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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 34, L03607, doi:10.1029/2006GL028945, 2007

Spatial and temporal variability of diurnal wind forcing in the coastal ocean

Eli Hunter

Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA


Robert Chant

Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA


Louis Bowers

Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA


Scott Glenn

Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA


Josh Kohut

Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA


Abstract

Spatial and temporal variability of diurnal wind forcing and the coastal response is characterized for the New York Bight from February through May, 2005. This analysis demonstrates that diurnal wind forced motions are significant in the coastal ocean during the spring and summer months, near shore and as far as 100 km offshore. A doubling of diurnal current amplitudes is common in the spring compared to the winter months, associated with an increase in sea/land breeze days. Diurnal fluid motions due to sea/land breeze events can account for up 50% of the total kinetic energy during the spring.

Received 29 November 2006; accepted 3 January 2007; published 7 February 2007.

Keywords: diurnal wind; New York Bight; coastal ocean circulation.

Index Terms: 4219 Oceanography: General: Continental shelf and slope processes (3002); 4227 Oceanography: General: Diurnal, seasonal, and annual cycles (0438); 4512 Oceanography: Physical: Currents; 4217 Oceanography: General: Coastal processes.

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Citation: Hunter, E., R. Chant, L. Bowers, S. Glenn, and J. Kohut (2007), Spatial and temporal variability of diurnal wind forcing in the coastal ocean, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L03607, doi:10.1029/2006GL028945.