Top

Published in:

2015 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

Air–Sea Interaction and Horizontal Circulation in the Red Sea

Authors : Amy S. Bower, J. Thomas Farrar

Published in: The Red Sea

Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config

AI-assisted search

Off

Abstract

This chapter discusses the horizontal circulation of the Red Sea and the surface meteorology that drives it, and recent satellite and in situ measurements from the region are used to illustrate properties of the Red Sea circulation and the atmospheric forcing. The surface winds over the Red Sea have rich spatial structure, with variations in speed and direction on both synoptic and seasonal timescales. Wintertime mountain-gap wind jets drive large heat losses and evaporation at some locations, with as much as 9 cm of evaporation in a week. The near-surface currents in the Red Sea exhibit similarly rich variability, with an energetic and complex flow field dominated by persistent, quasi-stationary eddies, and convoluted boundary currents. At least one quasi-stationary eddy pair is driven largely by winds blowing through a gap in the mountains (Tokar Gap), but numerical simulations suggest that much of the eddy field is driven by the interaction of the buoyancy-driven flow with topography. Recent measurements suggest that Gulf of Aden Intermediate Water (GAIW) penetrates further northward into the Red Sea than previously reported.

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 102.000 Bücher
über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 67.000 Bücher
über 390 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

previous chapter Sea-Level Changes

next chapter Water Mass Formation, Overturning Circulation, and the Exchange of the Red Sea with the Adjacent Basins

Acker J, Leptoukh G, Shen S, Zhu T, Kempler S (2008) Remotely-sensed chlorophyll a observations of the northern Red Sea indicate seasonal variability and influence of coastal reefs. J Mar Syst 69:191–204CrossRef

Biton E, Gildor H, Peltier WR (2008) Red sea during the last glacial maximum: implications for sea level reconstruction. Paleoceanography 23(1). doi:10.1029/2007pa001431

Biton E, Gildor H, Trommer G, Siccha M, Kucera M, van der Meer MTJ, Schouten S (2010) Sensitivity of Red Sea circulation to monsoonal variability during the holocene: an integrated data and modeling study. Paleoceanography 25. doi:10.1029/2009pa001876

Chen C, Ruixiang L, Pratt L, Limeburner R, Beardsley R, Bower AS, Jiang H, Abualnaja Y, Liu X, Xu Q, Lin H, Lan J, Kim T-W (2014) Process modeling studies of physical mechanisms of the formation of an anticyclonic eddy in the central Red Sea. J Geophys Res Oceans 119. doi:10.1002/2013JC009351

Churchill JA, Bower A, McCorkle DC, Abualnaja Y (2015) The transport of nutrient-rich Indian Ocean water through the Red Sea and into coastal reef systems. J Mar Res (in press)

Clifford M, Horton C, Schmitz J, Kantha LH (1997) An oceanographic nowcast/forecast system for the Red Sea. J Geophys Res 102:25101–25122CrossRef

Eshel G, Naik N (1997) Climatological coast jet collision, intermediate water formation, and the general circulation of the Red Sea. J Phys Oceanogr 27(7):1233–1257CrossRef

Fairall CW, Bradley EF, Hare JE, Grachev AA, Edson JB (2003) Bulk parameterization of air-sea fluxes: Updates and verification for the COARE algorithm. J Clim 16:571–591CrossRef

Farrar JT, Lentz S, Churchill J, Bouchard P, Smith J, Kemp J, Lord J, Allsup G, Hosom D (2009) King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) mooring deployment cruise and fieldwork report, technical report. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Woods Hole, Mass, 88 pp

Hickey B, Goudie AS (2007) The use of TOMS and MODIS to identify dust storm source areas: the Tokar delta (Sudan) and the Seistan basin (south west Asia). In: Goudie AS, Kalvoda J (eds) Geomorphological Variations. P3K, Prague, pp 37–57

Jiang H, Farrar JT, Beardsley RC, Chen R, Chen C (2009) Zonal surface wind jets across the Red Sea due to mountain gap forcing along both sides of the Red Sea. Geophys Res Lett 36, L19605CrossRef

Josey S, Kent E, Taylor P (1999) New insights into the ocean heat budget closure problem from analysis of the SOC air–sea flux climatology. J Clim 12:2856–2880CrossRef

Maillard C (1971) Etude hydrologique et dynamique de la Mer Rouge en hiver. Annales de l’Institut océanographique, Paris 498(2):113–140

McCreary JP, Shetye SR, Kundu PK (1986) Thermohaline forcing of eastern boundary currents: with application to the circulation off the west coast of Australia. J Mar Res 44:71–92CrossRef

Morcos SA (1970) Physical and chemical oceanography of the Red Sea. Oceanogr Mar Biol Annu Rev 8:73–202

Morcos S, Soliman GF (1972) Circulation and deep water formation in the northern Red Sea in winter. UNESCO, L’Oceanographie Physique de la Mer Rouge, pp 91–103

Murray SP, Johns W (1997) Direct observations of seasonal exchange through the Bab el Mandeb Strait. Geophys Res Lett 24(21):2557–2560CrossRef

Naval Oceanography Command Detachment (1993) U.S. Navy regional climatic study of the Red Sea and adjacent waters. NAVAIR 50-1C-562. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Asheville

Papadopoulos VP, Abualnaja Y, Josey SA, Bower A, Raitsos DE, Kontoyiannis H, Hoteit I (2013) Atmospheric forcing of the winter air-sea heat fluxes over the northern Red Sea. J Clim 26:1685–1701CrossRef

Patzert WC (1974) Wind-induced reversal in Red Sea circulation. Deep Sea Res 21:109–121

Pedgley DE (1974) An outline of the weather and climate of the Red Sea. L’Oceanographie Physique de la Mer Rouge. United National Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, Paris, pp 9–27

Phillips OM (1966) On turbulent convection currents and the circulation of the Red Sea. Deep Sea Res 13(6):1149–1160

Quadfasel D, Baudner H (1993) Gyre-scale circulation cells in the Red Sea. Oceanol Acta 16:221–229

Raitsos DE, Pradhan Y, Brewin RJW, Stenchikov G, Hoteit I (2013) Remote sensing the phytoplankton seasonal succession of the Red Sea. PLoS ONE 8(6):64909CrossRef

Raitsos DE, Hoteit I, Prihartato PK, Chronis T, Triantafyllou G, Abualnaja Y (2011) Abrupt warming of the Red Sea. Geophys Res Lett 38(14), L14601. doi:10.1029/2011GL047984 CrossRef

Risien CM, Chelton DB (2008) A global climatology of surface wind and wind stress fields from eight years of QuikSCAT scatterometer data. J Phys Oceanogr 38:2379–2413CrossRef

Smeed D (1997) Seasonal variation of the flow in the Strait of Bab al Mandab. Oceanol Acta 20(6):773–781

Sofianos SS, Johns WE (2002) An Oceanic General Circulation Model (OGCM) investigation of the Red Sea circulation: 1. Exchange between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. J Geophys Res 107(C11):3196

Sofianos SS, Johns WE (2003) An Oceanic General Circulation Model (OGCM) investigation of the Red Sea circulation: 2. Three dimensional circulation in the Red Sea. J Geophys Res 108(C3):3066CrossRef

Sofianos SS, Johns WE (2007) Observations of the summer Red Sea circulation. J Geophys Res 112:C06025

Sofianos SS, Johns WE, Murray SP (2002) Heat and freshwater budgets in the Red Sea from direct observations at Bab el Mandeb. Deep Sea Res Part II 49:1323–1340CrossRef

Souvermezoglou E, Metzl N, Poisson A (1989) Red Sea budgets of salinity, nutrients, and carbon calculated in the Strait of Bab el Mandab during the summer and winter season. J Mar Res 47:441–456CrossRef

Tragou E, Garrett C (1997) The shallow thermohaline circulation of the Red Sea. Deep-Sea Res 44:1355–1376CrossRef

Tragou E, Garrett C, Outerbridge R, Gilman G (1999) The heat and freshwater budgets of the Red Sea. J Phys Oceanogr 29:2504–2522CrossRef

Yao F, Hoteit I, Pratt L, Bower A, Zhai P, Köhl A, Gopalakrishnan G, Rivas D (2014a) Seasonal overturning in the Red Sea: part 1. Model verification and summer circulation. J Geophys Res 119:2238–2262. doi:10.1002/2013JC009331 CrossRef

Yao F, Hoteit I, Pratt L, Bower A, Zhai P, Köhl A, Gopalakrishnan G, Rivas D (2014b) Seasonal overturning in the Red Sea: part 2. Winter circulation. J Geophys Res 119:2263–2289. doi:10.1002/2013JC009331 CrossRef

Yu L, Weller RA (2007) Objectively analyzed air-sea heat fluxes for the global ice-free oceans (1981–2005). Bull Am Meteorol Soc 88:527–539CrossRef

Zhai P, Bower A (2013) The response of the Red Sea to a strong wind jet near the Tokar Gap in summer. J Geophys Res 118(1):421–434CrossRef

Zhang Y, Rossow WB, Lacis AA, Oinas V, Mishchenko MI (2004) Calculation of radiative fluxes from the surface to top of atmosphere based on ISCCP and other global data sets: refinements of the radiative transfer model and the input data. J Geophys Res 109:D19105. doi:10.1029/2003JD004457 CrossRef

Title: Air–Sea Interaction and Horizontal Circulation in the Red Sea
Authors: Amy S. Bower
J. Thomas Farrar
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Book: The Red Sea
Print ISBN: 978-3-662-45200-4

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-662-45201-1

Copyright Year: 2015
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-45201-1_19