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The decadally modulating eddy field in the upstream Kuroshio Extension and its related mechanisms

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Abstract

Both the level of the high-frequency eddy kinetic energy (HF-EKE) and the energy-containing scale in the upstream Kuroshio Extension (KE) undergo a well-defined decadal modulation, which correlates well with the decadal KE path variability. The HF-EKE level and the energy-containing scales will increase with unstable KE path and decrease with stable KE path. Also the mesoscale eddies are a little meridionally elongated in the stable state, while they are much zonally elongated in the unstable state. The local baroclinic instability and the barotropic instability associated with the decadal modulation of HF-EKE have been investigated. The results show that the baroclinic instability is stronger in the stable state than that in the unstable state, with a shorter characteristic temporal scale and a larger characteristic spatial scale. Meanwhile, the regional-averaged barotropic conversion rate is larger in the unstable state than that in the stable state. The results also demonstrate that the baroclinic instability is not the dominant mechanism influencing the decadal modulation of the mesoscale eddy field, while the barotropic instability makes a positive contribution to the decadal modulation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Ocean Circulation and Waves, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Shihong Wang, Zhiliang Liu & Chongguang Pang

  2. College of Earth Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Shihong Wang

  3. International Hurricane Research Center, Florida International University, Miami, MARC 370, USA

    Huiqing Liu

Authors
  1. Shihong Wang
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  2. Zhiliang Liu
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  3. Chongguang Pang
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  4. Huiqing Liu
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Correspondence to Zhiliang Liu.

Additional information

Foundation item: The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract No. 41276026; the Special Fund for Strategic Pilot Technology Chinese Academy of Sciences under contract No. XDA11020301; the Joint Fund between Natural Science Foundation of China and Shandong Province under contract No. U1406401.

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Wang, S., Liu, Z., Pang, C. et al. The decadally modulating eddy field in the upstream Kuroshio Extension and its related mechanisms. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 35, 9–17 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-015-0741-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-015-0741-5

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