The Interaction of the Throughflow with Smaller Scale Variability
Abstract
The long-term goal of this project is to understand the processes that control the generation, evolution, and distribution of small-scale, time-dependent features within straits, and how these features interact with the large-scale sub-tidal throughflow within which they are embedded. The effort will focus on a multi-year time series from an ocean sensor array of moored Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) and temperature-conductivity sensors, and pressure gauge observations in the internal straits of the Philippine archipelago. The aim is to characterize the spatial and temporal variability of the small-scale features and large-scale flows, and how they may vary seasonally to interannually as the remote and local (monsoonal) forcing changes. Ultimately, this will enable a better representation and prediction in numerical and theoretical models of the structure and evolution of the small-scale features common to sea straits, including their time-dependent variability. The primary objective of the study is to improve our understanding of the oceanographic processes that lead to small-scale variability in the flow structure of straits. The specific objectives of the study are as follows: (1) to examine the relative roles of the tidal and longer timescale flows in the generation and evolution of the small-scale dynamical flow features in straits; (2) to determine how small-scale features evolve with across- and along-strait variation in sea-level and the corresponding strength and direction of the mean flow; and (3) to identify how the small-scale flow structures and sea-level variability may be modulated by both the remote and the local forcing, particularly in response to the seasonal reversal in the monsoon winds.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA527296
Entities
People
- Janet Sprintall
Organizations
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography