Meridional velocity, mass, and heat transport in the equatorial oceans are difficult to estimate because of the nonapplicability of the geostrophic balance. For this purpose a steady-state model is utilized in the equatorial Indian Ocean using NCEP wind stress and temperature and salinity data from the World Ocean Atlas 2005 (WOA05) and Argo. The results show a Somali Current flowing to the sou...

Concurrent satellite-measured chlorophyll (CHL), sea surface temperature (SST), sea level anomaly (SLA) and model-derived wind vectors from the 13þ year SeaWiFS period September 1997–December 2010 quantify time and space patterns of phytoplankton variability and its links to physical forcing in the Pacific Ocean. The CHL fields are a metric of biological variability, SST represents vertical mix...

[1] The coast of central Chile is characterized by intermittent low-level along-shore southerly wind periods, called coastal jets (CJs). In this study, we take advantage of long-term satellite data to document the CJs characteristics over 2000–2007 and investigate its impact on upwelling. The CJ structure has a core some 100 km from the shore and a cross-shore scale of 160 km, and it usually la...

The response of the North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (MOC) to wind stress forcing is investigated from an observational standpoint, using four time series of overturning transports below and relative to 1000m, overlapping by 3.6 yr. These time series are derived from four mooring arrays located on the western boundary of the North Atlantic: the RAPIDWestern Atlantic Variability...

The effects of wind-forced upwelling and downwelling on the continental shelf off Duck, North Carolina, are studied through experiments with a two-dimensional numerical primitive equation model. Moored and shipboard measurements obtained during August–November 1994 as part of the Coastal Ocean Processes (CoOP) Inner Shelf Study (ISS) are used for model–data comparisons. The model is initialized...

The turbulent energy equation, together with a modified mixing length, is adopted to close the governing equations in the turbulent planetary boundary layer under stratification conditions. The system of governing equations is decoupled by introducing a stratification parameter, Q. Numerical integration of the system, in general, is outlined and should be easily implemented. Results for the mom...

Global seasonal cycles of the wind and wind stress fields estimated from the 8-yr record (September 1999–August 2007) of wind measurements by the NASA Quick Scatterometer (QuikSCAT) are presented. While this atlas, referred to here as the Scatterometer Climatology of Ocean Winds (SCOW), consists of 12 variables, the focus here is on the wind stress and wind stress derivative (curl and divergenc...

Using cross correlations between sequential infrared satellite images, an objective technique is developed to compute advective sea surface velocities. Cross correlations are computed in 32 x 32 pixel search (second image) and 22 x 22 template (first image) windows from gradients of sea surface temperature computed from the satellite images. Velocity vectors, computed from sequential images of ...

[1] Persistent spring and summer northerly surface winds are the defining climatological feature of the western coast of North America, especially south of the Oregon coast. Northerly surface winds are important for upwelling and a vast array of other biological, oceanic, and atmospheric processes. Intermittence in northerly coastal surface wind is characterized and wind events are quantitative...