HR: 1340h
AN: OS13A-1003    [Abstracts]
TI: Upper mixed layer temperature and salinity variability in the tropical boundary of the California Current
AU: * Gomez-Valdes, J
EM: jgomez@cicese.mx
AF: CICESE, Km 107 Carretera Tijuana-Ensenada, Ensenada, BC 22860, Mexico
AU: Jeronimo, G
EM: gjeronim@cicese.mx
AF: CICESE, Km 107 Carretera Tijuana-Ensenada, Ensenada, BC 22860, Mexico
AB: In eastern boundary current, eddies, meanders, fronts, and coastal upwelling are the main processes in the generation of mesoscale variability. Seasonal variability of the integrated temperature in the quasi-isothermal layer depth and the integrated salinity in the quasi-isohaline layer depth of the southern part of the California Current are examined using hydrographic data from thirty six surveys carried out from 1997 to 2006 over a grid based on the Mexican Research of the California Current (IMECOCAL) stations plan. The sampling interval was approximately 3-month. The spatial patterns of the first leading Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) for both the integrated temperature and the integrated salinity showed a single-signed distribution with a northward decreasing variability. We hypothesized that this pattern is explained by the mesoscale variability difference between the southern and the northern Baja California zones. To test our conjecture, we used altimeter measurements to compute eddy kinetic energy in both zones. The spatial pattern of the second leading EOF for the integrated temperature showed a double-signed distribution, separating the costal zone from the transition one. This mode was correlated with costal upwelling index. The spatial pattern of the second leading EOF for the integrated salinity showed a double signed-distribution, separating the northern region from the southern region off Punta Eugenia. This mode was associated with a local front. For the principal component time series of the first leading EOF, we found that seasonal variations of the integrated temperature were connected to wind stress dynamics and air-sea exchange of heat, while the seasonal changes of the integrated salinity were mainly related to wind stress dynamics.
UR: http://imecocal.cicese.mx
DE: 4223 Descriptive and regional oceanography
DE: 4504 Air/sea interactions (0312, 3339)
DE: 4516 Eastern boundary currents
DE: 4520 Eddies and mesoscale processes
DE: 4522 ENSO (4922)
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting