Improving the thermocline calculation over the global ocean
According to the typical thermal structure of the ocean, the water column can be divided into three layers: the mixed layer, the thermocline and the deep layer. In this study, we provide a new methodology, based on a function adjustment to the temperature profile, to locate the minimum and maximum d...
Published in: | Ocean Science |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2023
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/os-19-887-2023 https://doaj.org/article/12566b3d9e6c4704ac57fdcf97ce0bde |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:12566b3d9e6c4704ac57fdcf97ce0bde |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:12566b3d9e6c4704ac57fdcf97ce0bde 2023-07-16T03:59:53+02:00 Improving the thermocline calculation over the global ocean E. Romero L. Tenorio-Fernandez E. Portela J. Montes-Aréchiga L. Sánchez-Velasco 2023-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/os-19-887-2023 https://doaj.org/article/12566b3d9e6c4704ac57fdcf97ce0bde EN eng Copernicus Publications https://os.copernicus.org/articles/19/887/2023/os-19-887-2023.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1812-0784 https://doaj.org/toc/1812-0792 doi:10.5194/os-19-887-2023 1812-0784 1812-0792 https://doaj.org/article/12566b3d9e6c4704ac57fdcf97ce0bde Ocean Science, Vol 19, Pp 887-901 (2023) Geography. Anthropology. Recreation G Environmental sciences GE1-350 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/os-19-887-2023 2023-06-25T00:34:31Z According to the typical thermal structure of the ocean, the water column can be divided into three layers: the mixed layer, the thermocline and the deep layer. In this study, we provide a new methodology, based on a function adjustment to the temperature profile, to locate the minimum and maximum depths of the strongest thermocline. We first validated our methodology by comparing the mixed layer depth obtained with the method proposed here with three other methods from previous studies. Since we found a very good agreement between the four methods we used the function adjustment to compute the monthly climatologies of the maximum thermocline depth and the thermocline thickness and strength in the global ocean. We also provide an assessment of the regions of the ocean where our adjustment is valid, i.e., where the thermal structure of the ocean follows the three-layer structure. However, there are ocean regions where the water column cannot be separated into three layers due to the dynamic processes that alter it. This assessment highlights the limitations of the existing methods to accurately determine the mixed layer depth and the thermocline depth in oceanic regions that are particularly turbulent such as the Southern Ocean and the northern North Atlantic, among others. The method proposed here has shown to be robust and easy to apply. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Southern Ocean Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Southern Ocean Ocean Science 19 3 887 901 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Geography. Anthropology. Recreation G Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
spellingShingle |
Geography. Anthropology. Recreation G Environmental sciences GE1-350 E. Romero L. Tenorio-Fernandez E. Portela J. Montes-Aréchiga L. Sánchez-Velasco Improving the thermocline calculation over the global ocean |
topic_facet |
Geography. Anthropology. Recreation G Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
description |
According to the typical thermal structure of the ocean, the water column can be divided into three layers: the mixed layer, the thermocline and the deep layer. In this study, we provide a new methodology, based on a function adjustment to the temperature profile, to locate the minimum and maximum depths of the strongest thermocline. We first validated our methodology by comparing the mixed layer depth obtained with the method proposed here with three other methods from previous studies. Since we found a very good agreement between the four methods we used the function adjustment to compute the monthly climatologies of the maximum thermocline depth and the thermocline thickness and strength in the global ocean. We also provide an assessment of the regions of the ocean where our adjustment is valid, i.e., where the thermal structure of the ocean follows the three-layer structure. However, there are ocean regions where the water column cannot be separated into three layers due to the dynamic processes that alter it. This assessment highlights the limitations of the existing methods to accurately determine the mixed layer depth and the thermocline depth in oceanic regions that are particularly turbulent such as the Southern Ocean and the northern North Atlantic, among others. The method proposed here has shown to be robust and easy to apply. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
E. Romero L. Tenorio-Fernandez E. Portela J. Montes-Aréchiga L. Sánchez-Velasco |
author_facet |
E. Romero L. Tenorio-Fernandez E. Portela J. Montes-Aréchiga L. Sánchez-Velasco |
author_sort |
E. Romero |
title |
Improving the thermocline calculation over the global ocean |
title_short |
Improving the thermocline calculation over the global ocean |
title_full |
Improving the thermocline calculation over the global ocean |
title_fullStr |
Improving the thermocline calculation over the global ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Improving the thermocline calculation over the global ocean |
title_sort |
improving the thermocline calculation over the global ocean |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-19-887-2023 https://doaj.org/article/12566b3d9e6c4704ac57fdcf97ce0bde |
geographic |
Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Southern Ocean |
genre |
North Atlantic Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Ocean Science, Vol 19, Pp 887-901 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://os.copernicus.org/articles/19/887/2023/os-19-887-2023.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1812-0784 https://doaj.org/toc/1812-0792 doi:10.5194/os-19-887-2023 1812-0784 1812-0792 https://doaj.org/article/12566b3d9e6c4704ac57fdcf97ce0bde |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-19-887-2023 |
container_title |
Ocean Science |
container_volume |
19 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
887 |
op_container_end_page |
901 |
_version_ |
1771548230401654784 |