• Login
    About WHOAS
    View Item 
    •   WHOAS Home
    • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
    • Physical Oceanography (PO)
    • View Item
    •   WHOAS Home
    • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
    • Physical Oceanography (PO)
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of WHOASCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesKeywordsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesKeywords

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Midlatitude wind stress–sea surface temperature coupling in the vicinity of oceanic fronts

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    JCLI4234.1.pdf (1.567Mb)
    Date
    2007-08-01
    Author
    Spall, Michael A.  Concept link
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citable URI
    https://hdl.handle.net/1912/4119
    As published
    https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI4234.1
    DOI
    10.1175/JCLI4234.1
    Keyword
     Fronts; Sea surface temperature; Wind stress; Coupled models; Boundary layer 
    Abstract
    The influences of strong gradients in sea surface temperature on near-surface cross-front winds are explored in a series of idealized numerical modeling experiments. The atmospheric model is the Naval Research Laboratory Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS) model, which is fully coupled to the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) ocean model. A series of idealized, two-dimensional model calculations is carried out in which the wind blows from the warm-to-cold side or the cold-to-warm side of an initially prescribed ocean front. The evolution of the near-surface winds, boundary layer, and thermal structure is described, and the balances in the momentum equation are diagnosed. The changes in surface winds across the front are consistent with previous models and observations, showing a strong positive correlation with the sea surface temperature and boundary layer thickness. The coupling arises mainly as a result of changes in the flux Richardson number across the front, and the strength of the coupling coefficient grows quadratically with the strength of the cross-front geostrophic wind. The acceleration of the winds over warm water results primarily from the rapid change in turbulent mixing and the resulting unbalanced Coriolis force in the vicinity of the front. Much of the loss/gain of momentum perpendicular to the front in the upper and lower boundary layer results from acceleration/deceleration of the flow parallel to the front via the Coriolis term. This mechanism is different from the previously suggested processes of downward mixing of momentum and adjustment to the horizontal pressure gradient, and is active for flows off the equator with sufficiently strong winds. Although the main focus of this work is on the midlatitude, strong wind regime, calculations at low latitudes and with weak winds show that the pressure gradient and turbulent mixing terms dominate the cross-front momentum budget, consistent with previous work.
    Description
    Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2007. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Climate 20 (2007): 3785–3801, doi:10.1175/JCLI4234.1
    Collections
    • Physical Oceanography (PO)
    Suggested Citation
    Journal of Climate 20 (2007): 3785–3801
     

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Thumbnail

      Effect of sea surface temperature-wind stress coupling on baroclinic instability in the ocean 

      Spall, Michael A. (American Meteorological Society, 2007-04)
      The impact of the observed relationship between sea surface temperature and surface wind stress on baroclinic instability in the ocean is explored using linear theory and a nonlinear model. A simple parameterization of the ...
    • Thumbnail

      The effect of breaking waves on a coupled model of wind and ocean surface waves. Part II : growing seas 

      Kukulka, Tobias; Hara, Tetsu (American Meteorological Society, 2008-10)
      This is the second part of a two-part investigation of a coupled wind and wave model that includes the enhanced form drag of breaking waves. The model is based on the wave energy balance and the conservation of air-side ...
    • Thumbnail

      Distinct influence of air–sea interactions mediated by mesoscale sea surface temperature and surface current in the Arabian Sea 

      Seo, Hyodae (American Meteorological Society, 2017-09-08)
      During the southwest monsoons, the Arabian Sea (AS) develops highly energetic mesoscale variability associated with the Somali Current (SC), Great Whirl (GW), and cold filaments (CF). The resultant high-amplitude anomalies ...
    All Items in WHOAS are protected by original copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. WHOAS also supports the use of the Creative Commons licenses for original content.
    A service of the MBLWHOI Library | About WHOAS
    Contact Us | Send Feedback | Privacy Policy
    Core Trust Logo