By mapping the three-dimensional density field while simultaneously tracking a subsurface, isopycnal float, direct observations of upwelling along a shelfbreak front were made on the southern flank of Georges Bank. The thermohaline and bio-optical fields were mapped using a towed undulating vehicle, and horizontal velocity was measured with a shipboard...
Atmospheric surface layer turbulent statistics measured during the Barbados Oceanographic and Meteorological Experiment 8 and 30 m above mean sea level are presented. The budget equations of turbulent kinetic energy, humility variance and temperature variance are examined. Within discussed limitations it is concluded that production equals dissipation in the case...
Although the process of restratification of the ocean surface layer at the equator following nighttime convection is similar in many ways to the process at midlatitudes, there are important differences. A composite day calculated from 15 days of consistent conditions at 140°W on the equator was compared with midlatitude observations...
Upwelling jets flow alongshore in approximate geostrophic balance with the onshore pressure gradient induced by coastal upwelling. Observations of such jets have shown that they often move offshore downstream of capes, leaving a pool of upwelled water inshore. Comparisons are made between this behavior and the hydraulic transition of a...
The effects of alongshore variations in bottom topography on wind-stress-forced barotropic motion over a continental shelf and slope are studied. An idealized channel model with a weakly sloping bottom and with small-amplitude alongshore variations in topography is utilized. Perturbation methods and numerical inversion of Fourier transforms are employed. The effect...
Measurements of a fresh surface anomaly (fresh lens) produced by rainfall during a westerly wind burst have been analyzed. The measurements were made in December 1992 as part of the Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment in the western equatorial Pacific (2°S, 156°E). Measurements included radar estimates of rainfall, upper-ocean temperature (T),...
The latitudinal structure of annual equatorial Rossby waves in the tropical Pacific Ocean based on sea surface height (SSH) and thermocline depth observations is equatorially asymmetric, which differs from the structure of the linear waves of classical theory that are often presumed to dominate the variability. The nature of this...
This article describes the results of numerical experiments carried out with a general circulation ocean model to investigate the effect of the seasonal cycle of the wind forcing on the Agulhas transport. Two cases are described. The first was initialized with temperature and salinity values obtained by horizontally averaging Levitus...
Datasets taken near the coasts of Peru and California have been analyzed to explore the evidence of a correlation between the high frequency (period < 10.8 hour) and low frequency (period > 4 day) motions. A large part of the high frequency current is consistent with internal wave dynamics. They...
The four components of the long-term annual mean net surface heating of the tropical Pacific Ocean between 30°N and 40°S are calculated and portrayed. These flux elements were derived by using the bulk formulas and about 5 million marine weather reports for the years 1957–76. In addition to illustrating the...