A mechanism for the latitudinal dependence of peak-spectrum sea surface height variability
A mechanism for the latitudinal dependence of peak-spectrum sea surface height variability
Date
2014-02-25
Authors
Lin, Xiaopei
Yin, Yuqi
Yang, Jiayan
Yin, Yuqi
Yang, Jiayan
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DOI
10.1002/2013JC009642
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Keywords
Rossby wave
Peak spectrum
Critical frequency
Peak spectrum
Critical frequency
Abstract
Previous studies have shown that the power spectrum of satellite-observed sea surface height (SSH) variability peaks at a certain frequency (or a wave number) band at a given latitude. Lin et al. (2008) attributed this latitudinal dependence to the critical frequency of the first baroclinic mode Rossby waves in the tropical and subtropical oceans. Their study was based on the linear Rossby wave theory and focused on SSH variability in the tropical and subtropical oceans since the altimetry data do not adequately resolve lengths of baroclinic Rossby waves at and near the critical frequency in high latitudes. In this study, we expand their analysis to high-latitude oceanic basins and to include nonlinear eddy effects, by using a linear wave model and a high-resolution model output from the OGCM for the Earth Simulator (OFES). It is found that the linear wave mechanism by and large remains valid in the tropical and subtropical oceans. In higher latitudes as well as in some regions in the western tropical and subtropical oceans, other mechanisms, like nonlinear eddy, play more important role in determining the SSH variability.
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Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2014. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 119 (2014): 1431–1444, doi:10.1002/2013JC009642.
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Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 119 (2014): 1431–1444