Role of ocean dynamics in the interannual SST variability of the Caribbean Sea
Abstract
Previous studies have shown that surface heat fluxes, such as clear sky radiative heat flux and latent heat flux play dominant role for onset and decay of the Atlantic Warm Pool (AWP) over the Caribbean Sea in boreal summer. However, according to a recent modeling study by Lee et al. (2006), the coastal upwelling off the South American continent and horizontal advection of the cold water by the Caribbean Current significantly reduces the warming rate of AWP in the Caribbean Sea during its onset and peak phases. During the onset phase (JJA), in particular, typical mixed layer heat balance over the Caribbean Sea is "QSTR (20W/m2) = QNET (40W/m2) + QADV (- 20W/m2)" where QSTR is mixed layer heat storage rate, QNET is net surface heat flux, and QADV is advective heat flux divergence. In this study, we further explore the role of ocean dynamics in the interannual SST variability of the Caribbean Sea by using an ocean general circulation model (OGCM) forced with the surface flux fields of ECMWF-40 reanalysis for the period of 1958-2001.
- Publication:
-
AGU Spring Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- May 2008
- Bibcode:
- 2008AGUSMOS33B..02L
- Keywords:
-
- 3305 Climate change and variability (1616;
- 1635;
- 3309;
- 4215;
- 4513);
- 3339 Ocean/atmosphere interactions (0312;
- 4504);
- 4504 Air/sea interactions (0312;
- 3339);
- 4572 Upper ocean and mixed layer processes;
- 4594 Instruments and techniques