Vector EOF Analysis of SSH and Wind Stress for the GEOSAT Pre-ERM Mission in the Gulf of Mexico. (Abstract).

摘要

Sea Surface Height (SSH) data collected during the Pre-exact Repeat Mission of the U.S. Navy's GEOSAT satellite were analyzed together with wind stress data from FNOC to determine basin scale patterns of coherent variability. Time series of SSH variations were formed from altimeter cross-over points in 3-degree diamond-shaped grids in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Similarly, wind stress time series were formed at selected grid points in the GOM and in the North Equatorial Trade wind region of the Atlantic. The two sets of time series, one year in length, were subjected to Empirical Orthogonal Function analysis. The first EOF mode contained more than twice the variance of the second mode, with the largest amplitudes (sigenvectors) of the pattern occurring just west of the loop current intrusion for SSH and in the western and northern Gulf for wind stress. A comparison is made with similar combined data for the Northern Indian Ocean where ocean response to Monsoon winds is strong, and better understood. In addition to the EOF analysis, events are followed through the Gulf in both wind and SSH records.