| Analysis of Geosat sea level data over the period November 1986-November 1987 has evidenced long, low-frequency equatorial wave propagations over most of the equatorial Pacific basin (Delcroix et al.,1991). The succession of downwelling Kelvin, upwelling Kelvin, and upwelling Rossby waves has raised a series of questions. Is the observed upwelling Rossby wave due to a reflection process on the eastern boundary, or due to wind forcing near the equator? Why is there no evidence of a reflection of the downwelling Kelvin wave? Is this wave sequence a feature of the 1986-1987 El Nino phenomenon or is it to be found in the mean seasonal cycle? We used a linear model forced by the FSU wind stress to study these questions. The results, during the period November... |
