A statistical analysis of sea level and wind stress at seven locations on the West Coast of North America

• Main Author: Osmer, Stephen Robert
• Other Authors: Huyer, Adriana
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: Sea level > Pacific Coast; Wind-pressure
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1957/27812

Sea level and the alongshore component of wind stress data at seven locations on the Pacific coast of Canada and the United States were analyzed. The effective data period was from August 1, 1973 to September 9, 1975. The seven locations were Tofino, British Columbia; Neah Bay and Toke Point, Washington; South beach (Newport) and Charleston, Oregon; and Crescent City and San Francisco, California. Sea level relative to the two year mean is higher at the northern locations during the winter months than it is at the southern stations. There appears to be an annual cycle in the sea level though the amplitudes are different for the two years. The monthly mean wind stress is northward during the winter months, and has a larger value at the northern locations. During the spring and summer the monthly mean wind stress is southward and has a larger value at the southern stations. Linear correlation analysis was performed on the sea level data and on the alongshore component of wind stress for the entire time period and seasonally. Auto-correlations and cross correlations were computed for the adjusted sea levels and wind stress. This analysis shows that the sea level and wind stress fluctuations among these seven locations are coherent. These show that the correlation is a function of location and that it has a seasonal variation. It also appears that by examining plots of correlation coefficients and of sea level slopes, that the region may be divided into two major regimes. This separation might be interpreted as the locale where the West Wind Drift impinges on the coast. === Graduation date: 1978