Coherence of western boundary pressure at the RAPID WAVE array: boundary wave adjustments or deep western boundary current advection?

Elipot, Shane; Hughes, Chris ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9355-0233; Olhede, Sofia; Toole, John. 2013 Coherence of western boundary pressure at the RAPID WAVE array: boundary wave adjustments or deep western boundary current advection? Journal of Physical Oceanography, 43 (4). 744-765. 10.1175/JPO-D-12-067.1

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Abstract/Summary

We investigate the coherence between ocean bottom pressure signals at the the RAPID WAVE array on the western North Atlantic continental slope, including the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Line W. Highly coherent pressure signals propagate southwestward along the slope, at speeds in excess of 128 m/s, consistent with expectations of barotropic Kelvin-like waves. We also see coherent signals in the smaller pressure differences relative to 1000 m depth, which are expected to be associated with depth-dependent basin-wide meridional transport variations, or an overturning circulation. These signals are coherent and almost in phase for all time scales from 3.6 years down to 3 months. Coherence is still seen at shorter time scales for which group delay estimates are consistent with a propagation speed of about 1 m/s over 990 km of continental slope, but with large error bounds on the speed. This is roughly consistent with expectations for propagation of coastally-trapped waves, though somewhat slower than expected. A comparison with both Eulerian currents and Lagrangian float measurements shows that the coherence is inconsistent with a propagation of signals by advection, except possibly on time scales longer than 6 months.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1175/JPO-D-12-067.1
Programmes:	NOC Programmes > Marine Physics and Ocean Climate NOC Programmes > Ocean Technology and Engineering
ISSN:	0022-3670
NORA Subject Terms:	Marine Sciences
Date made live:	15 Mar 2013 16:04 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/500463

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1175/JPO-D-12-067.1

Programmes:

NOC Programmes > Marine Physics and Ocean Climate
NOC Programmes > Ocean Technology and Engineering

ISSN:

0022-3670

NORA Subject Terms:

Marine Sciences

Date made live:

15 Mar 2013 16:04 +0 (UTC)