002, the SITCZ confluent zone occurred with more intense Panamanian gap flow than the previous two years. Cross equatorial SE Trades wrapped anti-cyclonically around a divergent pocket in the Northern Hemisphere and became southward winds, which allowed the Panamanian winds to enter the Southern Hemisphere and intensify the SITCZ. Variability in the Panamanian winds makes a substantial contribution to the evolution of the SITCZ.
Kara, A. B., Hurlburt, H. E., Wallcraft, A. J., & Bourassa, M. A. (2005). Black Sea Mixed Layer Sensitivity to Various Wind and Thermal Forcing Products on Climatological Time Scales. J. Climate , 18 (24), 5266–5293.
Kara, A. B., Metzger, E. J., & Bourassa, M. A. (2007). Ocean current and wave effects on wind stress drag coefficient over the global ocean. Geophys. Res. Lett. , 34 (1).
