Circulation variability in the Bering Sea

Abstract

Sea surface height anomalies measured by the GEOSAT radar to develop an improved circulation scheme for the deep basin of the Bering Sea and to make inferences about the dynamics controlling the circulation. A conceptual model of the circulation in the Bering Sea is presented in three manuscripts. The first provides a description of a large eddy in the Alaskan Stream. This eddy is shown to influence circulation in the southern Aleutian Basin. The second manuscript reports on an empirical orthogonal function analysis of averaged sea surface height anomalies. The analysis is interpreted to describe the superposition of two principal circulation schemes. The former describes annual period, basin scale cyclonic circulation. The latter scheme reflects the southwestward propagation of $\sim$1.9 year period, gyre scale baroclinic long waves across the Aleutian Basin. The final paper reports on observations of topographic planetary waves associated with the Bering Slope Current. The model provides a possible resolution of some of the discrepancies between previously published circulation schemes for the Bering Sea.