HR: 10:35h
AN: A32B-02    [Abstracts]
TI: Warm Eddy Structure Observed During EPIC in Eastern Pacific Ocean
AU: * Shay, L K
EM: nshay@rsmas.miami.edu
AF: Division of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149-1098, United States
AU: Jaimes, B
EM: bjaimes@rsmas.miami.edu
AF: Division of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149-1098, United States
AU: Brewster, J
EM: jbrewster@rsmas.miami.edu
AF: Division of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149-1098, United States
AB: During the NSF/NOAA sponsored Eastern Pacific Investigation of Climate (EPIC) field program in Sept. and Oct. 2001, oceanic current, temperature and salinity profiles were acquired by deploying expendable profilers from research aircraft flights above the warm pool grid centered on the TAO mooring at 10oN 95oW and the R/V Ron Brown, and along the 95oW transect from the NOAA WP-3D and the NCAR WC-130, respectively. Analyses of mooring, ship and aircraft observations suggest the propagation of a wind-forced, warm eddy in accord with remotely sensed fields from radar altimetry and TRMM microwave imager (TMI) measurements. This anti- cyclonically rotating warm eddy, consistent with Rossby wave dynamics, impacted both the oceanic and atmospheric mixed layer structure. To examine the evolving characteristics of this oceanic feature, SSTs, isotherm depths and oceanic heat content variations (relative to the 26oC isotherm depth referred to as OHC) were compared at the TAO buoy. Satellite- based OHC variations were estimated by inferring isotherm depths (20oC, 26oC) from blended and objectively mapped, altimeter-derived surface height anomaly (SHA) fields based on climatology and TMI-derived SSTs. Based on sequential maps of the SHA, the observed warm eddy had SHA elevation of 12 to 14 cm that indicated a propagation speed of 13 cm s-1 towards the southwest. Inferred isotherm depths and OHC variations agreed with those from the TAO mooring and profiler measurements. For example, the 26oC isotherm depth ranged from 35 to 40 m with OHC values of 40 kJ cm-2. Understanding the evolving 3-D structure of these features is central to assessing the upper ocean's role in hurricane intensity fluctuations in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. This approach is now being applied to several years of in situ and remotely sensed measurements in this regime to assess uncertainties in satellite retrievals to build climatology for use with hurricane intensity forecast models as in the Atlantic Ocean basin as part of the NOAA Joint Hurricane Testbed program.
DE: 4504 Air/sea interactions (0312, 3339)
DE: 4520 Eddies and mesoscale processes
DE: 4544 Internal and inertial waves
DE: 4572 Upper ocean and mixed layer processes
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly