THE MULTIPLE EQUILIBRIA IN THE COUPLED ATMOSPHERE-OCEAN SYSTEM

In this paper, a topography forced quasi-geostrophic baroclinic model and an SST (sea surface temperature) equation are used to set up a simple coupled atmosphere-ocean model The large-scale ocean current is nearly the Sverdrup flow. Two basic processes are considered in this system, i. e. the SST as a thermal forcing drives the atmospheric circulation and the ocean current produced by the wind redistributes the SST. Highly truncating and multiple scale method are used to simplify the model and obtain a low dimensional dynamic system. In this part, the qualitative vector in the phase space of the system is analysed and two stable equilibria are obtained. These two kinds of equailibria may be used to explain some features of the long-range anomalies of circulation.