Equatorial Velocity Profiles. Part I: Meridional Component

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Abstract
A time series or vertical profiles of horizontal velocity was collected in the western equatorial Indian Ocean during late spring of 1976. The meridional velocity component is examined here, the zonal component in Part II of this paper. The profiles have been normalized using a WKB approximation so that they can be analyzed in terms of their vertical wavenumber content and discussed in terms of vertical wavelengths. Autospectral analysis reveals an equatorial concentration of meridional kinetic energy, whose meridional trapping scale decreases as the vertical scale of the motion decreases. Calculations of dropped lagged coherence (DLC) show that the energy in certain wavelength bands is propagating vertically. By using the indicated periods and the linear dispersion relation for equatorial waves, we determine that the observed meridional motion in two vertical wavenumber bands is consistent with the dominance of two mixed Rossby-gravity waves. The first has a vertical wavelength of 1200 sm (stret... Abstract A time series or vertical profiles of horizontal velocity was collected in the western equatorial Indian Ocean during late spring of 1976. The meridional velocity component is examined here, the zonal component in Part II of this paper. The profiles have been normalized using a WKB approximation so that they can be analyzed in terms of their vertical wavenumber content and discussed in terms of vertical wavelengths. Autospectral analysis reveals an equatorial concentration of meridional kinetic energy, whose meridional trapping scale decreases as the vertical scale of the motion decreases. Calculations of dropped lagged coherence (DLC) show that the energy in certain wavelength bands is propagating vertically. By using the indicated periods and the linear dispersion relation for equatorial waves, we determine that the observed meridional motion in two vertical wavenumber bands is consistent with the dominance of two mixed Rossby-gravity waves. The first has a vertical wavelength of 1200 sm (stret...

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