ENSO to multi-decadal time scale changes in East Australian Current transports and Fort Denison sea level: Oceanic Rossby waves as the connecting mechanism
Article
Article Title | ENSO to multi-decadal time scale changes in East Australian Current transports and Fort Denison sea level: Oceanic Rossby waves as the connecting mechanism |
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ERA Journal ID | 1910 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | Holbrook, Neil J. (Author), Goodwin, Ian D. (Author), McGregor, Shayne (Author), Molina, Ernesto (Author) and Power, Scott B. (Author) |
Journal Title | Deep-Sea Research Part 2: Topical Studies in Oceanography |
Journal Citation | 58 (5), pp. 547-558 |
Number of Pages | 12 |
Year | 2011 |
Place of Publication | United Kingdom |
ISSN | 0967-0645 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2010.06.007 |
Web Address (URL) | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967064510002146 |
Abstract | The connection between East Australian Current (EAC) transport variability and Australia's east coast sea level has received little treatment in the literature. This is due in part to the complex interacting physical processes operating in the coastal zone combined with the sparsity of observations available to improve our understanding of these possible connections. This study demonstrates a statistically significant (at the >90% level) relationship between interannual to decadal time scale variations in observed estimates of the EAC transport changes and east coast sea level measured at the high-quality, long record Fort Denison tide-gauge in Sydney Harbour, Australia (33°51'18'S, 151°13'32'E). We further demonstrate, using a linear reduced-gravity ocean model, that ENSO to decadal time-scale variations and the ocean-adjusted multi-decadal trend (approx. 1 cm/decade) in observed sea level at Fort Denison are strongly connected to modulations of EAC transports by incoming westward propagating oceanic Rossby waves. We show that EAC transport and Fort Denison sea level vary in a manner expected from both Tasman Sea generated Rossby waves, which account for the interannual and multi-annual variability, and remotely forced (from east of New Zealand) Rossby wave connections through the mid-latitudes, accounting for the ocean-adjusted multi-decadal trend observed at the New South Wales coast - with the regional-Tasman Sea forcing explaining the greatest overall proportion of EAC transport and sea-level variances. |
Keywords | General; Atmospheric Properties; Marine Science and Oceanography; Organic Compounds; Air-sea interaction; Air masses, Atmospheric motion; COASTAL AND OCEAN ENGINEERING; Annual variability; Australia; Connecting mechanism; Current transport; Decadal timescale; East Australian Current; East coast; High quality; Inter-decadal pacific oscillations; Interannual; Midlatitudes; Multi-decadal time scale; New South Wales; New zealand; Ocean model; Physical process; Reduced-gravity model; Rossby wave; Strongly connected; Sydney Harbour; Time-scales; Transport variability; East Australian Current; El Niño - Southern Oscillation; Inter-decadal Pacific Oscillation; Reduced-gravity model; Rossby waves; Sea level |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 370202. Climatology |
Byline Affiliations | University of Tasmania |
Macquarie University | |
University of Hawaii, United States | |
Australian Bureau of Meteorology | |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q66z7/enso-to-multi-decadal-time-scale-changes-in-east-australian-current-transports-and-fort-denison-sea-level-oceanic-rossby-waves-as-the-connecting-mechanism
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