HR: 14:25h
AN: OS13D-04    [Abstracts]
TI: Location of the Polar Front from AMSR-E Satellite Sea Surface Temperature Measurements
AU: * Dong, S
EM: shdong@ucsd.edu
AF: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD, 9500 Gilman Drive Mail Code: 0230, La Jolla, CA 92093-0230 United States
AU: Sprintall, J
EM: jsprintall@ucsd.edu
AF: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD, 9500 Gilman Drive Mail Code: 0230, La Jolla, CA 92093-0230 United States
AU: Gille, S T
EM: sgille@ucsd.edu
AF: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD, 9500 Gilman Drive Mail Code: 0230, La Jolla, CA 92093-0230 United States
AB: The location of the polar front (PF) is mapped from the first two years of AMSR-E sea surface temperature (SST) measurements. The criteria used to determine the surface PF are first verified using {\it in situ} SST observations from high-resolution expendable bathythermograph (XBT) temperature measurements and by comparing to the subsurface PF location also determined from the XBT measurements. Consistent with previous studies, the mean path of the PF and its standard deviation are strongly influenced by bottom topography. However, the PF mean path diverges slightly from previous studies in several regions where there is high mesoscale variability. Both the PF location and SST at the PF show seasonal variations, with the southernmost location and the highest temperature during summer. The surface temperature of the PF varies along its path. SST at the PF is high in the Atlantic and Indian sections and is low in the Pacific section.
DE: 4512 Currents
DE: 4528 Fronts and jets
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting