John Gilson

Decadal Spinup of the South Pacific Subtropical Gyre

Abstract An increase in the circulation of the South Pacific Ocean subtropical gyre, extending from the sea surface to middepth, is observed over 12 years. Datasets used to quantify the decadal gyre spinup include satellite altimetric height, the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) hydrographic and float survey of the South Pacific, a repeated hydrographic transect along 170°W, and profiling float data from the global Argo array. The signal in sea surface height is a 12-cm increase between 1993 and 2004, on large spatial scale centered at about 40°S, 170°W. The subsurface datasets show that this signal is predominantly due to density variations in the water column, that is, to deepening of isopycnal surfaces, extending to depths of at least 1800 m. The maximum increase in dynamic height is collocated with the deep center of the subtropical gyre, and the signal represents an increase in the total counterclockwise geostrophic circulation of the gyre, by at least 20% at 1000 m. A comparison of WOCE and...

Eddy Transport of Heat and Thermocline Waters in the North Pacific: A Key to Interannual/Decadal Climate Variability?

Abstract High-resolution XBT transects in the North Pacific Ocean, at an average latitude of 22°N, are analyzed together with TOPEX/Poseidon altimetric data to determine the structure and transport characteristics of the mesoscale eddy field. Based on anomalies in dynamic height, 410 eddies are identified in 30 transects from 1991 to 1999, including eddies seen in multiple transects over a year or longer. Their wavelength is typically 500 km, with peak-to-trough temperature difference of 2.2°C in the center of the thermocline. The features slant westward with decreasing depth, by 0.8° of longitude on average from 400 m up to the sea surface. This tilt produces a depth-varying velocity/temperature correlation and hence a vertical meridional overturning circulation. In the mean, 3.9 Sv (Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1) of thermocline waters are carried southward by the eddy field over the width of the basin, balanced mainly by northward flow in the surface layer. Corresponding northward heat transport is 0.086 ± 0.012 pW. ...

Relationship of TOPEX/Poseidon altimetric height to steric height and circulation in the North Pacific

TOPEX/Poseidon altimetric height is compared with 20 transpacific eddy-resolving realizations of steric height. The latter are calculated from temperature (expendable bathythermograph (XBT)) and salinity (expendable conductivity and temperature profiler (XCTD)) profiles along a precisely repeating ship track over a period of 5 years. The overall difference between steric height and altimetric height is 5.2 cm RMS. On long wavelengths (λ 500 km), containing 17% of the steric height variance, the 3.0 cm RMS difference and lowered coherence are due to the sparse distribution of altimeter ground tracks along the XBT section. The 2.4 cm RMS difference in the basin-wide spatial mean appears to be due to fluctuations in bottom pressure. Differences between steric height and altimetric height increase near the western boundary, but data variance increases even more, and so the signal-to-noise ratio is highest in the western quarter of the transect. Basin-wide integrals of surface geostrophic transport from steric height and altimetric height are in reasonable agreement. The 1.9×104 m2 s−1 RMS difference is mainly because the interpolated altimetric height lacks spatial resolution across the narrow western boundary current. A linear regression is used to demonstrate the estimation of subsurface temperature from altimetric data. Errors diminish from 0.8°C at 200 m to 0.3°C at 400 m. Geostrophic volume transport, 0–800 m, shows agreement that is similar to surface transport, with 4.8 Sverdrup (Sv) (106 m3 s−1) RMS difference. The combination of altimetric height with subsurface temperature and salinity profiling is a powerful tool for observing variability in circulation and transport of the upper ocean. The continuing need for appropriate subsurface data for verification and for statistical estimation is emphasized. This includes salinity measurements, which significantly reduce errors in specific volume and steric height.

Correction to ''Recent cooling of the upper ocean''

The recent cooling signal in the upper ocean reported by Lyman et al. [2006] is shown to be an artifact that was caused by a large cold bias discovered in a small fraction of Argo floats as well as a smaller but more prevalent warm bias in eXpendable BathyThermograph (XBT) data. These biases are both substantially larger than sampling errors estimated in Lyman et al. [2006].

In Situ Data Biases and Recent Ocean Heat Content Variability

Abstract Two significant instrument biases have been identified in the in situ profile data used to estimate globally integrated upper-ocean heat content. A large cold bias was discovered in a small fraction of Argo floats along with a smaller but more prevalent warm bias in expendable bathythermograph (XBT) data. These biases appear to have caused the bulk of the upper-ocean cooling signal reported by Lyman et al. between 2003 and 2005. These systematic data errors are significantly larger than sampling errors in recent years and are the dominant sources of error in recent estimates of globally integrated upper-ocean heat content variability. The bias in the XBT data is found to be consistent with errors in the fall-rate equations, suggesting a physical explanation for that bias. With biased profiles discarded, no significant warming or cooling is observed in upper-ocean heat content between 2003 and 2006.

Mean and Temporal Variability in Kuroshio Geostrophic Transport South of Taiwan (1993–2001)

Observations of the Kuroshio south of Taiwan have been carried out on a quarterly basis since late 1992 as part of the basin-wide High Resolution expendable bathythermograph/expendable conductivity-temperature-depth (XBT/XCTD) network. Mean geostrophic transport in the Kuroshio, 0–800 m, from 34 cruises is 22.0 Sv ± 1.5, consistent with previous results from moorings and geostrophic calculations in the upstream Kuroshio region. The mean core of the current has speed about 90 cm s−1 and is located close to Taiwan. At this location the Kuroshio appears to be confined mainly to the upper 700 m, and there is no evident tight recirculation of the current. Eddy variability is substantial, and large eddies can be seen propagating westward for thousands of kilometers in TOPEX/Poseidon altimetric data, impinging on the current and altering its structure and transport. The annual range in transport is about 8 Sv ± 6, with maximum in summer. Interannual variability is about 12 Sv ± 6, with transport maxima in 1995 and 2000 and a minimum in 1997–1998. Interannual variability in the upstream Kuroshio may be uncorrelated with that in the downstream region south of Japan, where the transport is much greater. Our quarterly sampling aliases high frequency variability of the current, and an improved boundary-current observation program would include more frequent transects and occasional deeper measurements.

Mean and time‐varying meridional transport of heat at the tropical/subtropical boundary of the North Pacific Ocean

Ocean heat transport near the tropical/subtropical boundary of the North Pacific during 1993–1999 is described, including its mean and time variability. Twenty-eight trans-Pacific high-resolution expendable bathythermograph (XBT)/expendable conductivity-temperature-depth (XCTD) transects are used together with directly measured and operational wind estimates to calculate the geostrophic and Ekman transports. The mean heat transport across the XBT transect was 0.83±0.12 pW during the 7 year period. The large number of transects enables a stable estimate of the mean field to be made, with error bars based on the known variability. The North Pacific heat engine is a shallow meridional overturning circulation that includes warm Ekman and western boundary current components flowing northward, balanced by a southward flow of cool thermocline waters (including Subtropical Mode Waters). A near-balance of geostrophic and Ekman transports holds in an interannual sense as well as for the time mean. Interannual variability in geostrophic transport is strikingly similar to the pattern of central North Pacific sea level pressure variability (the North Pacific Index). The interannual range in heat transport was more than 0.4 pW during 1993–1999, with maximum northward values about 1 pW in early 1994 and early 1997. The ocean heat transport time series is similar to that of European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts air-sea heat flux integrated over the Pacific north of the XBT line. The repeating nature of the XBT/XCTD transects, with direct wind measurements, allows a substantial improvement over previous heat transport estimates based on one-time transects. A global system is envisioned for observing the time-varying ocean heat transport and its role in the Earths heat budget and climate system.

Closing the Time-Varying Mass and Heat Budgets for Large Ocean Areas: The Tasman Box

Abstract The role of oceanic advection in seasonal-to-interannual balances of mass and heat is studied using a 12-yr time series of quarterly eddy-resolving expendable bathythermograph (XBT) surveys around the perimeter of a region the authors call the Tasman Box in the southwestern Pacific. The region contains the South Pacific’s subtropical western boundary current system and associated strong mesoscale variability. Mean geostrophic transport in the warm upper ocean (temperature greater than 12°C) is about 3.8 Sv (1 Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1) southward into the box across the Brisbane, Australia–Fiji northern edge. Net outflows are 3.3 Sv eastward across the Auckland, New Zealand–Fiji edge, and 2.7 Sv southward across Sydney, Australia–Wellington, New Zealand. Mean Ekman convergence of 2.2 Sv closes the mass budget. Net water mass conversions in the upper ocean consist of inflow of waters averaging about 26°C and 35.4 psu balanced by outflow at about 18°C and 35.7 psu, and reflect the net evaporation and heat los...

Multidecadal Change of the South Pacific Gyre Circulation

AbstractMultidecadal trends in ocean heat and freshwater content are well documented, but much less evidence exists of long-term changes in ocean circulation. Previously, a 12-yr increase, 1993 to 2004, in the circulation of the South Pacific Subtropical Gyre interior was described. That analysis was based on differences between early Argo and 1990s hydrographic data and changes in sea surface height. Here, it is shown that the trend of increasing circulation continues through 2014, with some differences within the Argo decade (2005 to 2014). Patterns that indicate or are consistent with increasing equatorward transport in the eastern portion of the South Pacific Gyre are seen in Argo temperature and steric height, Argo trajectory velocity, altimetric sea surface height, sea surface temperature, sea level pressure, and wind stress. Between 2005 and 2014 the geostrophic circulation across 35°S, from 160°W to South America, was enhanced by 5 Sv (1 Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1) of added northward flow. This was countered...

An Argo mixed layer climatology and database

A global climatology and database of mixed layer properties are computed from nearly 1,250,000 Argo profiles. The climatology is calculated with both a hybrid algorithm for detecting the mixed layer depth (MLD) and a standard threshold method. The climatology provides accurate information about the depth, properties, extent, and seasonal patterns of global mixed layers. The individual profile results in the database can be used to construct time series of mixed layer properties in specific regions of interest. The climatology and database are available online at http://mixedlayer.ucsd.edu. The MLDs calculated by the hybrid algorithm are shallower and generally more accurate than those of the threshold method, particularly in regions of deep winter mixed layers; the new climatology differs the most from existing mixed layer climatologies in these regions. Examples are presented from the Labrador and Irminger Seas, the Southern Ocean, and the North Atlantic Ocean near the Gulf Stream. In these regions the threshold method tends to overestimate winter MLDs by approximately 10% compared to the algorithm.