An analysis of tropical instability waves in a numerical model of the Pacific Ocean - 1. Spatial variability of the waves

Abstract

Unstable oscillations confined within the mixed layer close to the equator are generated in wind-forced experiments performed in a multilevel general circulation model configured for the tropical Pacific Ocean. The experiments indicate that the waves develop preferentially in the eastern Pacific along the northern temperature front. However, there is clear evidence of a second unstable region along the southern temperature front in the central Pacific. In both regions the instabilities propagate westward, but in the central Pacific their phase speed is considerably smaller. The differences between the wave characteristics in the eastern and central Pacific are closely correlated to the differences in the time mean conditions of the flow. The eastern instabilities have a structure with two peaks in amplitude: one located on the equator and the other a few degrees north of it. Their dispersion characteristics show many similarities to those of tropical instability waves (TIWs) observed in the Pacific Ocean, while the instabilities which grow in the central Pacific do not have any known observed correspondents. We explore the spatial variability of the simulated waves through a wavelet analysis, which provides detailed results on how the period and wavelength of the instabilities change as a function of longitude, latitude, and depth. The wavelet analysis reveals that in the eastern Pacific and close to the surface the TIWs have a phase speed of-48 cm/s, while in the central Pacific they have a phase speed of-11 cm/s. In particular, the change in the phase speed is due to a change in the dominant period of the TIWs: The period of the central Pacific instabilities is considerably longer than the period of the instabilities present in the eastern Pacific.