The influence of oceanic Ekman heat transport (Qek) on air–sea variability associated with ENSO teleconnections is examined via a pair of atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) experiments. In the mixed layer model (MLM) experiment, observed sea surface temperatures (SSTs) for the years 1950–99 are specified over the tropical Pacific, while a grid of mixed layer models is coupled to the A...

The generation and destruction of stratification in the surface mixed layer of the ocean is understood to result from vertical turbulent transport of buoyancy and momentum driven by air–sea fluxes and stresses. In this paper, it is shown that the magnitude and penetration of vertical fluxes are strongly modified by horizontal gradients in buoyancy and momentum. A classic example is the strong r...

In this paper, we investigate rotating electro-osmotic (EO) flow over an infinite plate or in a channel formed by two parallel plates. The analysis is based on the Debye-Hückel approximation for charge distributions and the Navier-Stokes equation for a transport electrolyte in the rotating frame. It is shown that, for the single plate, the nondimensional speed of system rotation ω is the singly...

We present a numerical study of 2D axisymmetric flows in a rotating annulus convectively forced by local thermal forcing via a heated annular ring at the bottom near the external wall and a cooled circular disk near the centre at the top surface of the annulus. Two vertically and horizontally displaced heat sources/sinks are arranged so thatstatically unstable Rayleigh-Bénard convection would b...

The response to the tropical cyclone Phyan, which developed in the eastern Arabian Sea during 9-11 November 2009, was rapid cooling of sea surface temperature (SST), enhancement of chlorophyll a and two-fold increase in net primary productivity (NPP). Cooling of SST was immediate in response to the strong wind-mixing, and the subsequent upward Ekman pumping sustained the cooling even after the ...

In regions of strong sea surface temperature (SST) gradients, the surface "geostrophic" currents have a vertical shear aligned with the surface density front defined by the temperature. This surface geostrophic ("thermal wind") shear can balance a portion of the surface wind stress, altering the classic Ekman response to wind forcing. Here we show that these frontal effects cannot be ignored in...

Wintertime stratification on Oregon’s continental shelf often produces a near-bottom layer of dense fluid that acts as an internal waveguide on which nonlinear internal waves propagate. Shipboard profiling and bottom lander observations capture disturbances that exhibit properties of internal solitary waves, bores and gravity currents. Wave-like pulses are highly turbulent (instantaneous bed st...

In this thesis, the dynamic role of bottom topography in a #3-plane channel is systematically studied in both linear homogeneous and stratified layer models in the presence of either wind stress (Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 6) or buoyancy forcing (Chapter 5). In these studies, the structure of the geostrophic contour plays a fundamental role, and the role of bottom topography is looked at from two di...

[1] Seasonal to interannual variability of the Lombok Strait surface layer transport is investigated. The geostrophic transport within the surface layer is estimated from the cross-channel pressure gradient measured by a pair of shallow pressure gauges positioned on opposing sides of Lombok Strait during 1996-1999. The Ekman transport through Lombok Strait, derived from scatterometer winds, is ...