A reduced gravity model that incorporates the geometry of western North America has been used to study the dynamics of the California Current System (CCS). Three experiments were implemented: first the model was run using 19 years of wind stress from the Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (local model); a second experiment (remote model) consisted of forcing the model through its southern boundary using the results of a similar reduced gravity equatorial model; in a third experiment, both forcings were used simultaneously (local + remote model). The main objective of this work was to analyze the low frequency variability on the CCS in terms of its contributions from remote and local forcing. / Away from the coast, the basic state of the model is determined by the predominantly negative wind curl through an Sverdrup balance. The general seasonal cycle (eg. set-up of Davidson Current, formation and position of Southern California eddy, etc.) is in agreement to what has been described by other authors. Through cross correlation and cross spectral analysis between the model results and observed sea-level data, it was established that most of the interannual variability in sea-level height at the coast is due to disturbances of equatorial origin that propagate into the region in the form of coastally trapped Kelvin waves. For the annual frequency variability, on the other hand, it was found that both local, as well as remotely forced variability, contribute to the total variance. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-03, Section: B, page: 0677. / Major Professor: James J. O'Brien. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1987.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_76263 |
| Contributors | Pares-Sierra, Alejandro., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 146 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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