Marine Science Faculty Publications
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-15-1998
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1029/97JC02722
Abstract
It is generally observed in models of the coupled tropical ocean‐atmosphere system that the meridional scales for oscillations at interannual periods are larger than an oceanic equatorial Rossby radius of deformation. Using 9 years of the high‐resolution optimum interpolation sea surface temperature (SST) product of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), analyses are made on the frequency dependence of the observed meridional scales, with emphasis on the latitudinal structures in the central Pacific at 140°W. On the relatively short intraseasonal and seasonal timescales the SST variations are found to occur over a meridional scale of the oceanic equatorial Rossby radius of deformation suggested by conventional equatorially trapped wave theory. In contrast to this, on the longer annual and interannual timescales the meridional scales are found to increase beyond the oceanic equatorial Rossby radius of deformation. A physical explanation for this meridional scale increase with decreasing frequency in the coupled tropical ocean‐atmosphere system is discussed.
Rights Information
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Journal of Geophysical Research - Oceans, v. 103, issue C2, p. 2811-2816
Copyright 1998 by the American Geophysical Union.
Scholar Commons Citation
Wang, Chunzai Z. and Weisberg, Robert H., "Observations of Meridional Scale Frequency Dependence in the Coupled Tropical Ocean-Atmosphere System" (1998). Marine Science Faculty Publications. 121.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/msc_facpub/121
