The dynamics of weather-band sea level variations in the Red Sea

James H. Churchill*, Yasser Abualnaja, Richard Limeburner, Mohammedali Nellayaputhenpeedika

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    6 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    The variations of sea level over the Red Sea may be divided into three broad categories: tidal, seasonal and weather-band. Our study employs a variety of in situ and satellite-derived data in the first comprehensive examination of the Red Sea water level variations in the weather-band (covering periods of [Formula presented] 4–30 days). In the central Red Sea, the range of the weather-band sea level signal is of order 0.7 m, which exceeds the tidal and seasonal sea level ranges. From EOF and correlation analysis, we find that a large fraction of the weather-band sea level variation is due to a single mode of motion that extends over the entire Red Sea. In this mode, the water level rises and falls in unison with an amplitude that declines going southward over the southern Red Sea. The temporal signal of this mode is highly correlated with the along-axis surface wind stress over the southern Red Sea, and is closely reproduced by a simple one-dimensional barotropic model with forcing by the along-axis wind stress. Although this model does not account for the full suite of dynamics affecting weather-band sea level variations in the Red Sea, it may serve as a useful predictive tool. Sea level changes associated with the development and movement of sub-mesoscale features (e.g., eddies and boundary currents) are also shown to contribute to weather-band sea level motions in the Red Sea.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Pages (from-to)336-342
    Number of pages7
    JournalRegional Studies in Marine Science
    Volume24
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Nov 2018

    Bibliographical note

    Publisher Copyright:
    © 2018

    Keywords

    • Red Sea water levels
    • Wind-driven sea level variations

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
    • Aquatic Science
    • Animal Science and Zoology
    • Ecology

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