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Offshore transport of the Alaska Coastal Current water induced by a cyclonic wind field
Author(s) -
Yankovsky Alexander E.,
Maze Grace M.,
Weingartner Thomas J.
Publication year - 2010
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 - 10.1029/2009gl041939
Subject(s) - submarine pipeline , downwelling , mesoscale meteorology , current (fluid) , oceanography , cyclone (programming language) , geology , anticyclone , environmental science , sea breeze , prevailing winds , offshore wind power , upwelling , wind power , engineering , field programmable gate array , computer science , computer hardware , electrical engineering
The Alaska Coastal Current (ACC) is driven by multiple sources of coastal freshwater discharge and propagates alongshore over hundreds of kilometers. The ACC is also subject to downwelling‐favorable winds associated with cyclonic wind systems. Spatially‐uniform, downwelling winds trap the buoyant ACC waters nearshore. However, we demonstrate with numerical experiments that spatial wind variations, due either to a stationary or translating cyclone, can enhance the offshore transport of buoyant coastal waters in comparison to no‐wind conditions. A stationary atmospheric cyclone induces a strong convergence in the coastal current at the upstream periphery of the cyclone. This convergence generates an offshore filament of buoyant water, which evolves into detached anticyclone. A transient atmospheric cyclone enhances the offshore spreading of freshwater by intensifying mesoscale variability of the coastal current. Thus, the spatial structure of the wind field represents a potentially important mechanism for cross‐shelf freshwater transport.