HR: 15:25h
AN: OS43C-08    [Abstracts]
TI: Upper Thermocline Salinity Anomalies in the Indian Ocean
AU: * Phillips, H E
EM: helen.phillips@csiro.au
AF: CSIRO Marine Research, GPO Box 1538, HOBART, TAS 7001 Australia
AU: Wijffels, S E
EM: susan.wijffels@csiro.au
AF: CSIRO Marine Research, GPO Box 1538, HOBART, TAS 7001 Australia
AB: An analysis of salinity data from Argo floats operating in the Indonesian-Australian Basin during 1999-2004 revealed an intense, wide spread fresh anomaly penetrating to 200 metres depth during 1999-2002. Shipboard CTD and thermosalinograph data collected during the same period supported the Argo findings. Historical CTDs document strong interannual variability in the freshwater content of the region. To first order the observed upper ocean freshwater anomalies are the result of strong interannual variability in local surface freshwater fluxes. We now extend the analysis to more recently deployed Argo floats across the entire Indian Ocean, using seasonal maps of large-scale salinity anomalies at various density levels to track the Indonesian-Australian fresh event and identify other regions of high variability. We also employ a hindcast simulation from a high-resolution z-coordinate model to explore the evolution of the salinity anomalies, and to determine the relative roles of advection and diffusion in dispersing the anomalies.
DE: 4504 Air/sea interactions (0312)
DE: 4532 General circulation
DE: 4536 Hydrography
DE: 4572 Upper ocean processes
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting