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A method of calculating the total flow from a given sea surface topographyUsing a simple dynamical model of a wind-driven ocean circulation of the Stommel type, and an analytical basis developed to objectively analyze the sea surface height residuals from an altimeter and, in the process, to determine the total flow instead of just the near surface geostrophic component associated with the given sea surface topography. The method is based on first deriving the solution to the forced problem for a given wind stress required to develop a hypothetical true or perfect data field and to establishing the basis for the objective analysis. The stream function and the surface height field for the forced problem are developed in terms of certain characteristic functions with the same expansion coefficients for both fields. These characteristic functions are simply the solutions for a homogeneous elliptic equation for the stream function and the solutions of an inhomogeneous balance equation for the height field. For the objective analysis, using a sample of randomly selected height values from the true data field, the height field characteristic functions are used to fit the given topography in a least squares sense. The resulting expansion coefficients then permit the synthesis of the total flow field via the stream function characteristic modes and the solution is perfectly well behaved even along the equator. The method of solution is easily adaptable to realistic ocean basis by straight forward numerical methods. The analytical basis of the theory and the results for an ideal rectangular basin on a beta plane are described.
Document ID
19870009527
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Technical Memorandum (TM)
Authors
Rao, Desiraju B. (National Meteorological Center Washington, D.C., United States)
Steenrod, Stephen D. (Applied Research Corp. Landover, Md., United States)
Sanchez, Braulio V. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
September 5, 2013
Publication Date
April 1, 1987
Subject Category
Oceanography
Report/Patent Number
REPT-87B0128
NAS 1.15:87799
NASA-TM-87799
Accession Number
87N18960
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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