(1) In the KOE region, large-scale gyre circulation regulates the DSV in the OGCM experiment (Xie et al. 2000) through geostrophic advection.
(2) The resultant dominant spatial pattern of model DSV is dipole in the KOE region.
(3) However, the dominant spatial pattern of real DSV is monopole.
(4) Atmospheric thermal forcing by local surface winds modifies the DSV anomalies in the south of KOE region to have the same sign with the anomalies to the north, and also enhances the DSV anomalies in the north.
In the KOE region, the phase relationship between the effects of ocean dynamics and atmospheric thermal forcing is different in meridional direction; in the NORTH, these effects cooperatively act to DSV, while in the SOUTH, the phase relationship is out-of-phase, and the surface thermal forcing dominates over the subsurface ocean dynamical effects in the south.
In the SAFZ, the geographical localtion of center of action of DSV (Fig. 5) seems to be determined by the mixed layer depth (Fig. 4) and geostrophic flow (Fig. 10) distributions rather than atmospheric thermal forcing because the associated wind anomalies are relatively small around the center of action (Fig. 6) and near uniform in the KOE region (Fig. 7).
