Numerical Simulation of the Seasonal and Interannual Variability of the Tropical Atlantic Ocean Circulation during the 1980S

A nine-year (1980-88) surface wind stress data set over the tropical Atlantic ocean is constructed based on the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) twice-daily wind analysis. Its quality is checked against an independent data set by Servain et al. (1985) based on ship observations. A comprehensive analysis of these two data sets shows a strong seasonal cycle of the wind stress over the equatorial Atlantic ocean. Interannually, the stress field is dominated by a seesaw between the northeast and southeast trade winds, with anomalously strong (weak) southeast (northeast) trade winds during 1980-83 and a reversed pattern during 1984-88. Two nine-year simulations of the tropical Atlantic ocean circulation are performed with a general circulation model, one forced by the twice-daily, and the second by monthly averaged ECMWF surface wind stresses. Comparisons with available observations show that the seasonal ocean circulation and interannual signals of the sea surface temperature (SST), i.e., the dipole oscillation and abnormal warmings, are reproduced qualitatively by both simulations. Further analysis shows that the seasonal cycle of the subtropical and tropical Atlantic has an in-phase relationship with the seasonal change of the surface wind stress and the interannual SST dipole oscillation is generally in balance with the seesaw pattern of the trade wind systems although wave processes are important during the transition of phase. In 1984, the transition of the SST dipole from north-warm/south -cold to its opposite occurred during an equatorial warming event. This warming event was initiated by the relaxation of equatorial easterly wind, which stimulated heat transfer first eastward along the equator, then to the southern ocean and caused a deepening of the thermocline in the Gulf of Guinea and the southern ocean. Another warming event occurred in 1987-88, which restored the disappearing north cold/south warm dipole. A comparison of the two simulations shows the effects of high frequency wind forcings on the oceanic circulation. In midlatitudes, high frequency wind fluctuations cool the upper ocean through increasing the transport of the sensible and evaporative heat to the atmosphere. Near the equator, high frequency wind fluctuations enhance vertical mixing in the upper ocean, increasing temperature near the thermocline. The high frequency wind also generates oceanic waves near the equator. However, these waves only have a small effect on the seasonal and interannual variability of the ocean circulation.