Hobart

Seminar Abstract

Friday 3 October 2008, 11.30am (Tas time)
CSIRO Auditorium, Hobart

Christophe Maes
Physical Oceanographer
Centre IRD de Nouméa

Observing and modelling the possible impact of the salinity stratification on the warm pool of the western Pacific Ocean

The warm pool of the western tropical Pacific Ocean is characterized by high sea surface temperatures that are insulated from the thermocline by salt-stratified water referred to as the “barrier layer”. The barrier layer affects the heat budget of the ocean mixed layer by altering the turbulent vertical exchanges with the deeper layers and by changing the fraction of the penetrating solar heat flux from the atmosphere. It also alters the dynamics of the upper ocean by confining the vertical penetration of the wind-stress which in turn may enhance the amplitude of the horizontal displacements of the warm pool. These insulating properties of barrier layer can alter the SST variability, thus providing a potential mechanism for salinity variations to indirectly feed back to the ocean-atmosphere interactions, and potentially, the dynamics of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Based on available in situ observations such as the ARGO floats and on sensitivity numerical experiments done with a coupled GCM the focus will be put on the eastern edge of the equatorial warm pool. The observations collected during a series of three oceanographic cruises dedicated to the study of such frontal zone will be also used to study the role of salinity in the static stratification of the ocean upper layers. Finally, another variable to identify the role of the salinity in the static vertical stratification as compared to the usual barrier layer will be presented and discussed.

Seminar Recording

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Location:
CSIRO = Marine Laboratories Auditorium, Castray Esplanade, Hobart

For further information, or to schedule a seminar, contact:
To schedule a seminar, contact:
Bernadette Sloyan, (Oceanographic seminars) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (03) 6232 5152
Thomas Kunz, (Biological seminars) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
(03) 6232 5076
Natalie Dowling, (Fisheries Modelling) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
(03) 6232 5148
Jillian Enraght-Moony, (seminar administrator) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (03) 6232 5320
Communications Manager, Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC (03) 6226 2265
Margaret Hazelwood, Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies (IASOS) University of Tasmania (03) 6226 2971

Last updated 21/07/09