Seasonal variability of QSCAT-derived wind stress over the southern ocean

Abstract

Seasonal variability of surface wind stress derived from SeaWINDS onboard the NASA's QuikSCAT satellite is mapped over the latitude range 30°–60°S in the Southern Ocean for the period from August 1999 to July 2003. Seasonal variability is pronounced on basin-wide scale which dominates the Atlantic-Indian Ocean sector during austral winter. Harmonic analysis reveals that seasonal harmonic captures larger than 60% of the variance on regional scales. The cyclonic wind stress curl induces divergence around Antarctica and facilitates ACC meandering equatorward in the Atlantic-Indian Ocean sector of the Southern Ocean.