Tropical Pacific And Indian Ocean Sea Surface Height Of The Seasonal Cycle And Interannual Variability Of The Numerical Simulation

The seasonal cycle and interannual variation of sea surface height from TOPEX/Poseidon and ERS-1/2 are analyzed in tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans in this study, and they are compared with those from a coupled climate model FGCMO in order to assess the ability of the model to simulate seasonal cycle and interannual variation in sea level height. The results show that although there are somewhat systematic errors in the coupled model, the model simulates the basic features of seasonal cycle and interannual variability of sea surface height to the considerable extent, In order to examine the impact of Indonesian Through Flow (ITF) on the seasonal cycle and interannual variation of sea surface height, a sensitivity experiment is accomplished, in which the Indonesian passage is closed fully in the coupled model. Comparison between control and sensitivity experiments suggests that ITF hardly show any effects on the seasonal cycle of sea surface height, but it modifies significantly interannual variation of sea surface height in tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans.