Operational seasonal and interannual predictions of ocean conditions

Dr. Leetmaa described current work at the U.S. National Meteorological Center (NMC) on coupled systems leading to a seasonal prediction system. He described the way in which ocean thermal data is quality controlled and used in a four dimensional data assimilation system. This consists of a statistical interpolation scheme, a primitive equation ocean general circulation model, and the atmospheric fluxes that are required to force this. This whole process generated dynamically consist thermohaline and velocity fields for the ocean. Currently routine weekly analyses are performed for the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. These analyses are used for ocean climate diagnostics and as initial conditions for coupled forecast models. Specific examples of output products were shown both in the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean

Observations of near-equatorial flows in the eastern Pacific

Direct measurements were made in 1980 and 1981 of the near-equatorial flow field along sections at 110, 102.5, 95, and 85W. The Equatorial Undercurrent weakens as it approaches the Galapagos. Most of the transport is lost from the warmer, upper part of the current...

On the theory of coastal upwelling.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Meteorology, 1969.Vita.Bibliography: leaves 108-109.Ph.D

Does the Sverdrup relation account for the Mid-Atlantic circulation?

A comparison is made between the geostrophic transport across selected latitudes in the North Atlantic Ocean and the theoretical transport as derived from the Sverdrup relationship. In the subtropical gyre these agree to within the error estimates. At 32°N and 24°N the interior geostrophic transports compare well with the measured values in the Florida Straits off Jacksonville

Model projections of an imminent transition to a more arid climate in southwestern North America

How anthropogenic climate change will affect hydroclimate in the arid regions of southwestern North America has implications for the allocation of water resources and the course of regional development. Here we show that there is a broad consensus among climate models that this region will dry in the 21st century and that the transition to a more arid climate should already be under way. If these models are correct, the levels of aridity of the recent multiyear drought or the Dust Bowl and the 1950s droughts will become the new climatology of the American Southwest within a time frame of years to decades

Updated charts of the mean annual wind stress, convergences in the Ekman layers, and Sverdrup transports in the North Atlantic

Also published as: Journal of Marine Research, Volwne 36, 3, 1978, pp. 311-322.From the wind stress computation of Bunker (1976) for the North Atlantic, the annual mean and seasonal vertical velocities which result from convergences in the Ekman Layers are computed. Charts of the geostrophic and total transport (geostrophic plus Ekman) are constructed using the Sverdrup relationship. Of particular interest are an intense current leaving the coast at the point where the Gulf Stream separates and a cyclonic gyre north of the Stream in this area. Good agreement exists between the computed features of the large scale circulation patterns and the observed ones. Close correspondence exists between the predicted and observed paths of the Gulf Stream; separation from the coast occurs at the maxima in the wind stress.Prepared for the Office of Naval Research under Contract N00014-74-C-0262; NR 083-004