Equatorial Wave Reflection and Equatorial Warm Water Volume

赤道波反射和赤道暖水量

• 批准号: 0850749
• 负责人: Allan Clarke
• 金额: $ 40万
• 依托单位: Florida State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-06-01 至 2013-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0850749&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Equatorial; Wave; Reflection; Warm; Water

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Fundamental to the dynamics and prediction of El Niño and the Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the variability of the equatorial Pacific warm water volume (WWV). Variations in this WWV both lead and lag major ENSO indices by several months and recent research suggests that the reflection of low-frequency ocean energy at the eastern and western Pacific Ocean boundaries plays a fundamental role in the dynamics of the WWV mode. But the reflection at the eastern Pacific Ocean boundary, particularly the decay of the El Niño signal along the boundary south of the equator, is not understood. This decay greatly reduces the energy that reaches the western boundary from the eastern boundary and should profoundly affect the amplitude of the equatorial WWV. This work's main goal is to observe and understand the interannual flow near the eastern tropical Pacific boundary. Satellite altimeter and coastal tide gauge data will be used to document and understand the tropical eastern Pacific interannual coastal flow. In particular, theory and satellite-estimated eddy variability will be used to test whether the alongshore behavior of the interannual coastal signal, especially its decay south of 5S, can be explained by energy loss due to eddies which are known to originate near the boundary. As part of the analysis the dynamics of the low-frequency observed equatorial currents will be elucidated and, in the eastern Pacific, their possible utility in predicting ENSO will be examined.Broader impactsOver the years the PI has incorporated his research results on ENSO in his course work and books and he plans to continue this activity in this project. He will also mentor a female junior scientist in conducting research and writing scientific papers. Achievement of the goals in this proposal will lead to increased understanding of ENSO which greatly influences agriculture, water resources, fisheries, the number of hurricanes and wildfires, energy needs for heating/cooling and the prevalence of famine and disease in certain regions.

该奖项是根据2009年《美国复苏和再投资法》(公法111-5)资助的。厄尔尼诺和南方涛动(ENSO)的动态和预测的基础是赤道太平洋暖水体积(WWV)的变化。这个WWV的变化领先和落后于主要的ENSO指数几个月，最近的研究表明，东太平洋和西太平洋边界的低频海洋能量的反射在WWV模式的动力学中起着基本的作用。但东太平洋边界的反射，特别是赤道以南边界上厄尔尼诺信号的衰减，目前尚不清楚。这种衰变极大地减少了从东部边界到达西部边界的能量，并应该深刻地影响赤道WWV的幅度。这项工作的主要目的是观察和了解东热带太平洋边界附近的年际流动。卫星高度计和沿海验潮仪数据将用于记录和了解热带东太平洋海岸年际流动。特别是，理论和卫星估计的涡旋可变性将被用来检验年际沿海信号的近岸行为，特别是它在5S以南的衰减，是否可以用已知起源于边界附近的涡流造成的能量损失来解释。作为分析的一部分，将阐明观测到的低频赤道流的动力学，并将在东太平洋检验它们在预测ENSO方面的可能作用。广泛影响多年来，PI已将他对ENSO的研究成果纳入他的课程工作和书籍中，他计划在这个项目中继续这一活动。他还将指导一名女性初级科学家进行研究和撰写科学论文。实现这项建议中的目标将使人们更好地了解ENSO，因为ENSO对农业、水资源、渔业、飓风和野火的数量、取暖/降温的能源需求以及某些地区的饥荒和疾病的流行都有很大影响。