Numerical study on the bifurcation of the North Equatorial Current
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Jun Song; Qi Wang; Yulong Liu; Xiaoqing Gong; Fang Wu; Xiande Zhu
- Source
- Journal of Ocean University of China. 10:305-313
- Subject
- Climatology
Wind stress curl
Potential density
Wind stress
Ocean Engineering
Oceanography
Geology
Bifurcation
Latitude
- Language
- ISSN
- 1993-5021
1672-5182
A 1.5-layer reduced-gravity model forced by wind stress is used to study the bifurcations of the North Equatorial Current (NEC). The authors found that after removing the Ekman drift, the modelled circulations can serve well as a proxy of the SODA circulations on the σθ=25.0 kg m−3 potential density surface based on available long-term reanalysis wind stress data. The modelled results show that the location of the western boundary bifurcation of the NEC depends on both zonal averaged and local zero wind stress curl latitude. The effects of the anomalous wind stress curl added in different areas are also investigated and it is found that they can change the strength of the Mindanao Eddy (ME), and then influence the interior pathway.