Transport processes of the global ocean circulation between 1992 and 1997 estimated from global altimeter data, SST fields, daily NCEP surface fluxes, the Levitus climatology and a general circulation model

To achieve a global oceanographic state estimation capability, a consortium for ``Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean'' (ECCO) has been formed recently under the National Ocean Partnership Program (NOPP), which includes scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Results presented include global ocean transport processes which were estimated for the period of 1992 through 1997 from a global ocean general circulation model constrained by (1) the absolute, and (2) time-varying TOPEX/POSEIDON altimeter data relative to the EGM96 geoid model, (3) the sea surface height anomalies from the ERS-1/2 satellites, (4) monthly sea surface temperature fields, (5) the time-varying NCEP surface fluxes of momentum, heat and freshwater, as well as (6) the Levitus climatological seasonal hydrography. The model is forced to consistency with those fields by using the model's adjoint to modify the initial temperature and salinity conditions over the full water column and to adjust the time-varying meteorological forcing fields over the full estimation period. Results are used for a detailed analysis of the dynamics of a time-evolving ocean state and associated transport processes and surface fluxes occurring during the 6 year period.