OCEANOGRAPHIC EFFECTS OF THE BERMUDA-AZORES ANTICYCLONE

• Main Author: STEVENS, WILLIAM
• Other Authors: NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY CA
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1961
• Subjects: Meteorology; *ANTICYCLONES; *OCEANOGRAPHY; GULF STREAM; ICE; JET STREAMS; MARINE METEOROLOGY; THESES; WIND; Barents Sea
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0262327; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0262327

The monthly values of a function which measures the Ekman drift across a portion of the Gulf Stream near the Florida-South Carolina coast are computed. The function depends upo geostrophic winds which are obtained from monthly mean surface weather maps. The values are compared with the secular variation of the areal ice extent in the Barents Sea, the annual variation of sea level along the FloridaSouth Carolina coast, and the annual variation of Gulf Stream surface velocity in the same area. Results indicate that the variation of these winds off the south-east coast of the United States is an important factor in the determination of ice extent in the Barents Sea, that these winds have a minor influence on the annual variation of local sea level, and that they are highly correlated with the annual variation of local Gulf Stream velocities.