Open AccessProcesses that influence the mixed layer deepening during winter in the North Pacific
Author(s) -
Kang Yune Jeung,
Noh Yign,
Yeh SangWook
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: oceans
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2009jc005833
Subject(s) - mixed layer , geostrophic wind , thermocline , advection , wind stress , climatology , ocean heat content , entrainment (biomusicology) , ocean general circulation model , ekman transport , heat flux , environmental science , ocean current , bathythermograph , forcing (mathematics) , oceanography , geology , heat transfer , upwelling , climate change , general circulation model , mechanics , philosophy , physics , rhythm , thermodynamics , aesthetics
The contribution of various forcing sources to the mixed layer depth (MLD) growth during winter in the North Pacific was investigated by analyzing the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data during 1959–2004. It was found that the MLD growth can be mainly estimated from the heat budget analysis in the mixed layer, in which both the surface heat flux and the ocean heat transport are included. The remaining difference is explained in terms of the effects of entrainment by wind stress and the error in determining MLD due to a diffused thermocline. The contribution to the heat budget from the ocean heat transport is positive in the Kuroshio region owing to geostrophic advection and eddy diffusion, but in the outer ocean it is negative north of 27°N and positive south of it, influenced by Ekman advection. It was also found that the transition to the stronger ocean heat transport and smaller MLD growth in the Kuroshio Extension region occurs in 1985.