Interannual Variability in the Heat Content of the Kuroshio Extension Associated with the 1982 ENSO Event
Open Access
- 1 February 1986
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Meteorological Society in Journal of Physical Oceanography
- Vol. 16 (2) , 309-321
- https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485(1986)016<0309:ivithc>2.0.co;2
Abstract
Interannual variability in vertically averaged temperature over the upper 400 m of ocean (i.e., upper ocean heat content) in the vicinity of the Kuroshio Extension experienced significant changes during the 1982 ENSO year, as compared to the preceding three years. Interannual variability was dominated by a mesoscale anomaly pattern, whose variance increased by 40%. on average, in early 1982 over what it had been the previous three years. This was accompanied by a general anomalous cooling south of the Kuroshio Extension and an anomalous warming north of the current, associated with a decrease in the intensity of the Kuroshio Extension east of 150°E. This activity occurred at the same time that the tropical and equatorial western North Pacific was experiencing a rapid reduction in upper ocean heat content. Mesoscale anomalies of vertically averaged temperature in the Kuroshio Extension during the 1982 ENSO year were comparable in magnitude (i.e., 3°C) with maximum anomalous vertically averaged tem... Abstract Interannual variability in vertically averaged temperature over the upper 400 m of ocean (i.e., upper ocean heat content) in the vicinity of the Kuroshio Extension experienced significant changes during the 1982 ENSO year, as compared to the preceding three years. Interannual variability was dominated by a mesoscale anomaly pattern, whose variance increased by 40%. on average, in early 1982 over what it had been the previous three years. This was accompanied by a general anomalous cooling south of the Kuroshio Extension and an anomalous warming north of the current, associated with a decrease in the intensity of the Kuroshio Extension east of 150°E. This activity occurred at the same time that the tropical and equatorial western North Pacific was experiencing a rapid reduction in upper ocean heat content. Mesoscale anomalies of vertically averaged temperature in the Kuroshio Extension during the 1982 ENSO year were comparable in magnitude (i.e., 3°C) with maximum anomalous vertically averaged tem...This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- Short-Term Climatic Variability in the Thermal Structure of the Pacific Ocean during 1979–82Journal of Physical Oceanography, 1985