Search

Proposals frommultiple nations to deploy air-sea flux moorings in the Southern Ocean have raised the question of how to optimize the placement of these moorings in order to maximize their utility, both as contributors to the network of observations assimilated in numerical weather prediction and also as a means to study a broad range of processes driving air-sea fluxes. This study, developed as a contribution to the SouthernOcean Observing System(SOOS), proposes criteria that can be used to determine mooring siting to obtain best estimates of net air-sea heat flux (Qnet). Flux moorings are envisioned as one component of a multiplatform observing system, providing valuable in situ point time series measurements to be used alongside satellite data and observations from autonomous platforms and ships. Assimilating models (e.g., numerical weather prediction and reanalysis products) then offer the ability to synthesize the observing system and map properties between observations. This paper develops a framework for designing mooring array configurations to maximize the independence and utility of observations. As a test case, within the meridional band from 358 to 658S we select eight mooring sites optimized to explain the largest fraction of the total variance (and thus to ensure the least variance of residual components) in the area south of 208S. Results yield different optimal mooring sites for lowfrequency interannual heat fluxes compared with higher-frequency subseasonal fluxes. With eight moorings, we could explain a maximum of 24.6% of high-frequency Qnet variability or 44.7% of low-frequency Qnet variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study solves two-dimensional (cross-shelf and depth directions) steady-state nonlinear primitive equations to infer the cross-shelf circulation induced by the Kuroshio shear stress in the East China Sea (ECS). The Kuroshio velocity data are estimated from hydrographic observations at the PN section in the ECS. Nonlinear momentum equations are solved using an iterative approach in a terrain-following coordinate system, which helps to adequately take into account the boundary conditions over complex topography. The vertical shear stress of the Kuroshio is shown to induce two offshore transport pathways over the continental shelf, which are related to the structure of the interior geostrophic current and bottom Ekman transport, respectively. As a result of the vertical shear stress, an upwelling is induced above the bottom Ekman layer on the continental slope. The horizontal shear stress of the Kuroshio has the effect of inducing onshore transport at the flow core. The advection terms in the primitive equations are found to amplify the cross-shelf velocity solved from the linear equations. This study reveals that the Kuroshio has a substantial effect on the cross-shelf circulation and that it might drive multiple transport pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]