Cite this paper:
Chaoran CUI, Rong-Hua ZHANG, Yanzhou WEI, Hongna WANG. Mesoscale wind stress-SST coupling induced feedback to the ocean in the western coast of South America[J]. Journal of Oceanology and Limnology, 2021, 39(3): 785-799

Mesoscale wind stress-SST coupling induced feedback to the ocean in the western coast of South America
Chaoran CUI1,2, Rong-Hua ZHANG1,2,3,4, Yanzhou WEI5, Hongna WANG1,3
1 Key Laboratory of Ocean Circulation and Waves, Institute of Oceanology, and Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China;
2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;
3 Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266000, China;
4 Center for Excellence in Quaternary Science and Global Change, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an 710061, China;
5 State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou 310012, China
Abstract:
The feedback induced by mesoscale wind stress-SST coupling to the ocean in the western coast of South America was studied using the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS). To represent the feedback, an empirical mesoscale wind stress perturbation model was constructed from satellite observations, and was incorporated into the ocean model. Comparing two experiments with and without the mesoscale wind stress-SST coupling, it was found that SST in the mesoscale coupling experiment was reduced in the western coast of South America, with the maximum values of 0.5 ℃ in the Peru Sea and 0.7 ℃ in the Chile Sea. A mixed layer heat budget analysis indicates that horizontal advection is the main term that explains the reduction in SST. Specifically, the feedback induced by mesoscale wind stress-SST coupling to the ocean can enhance vertical velocity in the nearshore area through the Ekman pumping, which brings subsurface cold water to the sea surface. These results indicate that the feedback due to the mesoscale wind stress-SST coupling to the ocean has the potential for reducing the warm SST bias often seen in the large-scale climate model simulations in this region.
Key words:    mesoscale air-sea coupling|western coast of South America|ocean model simulations|cooling effect|warm bias   
Received: 2020-05-02   Revised: 2020-06-05
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Articles by Rong-Hua ZHANG
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