EOF analysis of upper ocean heat content, 1956–2003

We present results of an EOF analyses of yearly (1956–2003), global ocean heat content fields (0–700 m layer) on a one‐degree, latitude‐longitude grid. The observed global ocean heat content integral is well‐reproduced by reconstructing this quantity using the first four EOFs. Results of an independ...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inGeophysical research letters Vol. 32; no. 18; pp. L18607 - n/a
Main Authors Levitus, S., Antonov, J. I., Boyer, T. P., Garcia, H. E., Locarnini, R. A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published American Geophysical Union 28.09.2005
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Subjects
Climate and interannual variability
Climate variability
Decadal ocean variability
Enthalpy
Fourier analysis
Geophysics
Global Change
Gyres
Integrals
Marine
Oceanography
Oceans
Physical
Polarity
Temporal logic
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:We present results of an EOF analyses of yearly (1956–2003), global ocean heat content fields (0–700 m layer) on a one‐degree, latitude‐longitude grid. The observed global ocean heat content integral is well‐reproduced by reconstructing this quantity using the first four EOFs. Results of an independent Fourier analysis of these same heat content fields show that the global heat content integral can be accounted for by phenomena with decadal and longer time‐scales. The temporal variability of the global integral of 0–700 m ocean heat content is due to gyre and basin‐scale spatial variability on decadal time‐scales. The strong interdecadal variability observed in the ocean heat content record is associated with the reversal of polarity of the PDO.
Bibliography:ark:/67375/WNG-MM1BWXFZ-N
istex:EC243C7639FCE25F3E1F86A04060AA86478B1ACF
ArticleID:2005GL023606
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:0094-8276
1944-8007
DOI:10.1029/2005GL023606