Mechanical energy flux to the surface geostrophic flow using TOPEX/Poseidon data

The rate of mechanical energy transfer from the atmospheric winds to the su rface geostrophic velocity is estimated for the North Pacific basin. The su rface geostrophic velocity is calculated from the 4 year mean dynamic topog raphy and the 10 day anomaly fields obtained from the TOPEX/ Poseidon altim etry measurements. An uncertainty estimate of the integrated energy transfe r rate is derived, based on geoid slope error estimates obtained from the J GM-3 geoid model coefficient covariance matrix. Despite the low signal to n oise ratio, a meaningful signal can be extracted since the energy transfer calculation involves a projection of the estimated geostrophic current onto the wind stress field. The wind stress field is more strongly correlated w ith the surface current than with the geoid slope error (C) 1999 Elsevier S cience Ltd. All rights reserved.