S. Levitus et As. Sarkisyan, Ocean dynamic characteristics obtained by synthesizing climatic data and the WOCE program information, IZV ATM O P, 37(4), 2001, pp. 496-507
The method developed by the authors is used to Compute the physical charact
eristics of the ocean by inlaying the WOCE synoptic section into the climat
ic temperature and salinity fields, followed by the synthesis of the result
ing data. The synthesis (or amalgamation) of two dissimilar data sets was i
mplemented using the system of nonlinear nonstationary equations of ocean t
hermohydrodynamics. The main results of this work are as follows. (1) A cle
arly defined asymmetry occurs in the spatial distribution of the effect of
inlaying synoptic data. Namely. (a) the effect of synoptic information deca
ys in the meridional direction at a distance of a few degrees from the sect
ion. and it is obvious that this effect also decays with depth because of b
aroclinicity; (b) in the zonal direction. the effect is propagated westward
under the action of Rossby waves and other factors, and. in the continenta
l slope (east of 80 degrees W), this effect enhances through the JEBAR and
is propagated northward by the Antilles Current and further by the Gulf Str
eam. This western intensification is clearly reflected in the mass and heat
transport values. (2) Due to eddies and other-type spatial variability. as
well as to the action of the JEBAR, meridional transport processes in the
region of the section are an order of magnitude stronger than those in the
case of computations based on climatic data. which is confirmed by direct o
bservations in the Bahamas region. From computations, it is inferred that t
he western intensification and a high degree of variation in the characteri
stics of this region is, at least partially, due to synoptic processes occu
rring in the extended zone between the Bahamas and Africa.