Interannual Variability of the Kuroshio Extension System and Its Impact on the Wintertime SST Field

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Abstract
Altimetry data from the first 7-yr TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) mission (October 1992–September 1999) are analyzed to investigate the interannual variability in regions of the Kuroshio Extension and its southern recirculation gyre. Large-scale, interannual changes of the Kuroshio Extension system are characterized by the oscillation between an elongated state and a contracted state. In the elongated state, the Kuroshio Extension has a larger eastward surface transport, a greater zonal penetration, and a more northerly zonal-mean path. All these characteristics are closely connected to the presence of an intense, zonally elongated southern recirculation gyre. In its contracted state, the Kuroshio Extension has a smaller eastward surface transport, a more southerly mean path, and is accompanied by a weaker southern recirculation gyre. During the T/P period, the Kuroshio Extension changed from the elongated state in 1992–93 to the contracted state in 1996–97, and back to the elongated state since late 1997.... Abstract Altimetry data from the first 7-yr TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) mission (October 1992–September 1999) are analyzed to investigate the interannual variability in regions of the Kuroshio Extension and its southern recirculation gyre. Large-scale, interannual changes of the Kuroshio Extension system are characterized by the oscillation between an elongated state and a contracted state. In the elongated state, the Kuroshio Extension has a larger eastward surface transport, a greater zonal penetration, and a more northerly zonal-mean path. All these characteristics are closely connected to the presence of an intense, zonally elongated southern recirculation gyre. In its contracted state, the Kuroshio Extension has a smaller eastward surface transport, a more southerly mean path, and is accompanied by a weaker southern recirculation gyre. During the T/P period, the Kuroshio Extension changed from the elongated state in 1992–93 to the contracted state in 1996–97, and back to the elongated state since late 1997....

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