Geostrophy in the Intermediate and Deep Layers of the Kuroshio and Its Recirculation Regions South of Japan

Abstract

Theoretically, the geostrophic approximation holds for the low-frequency flow field, but no detailed examination has been done on how well the estimated geostrophic velocity corresponds with the observed velocity. Intensive surveys were carried out during 1993–1995 in the Kuroshio and its recirculation regions south of Shikoku, Japan, including repeated hydrographic surveys and direct current measurements at nominal depths of 700, 1500 and 3000 m. For these depth intervals, vertical differences of estimated geostrophic velocity are compared with those of observed velocity. For the intermediate layer (between 700 and 1500 m depths), the slope of the regression line is 0.99, correlation coefficient is 0.98, and the root-mean-square of difference from geostrophic balance is 2.8 cm/s which is close to the estimated error of 2.1 cm/s. For the deep layer (between 1500 and 3000 m depths), the corresponding values are 0.82, 0.93, 1.2 cm/s and 2.0 cm/s, respectively. The results indicate that the estimated geostrophic velocity compares well with the observed velocity in these regions.