Éditeur(s) : American Geophysical Union
Résumé : Lagrangian analyses of a global ocean circulation model quantify the salinity changes experienced by the warm limb of the thermohaline circulation during the northward flow to the Atlantic deep convection regions. 6 Sv out of the estimated 10-Sv transfer from 45 degrees S to 47 degrees N flow through regions of prevailing surface evaporation: the southern and northern formation regions of Salinity Maximum Water and the Gulf of Cadiz/Mediterranean Sea domain. The remaining transport gains salinity through mixing with adjacent waters. As much as 6 Sv flow through the low-salinity surface mixed layer at the latitudes of the ITCZ whose effect annihilates that of the southern region of Salinity Maximum Water. Most of the salinity increase corresponds to the transformation of South to North Atlantic Central Water, with strong diapycnal transfers for the water that intersects the high and low salinity regions, and nearly isopycnal modifications for the water that avoids these regions.
Geophysical Research Letters ( GRL ) (0094-8276) (American Geophysical Union), 2006-03 , Vol. 33 , N. 6 , P. NIL_44-NIL_47

Droits : 2006 by the American Geophysical Union
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2006/publication-1213.pdf
DOI:10.1029/2005GL024938
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/1213/

Éditeur(s) : Amer Geophysical Union
Résumé : The hydrological and geochemical properties of the waters constituting the Pacific Equatorial Undercurrent (EUC) determine the properties of the equatorial cold tongue. Understanding and quantifying the various EUC origins is therefore of prime importance. For this purpose, a high-resolution (1/4 degrees) interannual oceanic simulation was analyzed from the western tropical Pacific boundaries to 140 degrees W, using a Lagrangian framework. Waters from the Low-Latitude Western Boundary Currents (LLWBCs) transiting from Vitiaz Strait (the main contributor), from Solomon Strait, and via the Mindanao Current were identified as the principal sources to the EUC. Waters conveyed by the interior ocean off equator are negligible till 180 E. The LLWBCs' waters represent 87% of the EUC transport at 156 degrees E out of which the New Guinea Coastal Undercurrent (NGCU) is as large as 47%. The EUC meridional distribution suggests that the waters originating from Solomon Strait and Mindanao Current mostly remain in the hemisphere from which they originate. Contrastingly, Vitiaz Strait waters are found in both hemispheres. The vertical EUC distribution shows that the lower layer of the EUC is mainly composed of Vitiaz Strait waters. Finally, the source transport distributions were characterized, at their origin and within the EUC, as a function of density. These distributions showed that waters flowing through Vitiaz Strait at densities higher than those of the EUC (down to sigma(theta) = 27.2 kg m(-3)) undergo a diapycnal mixing and lighten during their journey to join the EUC. This lightening supports the suggestion that the NGCU is a major source for the EUC geochemical enrichment.
Journal Of Geophysical Research-oceans (0148-0227) (Amer Geophysical Union), 2011-12 , Vol. 116 , N. C12044 , P. 16 p.

Droits : 2011 by the American Geophysical Union
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00060/17105/14621.pdf
DOI:10.1029/2011JC007477
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00060/17105/

Éditeur(s) : Taylor & Francis Ltd
Résumé : A new method is developed to estimate daily turbulent airsea fluxes over the global ocean on a 0.25 degrees grid. The required surface wind speed (w(10)) and specific air humidity (q(10)) at 10m height are both estimated from remotely sensed measurements. w(10) is obtained from the SeaWinds scatterometer on board the QuikSCAT satellite. A new empirical model relating brightness temperatures (T-b) from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) and q(10) is developed. It is an extension of the author's previous q(10) model. In addition to T-b, the empirical model includes sea surface temperature (SST) and airsea temperature difference data. The calibration of the new empirical q(10) model utilizes q(10) from the latest version of the National Oceanography Centre airsea interaction gridded data set (NOCS2.0). Compared with mooring data, the new satellite q(10) exhibits better statistical results than previous estimates. For instance, the bias, the root mean square (RMS), and the correlation coefficient values estimated from comparisons between satellite and moorings in the northeast Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea are 0.04gkg(1), 0.87gkg(1), and 0.95, respectively. The new satellite q(10) is used in combination with the newly reprocessed QuikSCAT V3, the latest version of SST analyses provided by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), and 10m air temperature estimated from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalyses (ERA-Interim), to determine three daily gridded turbulent quantities at 0.25 degrees spatial resolution: surface wind stress, latent heat flux (LHF), and sensible heat flux (SHF). Validation of the resulting fields is performed through a comprehensive comparison with daily, in situ values of LHF and SHF from buoys. In the northeast Atlantic basin, the satellite-derived daily LHF has bias, RMS, and correlation of 5Wm(2), 27Wm(2), and 0.89, respectively. For SHF, the statistical parameters are 2Wm(2), 10Wm(2), and 0.94, respectively. At global scale, the new satellite LHF and SHF are compared to NOCS2.0 daily estimates. Both daily fluxes exhibit similar spatial and seasonal variability. The main departures are found at latitudes south of 40 degrees S, where satellite latent and sensible heat fluxes are generally larger.
International Journal Of Remote Sensing (0143-1161) (Taylor & Francis Ltd), 2013-07 , Vol. 34 , N. 14 , P. 5243-5261

Droits : 2013 Taylor & Francis
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00137/24825/23575.pdf
DOI:10.1080/01431161.2013.787502
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00137/24825/

Éditeur(s) : American Geophysical Union
Résumé : The origins and fates of the Atlantic salinity maximum water (SMW), formed through excess evaporation in the tropics and subtropics of both hemispheres, are studied using monthly mean outputs of a numerical simulation of the world ocean climatological circulation. After defining formation domains from the surface salinity field and the vertical stratification, a Lagrangian technique is used to estimate the formation rates and main pathways in each hemisphere and the role of this water in the framework of the warm water return flow of the meridional overturning cell. Formation rates around 9 and 11 Sv are found in the Southern and Northern Hemispheres, respectively. While the export of the southern SMW from its formation area is realized by the western boundary currents, that of the northern SMW mainly results from interior subduction. Equatorward of the formation regions, a fraction of each SMW variety is entrained in the subtropical cells that connect the subtropics to the equatorial region. Poleward of them, both varieties are seen to feed the regions of subtropical mode water (STMW) formation around 35degrees of latitude in both hemispheres. The bulk of the transport associated with each variety eventually turns northward: This amounts to similar to6 Sv of southern SMW gathered in the North Brazil Undercurrent (NBUC), and similar to10 Sv of northern SMW found in the Gulf Stream at 35degreesN, of which 8 Sv have gone through the Caribbean Sea. Of the 13.4-Sv northward transport of the meridional overturning cell estimated by the model at 47degreesN, more than 50% (6.9 Sv) is found to have transited through at least one of the SMW regions. This gives an indication of the likely important role of SMW formation in the observed northward salinity increase of the upper Atlantic Ocean.
Journal of Geophysical Union - Research C - Oceans (0148-0227) (American Geophysical Union), 2002-09 , Vol. 107 , N. C10 , P. NIL_610-NIL_624

Droits : 2002 by the American Geophysical Union
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2002/publication-769.pdf
DOI:10.1029/2002JC001318
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/769/