Re: Exciting result showing the importance of horizontal advection

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: Hello Art, : Forgive me for this belated reply. Thank you very much : for your very thoughtful comments on my poster. : I agree with your that there are three links with : regard to the midlatitude ocean-atmosphere coupling. : This poster focused on one of those links (i.e., how : WBC outflow variability influences the wintertime SST : anomalies). Being involved in the satellite altimetry : data analyses over the past years, I am also very : excited about the prospect that the accumulation of : long-term altimetric data (Jason-1 is to be launched : coming February) will allow us to examine OBSERVATIONALLY : the other imporatnt link, namely, how the basin-wide ocean : circulation respond to the inetranuual-to-decadal changes : in the surface wind system. : Aloha, Bo : : Bo Qiu's results presented here are a very exciting : : demonstration of the importance of geostrophic advection : : on the heat budget of the SST field in the Kuroshio/Oyashio : : Extension (KOE).....This region of the ocean is vital : : to the proposed coupled ocean-atmosphere feedbacks of : : the Latif-Barnett-type decadal mode of North Pacific : : variability.....The coupled mode requires three main : : links, one of which is strongly supported by Bo's results. : : The first link is between the Aleutian Low wind stress : : field and the adjustment of the North Pacific basin-wide : : thermocline (including currents in the western : : boundary currents)....The second is the link between the : : thermocline, and concomitant geostrophic current, : : variations and the SST field in the KOE...... : : The third is the link between the KOE SST and the : : atmospheric response downstream in the : : Aleutian Low region.....Bo's results show : : that anomalous geostrophic currents directly affect the : : SST heat budget in the KOE on multi-year time scales..... : : This is the first clear evidence for this in observations..... : : Hence, these results form a crucial part of the proposed : : coupled feedback loop which may help to explain and predict : : decadal variability in the North Pacific Ocean.