Marine Science Faculty Publications
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-1-2000
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485(2000)030<0657:WFRJIT>2.0.CO;2
Abstract
Upper-ocean zonal currents in the western equatorial Pacific are remarkably variable, changing direction both with time and depth. As a part of the Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment, an enhanced monitoring array of moorings measured the upper-ocean velocity, temperature, salinity, and, surface meteorological conditions in the western equatorial Pacific for two years (March 1992-April 1994). Data from this array are used to evaluate the zonal momentum balance. Although nonlinear terms (zonal. meridional, and vertical advection) were at times large, reversing jets were primarily due to an interplay between wind forcing and compensating pressure gradients. In the weakly stratified surface layer, the flow is to a large extent directly forced by local winds. Eastward acceleration associated with westerly wind bursts and westward accelerations associated with easterly trades lead to frequent reversals in the surface-layer flow. However, pressure gradients set up by the wind bursts partially compensate the local wind forcing in the surface layer. Below the surface layer, these pressure gradients tend to accelerate the upper-thermocline how in a direction opposing the local winds. Consequently, during westerly wind bursts. a reversing jet structure can develop, with a surface eastward current overlying a westward intermediate layer flow, overlaying the eastward Equatorial Undercurrent.
Rights Information
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Journal of Physical Oceanography, v. 30, no. 4, p. 657-676
© Copyright 2000 American Meteorological Society (AMS). Permission to use figures, tables, and brief excerpts from this work in scientific and educational works is hereby granted provided that the source is acknowledged. Any use of material in this work that is determined to be “fair use” under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Act (17 USC §108) does not require the AMS’s permission. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form, such as on a website or in a searchable database, or other uses of this material, except as exempted by the above statement, requires written permission or a license from the AMS. All AMS journals and monograph publications are registered with the Copyright Clearance Center (http://www.copyright.com). Questions about permission to use materials for which AMS holds the copyright can also be directed to permissions@ametsoc.org. Additional details are provided in the AMS Copyright Policy statement, available on the AMS website (http://www.ametsoc.org/CopyrightInformation).
Scholar Commons Citation
Cronin, Megan F.; McPhaden, Michael J.; and Weisberg, Robert H., "Wind-Forced Reversing Jets in the Western Equatorial Pacific" (2000). Marine Science Faculty Publications. 150.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/msc_facpub/150
