Origin of the Annual to Decadal Peaks of Variability in the Response of Simple Ocean Models to Stochastic Forcing

Abstract

The response of the ocean to stochastic forcings is studied in a closed basin, using a simple one-dimensional analytical model. The focus is on the mechanisms that determine the time scales of the response and their possible links with free basin modes. The response may be described as a forced solution plus propagating solutions whose spatial pattern does not depend on the forcing. The propagating solutions are of two types. The first ones propagate eastward and are strongly damped so that their influence remains limited to the western boundary layer. The others are damped long Rossby waves that propagate westward and whose amplitude depends on the spatial extension and the frequency of the forcing. The amplitude increases if the frequency of the forcing is close to the frequency of the basin modes, but the spatial pattern differs from that of the latter; higher frequencies are favored if the zonal extension of the forcing is reduced. The response of a 1.5-layer reduced-gravity ocean model forced by stochastic Ekman pumping confirms the results of the analytical model.