On ENSO Coastal Currents and Sea Levels

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Sea-level measurements along the western coast of the Americas have shown that there is a strong signal at ENSO frequencies (approximately 2π/2 yr−1 to 2π/5 yr−1) that propagates poleward at about 40 to 90 cm s−1. This ENSO sea level signal must be associated with ENSO coastal currents, but because adequate interannual current time series are unavailable, the structure and strength of these currents are not known. Coastal ENSO currents must be fundamentally affected by bottom topography and bottom friction, but previous theory has not taken these effects into account. A near-boundary numerical model with realistic bottom friction, stratification, and shelf and slope topography was therefore constructed to study ENSO coastal flow. (i) At ENSO frequencies, previous results for models with no bottom topography and no bottom friction suggest that sea level should not propagate poleward. With realistic bottom friction and bottom topography coastal sea level propagates poleward at speeds similar to tho... Abstract Sea-level measurements along the western coast of the Americas have shown that there is a strong signal at ENSO frequencies (approximately 2π/2 yr−1 to 2π/5 yr−1) that propagates poleward at about 40 to 90 cm s−1. This ENSO sea level signal must be associated with ENSO coastal currents, but because adequate interannual current time series are unavailable, the structure and strength of these currents are not known. Coastal ENSO currents must be fundamentally affected by bottom topography and bottom friction, but previous theory has not taken these effects into account. A near-boundary numerical model with realistic bottom friction, stratification, and shelf and slope topography was therefore constructed to study ENSO coastal flow. (i) At ENSO frequencies, previous results for models with no bottom topography and no bottom friction suggest that sea level should not propagate poleward. With realistic bottom friction and bottom topography coastal sea level propagates poleward at speeds similar to tho...

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: