Sea surface height variations in the Mindanao Dome region in response to the northern tropical Pacific winds

• Published in: Chinese journal of oceanology and limnology Vol. 30; no. 4; pp. 675 - 683
• Main Author: 宋丹 胡敦欣 翟方国
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.07.2012; SP Science Press; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Domes; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Ekman pumping; El Nino; El Nino phenomena; Gravity; Local winds; Marine; Microgravity; Ocean circulation; Ocean currents; Oceanography; Physics; Planetary waves; Rossby波; Sea surface; Seasonal variations; Southern Oscillation; Time; Wave propagation; Wind; 北太平洋; 时间尺度; 棉; 海面高度; 热带太平洋; 穹顶; 高度变化; ISEW, Philippines, Mindanao; INW, Pacific, Kuroshio Current; IS, Tropical Pacific; IN, North Pacific; Mindanao Dome (MD); Ekman pumping; 1.5-layer model; sea surface height (SSH)
• ISSN: 0254-4059; 2096-5508; 1993-5005; 2523-3521
• DOI: 10.1007/s00343-012-1155-2

Sea surface height (SSH) variability in the Mindanao Dome (MD) region is found to be one of the strong variations in the northern Pacific. It is only weaker than that in the Kuroshio Extension area, and is comparable to that in the North Pacific Subtropical Countercurrent region. Based on a 1.5-layer reduced gravity model, we analyzed SSH variations in this region and their responses to northern tropical Pacific winds. The average SSH anomaly in the region varies mainly on a seasonal scale, with significant periods of 0.5 and 1 year, ENSO time scale 2–7 years, and time scale in excess of 8 years. Annual and long-term variabilities are comparably stronger. These variations are essentially a response to the northern tropical Pacific winds. On seasonal and ENSO time scales, they are mainly caused by wind anomalies east of the region, which generate westward-propagating, long Rossby waves. On time scales longer than 8 years, they are mostly induced by local Ekman pumping. Long-term SSH variations in the MD region and their responses to local winds are examined and discussed for the first time.