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Zonal jets in the Pacific Ocean
Author(s) -
Richards K. J.,
Maximenko N. A.,
Bryan F. O.,
Sasaki H.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2005gl024645
Subject(s) - zonal and meridional , scaling , scale (ratio) , geology , climatology , jet (fluid) , pacific ocean , variation (astronomy) , atmospheric sciences , oceanography , physics , geometry , mechanics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , astrophysics
The spatial and temporal properties of zonally coherent jet‐like structures found in high resolution ocean models is examined. We focus on the Pacific Ocean. We find the properties of the jets are not very sensitive to the model configuration. Distinct differences are found in the persistence and vertical structure of the jets poleward of 30°N and S compared with those in the tropics. We make a quantitative comparison between the meridional scale of the jets and the Rhines scale. We find a local scaling applies in that the horizontal variation of the meridional scale of the jets is consistent with horizontal variations in the Rhines scale.