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The mean properties and variations of the Southern Hemisphere subpolar gyres estimated by Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) products

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Abstract

Based on the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) products, we study the mean properties and variations of the Southern Hemisphere subpolar gyres (SHSGs) in this paper. The results show that the gyre strengths in the SODA estimates are (55.9±9.8)×106 m3/s for the Weddell Gyre (WG), (37.0±6.4)×106 m3/s for the Ross Gyre (RG), and (27.5±8.2)×106 m3/s for the Australian-Antarctic Gyre (AG), respectively. There exists distinct connectivity between the adjacent gyres and then forms an oceanic super gyre structure in the southern subpolar oceans. And the interior exchanges are about (8.0±3.2)×106 m3/s at around 70°E and (4.3±3.1)×106 m3/s at around 140°E. The most pronounced variation for all three SHSGs occurs on the seasonal time scale, with generally stronger (weaker) SHSGs during austral winter (summer). And the seasonal changes of the gyre structures show that the eastern boundary of the WG and AG extends considerably further east during winter and the interior exchange in the super gyre structure increases accordingly. The WG and RG also show significant semi-annual changes. The correlation analyses confirm that the variations of the gyre strengths are strongly correlated with the changes in the local wind forcing on the semi-annual and seasonal time scales.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Ocean and Climate Research, First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Qingdao, 266061, China

    Yongliang Duan & Weidong Yu

  2. Laboratory for Regional Oceanography and Numerical Modeling, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266061, China

    Yongliang Duan & Weidong Yu

  3. Key Laboratory of Ocean Circulation and Waves, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Hongwei Liu & Yijun Hou

Authors
  1. Yongliang Duan
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  2. Hongwei Liu
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  3. Weidong Yu
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  4. Yijun Hou
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Correspondence to Yongliang Duan.

Additional information

Famdation item: The Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation, China under contract No. ZR2014DP011; the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract No. 41406012; the Basic Scientific Research Fund for National Public Institutes of China under contract No. 2015G05; the Chinese Polar Science Strategy Research Foundation under contract NO. 20150305; the Open Fund of the Key Laboratory of Ocean Circulation and Waves, Chinese Academy of Sciences under contract No. KLOCAW1405.

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Duan, Y., Liu, H., Yu, W. et al. The mean properties and variations of the Southern Hemisphere subpolar gyres estimated by Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) products. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 35, 8–13 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-016-0901-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-016-0901-2

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