Understanding Observed Equatorial Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Ocean Interannual Flow Using Theory and High-Resolution ECCO2 Model Results

了解厄尔尼诺/南方涛动气候波动的基础是了解年际赤道太平洋表面流，它平流输送表面沃茨并改变海表温度。 从1992年底到现在，通过卫星高度计精确测量的出现，我们现在有了关于海平面和表面海流的长期估计记录，这些记录在空间上得到了很好的分辨，不仅在太平洋，而且在印度洋和大西洋都有。 这些记录足够长，可以研究观测到的年际地面流及其动力学。 虽然我们对赤道太平洋观测到的年际流动有一些了解，但对赤道印度洋和大西洋年际流动的结构、强度和变化知之甚少。 该项目的主要目标是描述所有三个海洋盆地的年际赤道表面流动，并利用理论和动态一致的高分辨率ECCO 2数值模式结果了解其主要方面。 科学界正开始利用ECCO 2全球海洋模式，分析的第二个好处是评估该模式的准确性及其在所有三个海洋盆地赤道附近的动态。准确，从1992年至今的长期卫星高度计记录提供了一个前所未有的机会来研究详细的空间和时间-低频表面赤道气流的结构变化，这些气流在改变赤道海表温度和气候方面起着关键作用。 如上所述，令人惊讶的是，我们对这些流动的结构和动力学知之甚少，因此调查这些流动，并了解它们在所有三个赤道海洋盆地的物理学，将对我们对赤道海洋和气候动力学的知识产生重大影响。 这些基础知识将有助于许多科学家分析未来在多国大西洋PIRATA和印度洋拉马观测计划中收集的赤道气候数据的长期记录。 新的年轻科学家发展他们的职业生涯对海洋学的未来很重要，这个项目将支持一位最近完成博士后工作的初级研究员。

Fundamental to an understanding of El Nino/Southern Oscillation climate fluctuations is an understanding of the interannual equatorial Pacific surface flows which advect the surface waters and change the sea surface temperature. Through the advent of accurate satellite altimeter measurements from late 1992 to the present, we now have long records of estimated sea levels and surface currents that are spatially well resolved and available not just in the Pacific, but also in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. These records are long enough to study the observed interannual surface flows and their dynamics. While we have some knowledge of the observed interannual flows in the equatorial Pacific, less is known about the structure, strength and variability of the interannual flows in the equatorial Indian and Atlantic Oceans. The main goal of the project will be to describe the interannual equatorial surface flows in all three ocean basins and understand major aspects of them using theory and the dynamically consistent high resolution ECCO2 numerical model results. The scientific community is beginning to take advantage of the ECCO2 global ocean model, and a secondary benefit of the analysis will be the evaluation of the accuracy of this model and its dynamics near the equator in all three ocean basins.Broader Impacts: Accurate, long satellite altimeter records from 1992 to the present day provide an unprecedented opportunity to examine the detailed spatial and time-varying structure of low frequency surface equatorial flows, flows which play a key role in changing equatorial sea surface temperature and climate. As noted above, surprisingly little is known about the structure and dynamics of these flows, so investigating these flows, and understanding their physics in all three equatorial ocean basins, will make a significant impact on our knowledge of equatorial ocean and climate dynamics. This fundational knowledge will be helpful to the many scientists who will analyze future long records of equatorial climate data gathered in the multinational Atlantic Ocean PIRATA and Indian Ocean RAMA observational programs. It is important to the future of oceanography that new young scientists develop their careers, and this project will support a junior researcher who recently completed her postdoctoral work.