Estimation of the time series of the meridional heat transport across 15°N in the Pacific Ocean from Argo and satellite data

Abstract

The time series of the net meridional heat transport (MHT) at 15°N in the Pacific Ocean from 2003 to 2012 is estimated by combining the Argo profiles with the satellite altimeter and scatterometer data. The estimate is validated against the climatological ocean data and the ECCO2 products, and is demonstrated to be reasonable. The MHT has a high degree of variability with a temporal mean of 0.70±0.31 PW, which is concentrated in the upper 800 dbar. The time series of the MHT and Ekman temperature transport have a significant annual cycle which peaks near April and December, whereas the time series of the geostrophic temperature transport have a subannual cycle. The results are consistent with previous estimates and lower than the ECCO2 estimate, which may mainly be caused by the different data sources and processings. The correlation between the air-sea flux and MHT is 0.50 with a 3 month delay. This report describes the first such attempt at a continuous transport of heat at 15°N in the Pacific Ocean from in situ observations. Key Points: The time series of the MHT across 15°N in Pacific Comparing Argo/SSH data with climatological ocean data and ECCO2 products The correlation between the MHT of 15°N and OAflux