Oceanic and atmospheric anomalies of tropical instability waves

Tropical instability waves (TIWs) are detected in remotely-sensed sea surfa ce height (SSH), temperature (SST), and wind records of the eastern equator ial Pacific. Analyses of TIW anomaly relationships reveal strong dynamical influence of TIWs within approximately 5 degrees of the equator. The first influence is advective heat flux. The primary forcing of TIW SST anomalies is advection of the meridional temperature gradient by TIW currents. The se cond influence is modification of the wind stress and Ekman pumping fields by TIW surface ocean currents. By affecting surface stress and hence roughn ess, TIW currents in this low-wind region introduce a significant bias in s catterometer vector wind measurement. This bias is evident in both NSCAT an d QuikSCAT winds. The difference between wind measurements from TAO mooring s and scatterometers is phase-locked with TIW SST oscillations. These resul ts have important implications for scatterometry and for understanding trop ical dynamics, thermodynamics and biogeochemistry.