Éditeur(s) : Gauthier-Villars
Résumé : Data collected in an area enclosing New Caledonia are analysed both for the open ocean (17 degrees S-27 degrees S, 169 degrees E-170 degrees E; 1972-1992) and for one point in its lagoon (1967-1993), in order to improve our knowledge of the regional environment, with emphasis on seasonal and interannual (i.e. ENSO) variability. Long-term means and seasonal changes in surface wind, sea-surface temperature and salinity, and 0-400 m temperature, salinity and zonal geostrophic current are first described to Set the context. Through comparisons with the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), it is demonstrated that there are signals in these parameters that are connected with ENSO. During the warm phase of ENSO (SOI < 0, El Nino), we observed saltier-than-average anomalies in sea-surface salinity (similar to 0.2), 0-50 m cold temperature anomalies (similar to 0.5 degrees C) contrasting with the well-known warm eastern equatorial Pacific anomalies, together with westerly (similar to 10 m(2) s(-2)) and southerly (similar to 4 m(2) s-2) wind anomalies over a large part of the studied area. Conversely, anomalies of similar magnitude but of opposite sign were detected during the cold phase of ENSO (SOI > 0; La Nina). The mechanisms which connect these regional anomalies to ENSO evolution at low-latitudes are qualitatively discussed.
Oceanolica Acta (0399-1784) (Gauthier-Villars), 1997 , Vol. 20 , N. 3 , P. 481-491

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00093/20410/18077.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00093/20410/

Éditeur(s) : Gauthier-Villars
Résumé : Analysis of Geosat sea level data over the period November 1986-November 1987 has evidenced long, low-frequency equatorial wave propagations over most of the equatorial Pacific basin (Delcroix et al.,1991). The succession of downwelling Kelvin, upwelling Kelvin, and upwelling Rossby waves has raised a series of questions. Is the observed upwelling Rossby wave due to a reflection process on the eastern boundary, or due to wind forcing near the equator? Why is there no evidence of a reflection of the downwelling Kelvin wave? Is this wave sequence a feature of the 1986-1987 El Nino phenomenon or is it to be found in the mean seasonal cycle? We used a linear model forced by the FSU wind stress to study these questions. The results, during the period November 1986-November 1987, show the successive downwelling/ upwelling Kelvin waves and upwelling Rossby wave as in the Geosat observations. Another test was made, using only the part of the forcing responsible for creating Kelvin waves, in order to evaluate the portion of the signals that was due to the reflection process and the part due to local forcing. It appears that wind forcing favourable to upwelling in the eastern part of the equatorial basin is the main mechanism which both generates the upwelling Rossby wave and inhibits the reflection of the downwelling Kelvin wave. However, the reflection of the upwelling Kelvin wave contributes to the upwelling Rossby wave signal, and makes it visible all the way from the eastern to the western sides of the equatorial Pacific. Results of a climatological run show that the successive downwelling/upwelling Kelvin and Rossby wave propagations are present in the mean seasonal cycle. However, the corresponding model signals, as well as the wind forcing anomalies, show a larger amplitude in 1986-1987.
Oceanologica Acta (0399-1784) (Gauthier-Villars), 1992 , Vol. 15 , N. 5 , P. 545-554

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00101/21180/18797.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00101/21180/