Vorticity Structures in the Tropical Pacific from a Numerical Simulation

Abstract

he small-scale variability of the tropical Pacific is studied with the simulations from a numerical model in terms of vorticity structures. A Lagrangian method based on the Okubo?Weiss parameter is used to identify the structures and track their main characteristics. Between 8°S and 8°N, the structure characteristics are spatially inhomogeneous compared to higher latitudes. They can be grouped into three categories: anticyclonic and cyclonic structures off the equator and the equatorial structures between 2°S and 2°N. They all have a strong annual cycle with maximum presence from September to March, except during strong El Niño years, when the number of structures becomes very low. Off the equator from 2° to 8°, the anticyclonic structures dominate, but with drastically different characteristics north and south of the equator. In the north, large nonlinear vortices develop (known as the tropical instability vortices) in phase with the 30?35-day oscillation related to an unstable first-meridional-mode Rossby waves. In the south, mostly fragmentary linear structures are present, with lower propagation speeds. The equatorial structures are mostly counterclockwise. The larger ones tend to be linear and are clearly associated with Yanai waves. The large majority of the cyclonic structures off the equator are also quite linear and smaller and less numerous than the anticyclonic structures. However, some of them are nonlinear with vorticity values higher than 2 times the Coriolis parameter.