INTERDECADAL VARIABILITY IN A NUMERICAL-MODEL OF THE NORTHEAST PACIFIC-OCEAN - 1970-89

Variations in the thermocline depth of the northeast Pacific Ocean dur ing 1970-1989 are investigated using a reduced-gravity numerical model forced by the local surface wind stress and at the southern land-ocea n boundary by a coastal Kelvin wave signal. Three experiments are pres ented with forcings by wind only, Kelvin wave only, and a combination of both. The wind forcing generates an anticyclonic gyre circulation w ith mostly annual variations. The Kelvin waves along the coast excite Rossby waves that propagate into the basin interior, producing changes in upper-layer thickness (related to changes in thermocline depth) th at last for years after the Kelvin signal has passed. Two sequential u pwelling Kelvin waves in 1973 and 1975 produce upwelling Rossby waves that reduce the mean upper-layer thickness by approximately 10-20 m du ring 1976. This shift is reinforced by later upwelling events lasting until the early 1980s. The authors present a new hypothesis that the p reviously known climate shift observed in winter sea surface temperatu re is influenced by changes in the depth of the permanent thermocline induced by remotely forced Rossby waves. Acoustic thermometry might be a sensitive means to detect Rossby waves, motivating a thermometric a pproach to studying interannual variations in the ocean. The role of t he Rossby waves in the travel time variations of acoustic signals on g eodesic paths from Hawaii to the North American coast are calculated u sing the scheme of Reed. Wind forcing produces mainly annual variation s in the acoustic travel time anomalies, except for the high latitude paths above 40 degrees N that exhibit sudden shifts in travel times du e to changes in the magnitude of the wind stress. The Rossby waves are primarily responsible for interannual variations.