The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) and its associated Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC) is investigated through a nonlinear inertia theory model, which consists of two layers--an upper Ekman layer driven mainly by sea surface wind stress and a lower thermocline controlled by ideal fluid nonlinear equations which can be solved by identifying the form of the arbitrary functions. The results show that the thermocline has a two-equilibrium solution though given the same Ekman layer condition. Compared to the first equilibrium, the second one has a heavier intensity and deeper circulation, which seems more consistent with the existing data.
We studied the structure of the Indian Ocean(IO)Meridional Overturning Circulation(MOC)by applying a nonlinear inertia theory and analyzed the coupled relationship between zonal wind stress and MOC anomalies.Our results show that the inertia theory can represent the main characteristics of the IO MOC:the subtropical cell(STC)and cross-equator cell(CEC).The stream function in equatorial and northern IO changes a sign from winter to summer.The anomalies of the zonal wind stress and stream function can be decomposed into summer monsoon mode,winter monsoon mode,and abnormal mode by using the singular vector decomposition(SVD)analysis.The first two modes correlate with the transport through 20°S and equator simultaneously whereas the relationship obscures between the third mode and transports across 20°S and equator,showing the complex air-sea interaction process.The transport experiences multi-time scale variability according to the continuous power spectrum analysis,with major periods in inter-annual and decadal scale.
Based on the equations of motion and the assumption that ocean turbulence is of isotropy or quasi-isotropy, we derived the closure equations of the second-order moments and the variation equations for characteristic quantities, which describe the mechanisms of advection transport and shear instability by the sum of wave-like and eddy-like motions and circulation. Given that ocean turbulence generated by wave breaking is dominant at the ocean surface, we presented the boundary conditions of the turbulence kinetic energy and its dissipation rate, which are determined by energy loss from wave breaking and entrainment depth respectively. According to the equilibrium solution of the variation equations and available data of the dissipation rate, we obtained an analytical estimation of the characteristic quantities of surface-wave-generated turbulence in the upper ocean and its related mixing coefficient. The derived kinetic dissipation rate was validated by field measurements qualitatively and quantitatively, and the mixing coefficient had fairly good consistency with previous results based on the Prandtl mixing length theory.
Based on NCEP/NCAR daily reanalysis and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission data,the background atmospheric circulation and the characteristics of meteorological elements during the period of the Bay of Bengal monsoon(BOBM) and the South China Sea(SCS) monsoon(SCSM) in 2010 are studied.The impacts of the BOBM onset on the SCSM onset and the relationship between the two monsoons are also analyzed.The two main results are as follows:(1) The BOBM onset obviously occurs earlier than the SCSM onset in 2010,which is a typical onset process of the Asian monsoon.During the BOBM's onset,northward jump,and eastward expansion,convective precipitation and southwest winds occurred over the SCS,which resulted in the onset of the SCSM.(2) The relationship among strong convection,heavy rainfall,and vertical circulation configuration is obtained during the monsoon onsets over the BOB and SCS,and it is concluded that the South Asian High plays an important role in this period.
Based on their differences in physical characteristics and time-space scales,the ocean motions have been divided into four types in the present paper:turbulence,wave-like motion,eddy-like motion and circulation.Applying the three-fold Reynolds averages to the governing equations with Boussinesq approximation,with the averages defined on the former three sub-systems,we derive the governing equation sets of the four sub-systems and refer to their sum as "the ocean dynamic system".In these equation sets,the interactions among different motions appear in two forms:the first one includes advection transport and shear instability generation of larger scale motions,and the second one is the mixing induced by smaller scale motions in the form of transport flux residue.The governing equation sets are the basis of analytical/numerical descriptions of various ocean processes.
