Observations of Upper Ocean Response to Typhoons

Henry Potter, Naval Research Laboratory, Remote Sensing Division, Washington, DC, United States, Michelle M Gierach, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States, Hans Christian Graber, University of Miami, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, Miami, FL, United States and William M Drennan, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States
Abstract:
As part of the Impact of Typhoons on the Ocean in the Pacific (ITOP) campaign, two Extreme Air-Sea Interaction (EASI) buoys were deployed in the Philippine Sea during the 2010 Pacific typhoon season. The buoys were located approximately 200 km apart and 750 km east of Taiwan. Each EASI was equipped to measure air-sea fluxes of momentum, heat, and mass as well as mean meteorological and oceanographic parameters. Ocean temperatures were recorded at depths from 1 to 150 m via subsurface arrays which were attached to the mooring lines. Measurements were made for three months during which the moorings encountered a tropical storm and three typhoons.

We will explore the cold wake characteristics following each storm and links of surface forcing to changes in sea surface temperature, depth integrated heat, mixed layer depth, and ocean heat content. We also use meteorological measurements to determine air-sea fluxes and estimate an energy balance for each storm. The response of the upper ocean to these typhoons will be discussed and compared to satellite observations.

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