Altimetry-Based Diagnosis of Deep-Reaching Sub-Mesoscale Ocean Fronts
Recent studies demonstrate that energetic sub-mesoscale fronts (10–50 km width) extend in the ocean interior, driving large vertical velocities and associated fluxes. However, diagnosing the dynamics of these deep-reaching fronts from in situ observations remains challenging because of the lack of i...
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2020
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:d0fffc3018984c5a947f284870c5a799 2023-05-15T13:56:46+02:00 Altimetry-Based Diagnosis of Deep-Reaching Sub-Mesoscale Ocean Fronts Lia Siegelman Patrice Klein Andrew F. Thompson Hector S. Torres Dimitris Menemenlis 2020-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids5030145 https://doaj.org/article/d0fffc3018984c5a947f284870c5a799 EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5521/5/3/145 https://doaj.org/toc/2311-5521 doi:10.3390/fluids5030145 2311-5521 https://doaj.org/article/d0fffc3018984c5a947f284870c5a799 Fluids, Vol 5, Iss 145, p 145 (2020) altimetry finite-size Lyapunov exponent ocean dynamics sub-mesoscale Thermodynamics QC310.15-319 Descriptive and experimental mechanics QC120-168.85 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids5030145 2022-12-31T04:18:08Z Recent studies demonstrate that energetic sub-mesoscale fronts (10–50 km width) extend in the ocean interior, driving large vertical velocities and associated fluxes. However, diagnosing the dynamics of these deep-reaching fronts from in situ observations remains challenging because of the lack of information on the 3-D structure of the horizontal velocity. Here, a realistic numerical simulation in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is used to study the dynamics of submesocale fronts in relation to velocity gradients, responsible for the formation of these fronts. Results highlight that the stirring properties of the flow at depth, which are related to the velocity gradients, can be inferred from finite-size Lyapunov exponent (FSLE) at the surface. Satellite altimetry observations of FSLE and velocity gradients are then used in combination with recent in situ observations collected by an elephant seal in the ACC to reconstruct frontal dynamics and their associated vertical velocities down to 500 m. The approach proposed here is well suited for the analysis of sub-mesoscale-resolving datasets and the design of future sub-mesoscale field campaigns. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Elephant Seal Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic The Antarctic Fluids 5 3 145 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
altimetry finite-size Lyapunov exponent ocean dynamics sub-mesoscale Thermodynamics QC310.15-319 Descriptive and experimental mechanics QC120-168.85 |
spellingShingle |
altimetry finite-size Lyapunov exponent ocean dynamics sub-mesoscale Thermodynamics QC310.15-319 Descriptive and experimental mechanics QC120-168.85 Lia Siegelman Patrice Klein Andrew F. Thompson Hector S. Torres Dimitris Menemenlis Altimetry-Based Diagnosis of Deep-Reaching Sub-Mesoscale Ocean Fronts |
topic_facet |
altimetry finite-size Lyapunov exponent ocean dynamics sub-mesoscale Thermodynamics QC310.15-319 Descriptive and experimental mechanics QC120-168.85 |
description |
Recent studies demonstrate that energetic sub-mesoscale fronts (10–50 km width) extend in the ocean interior, driving large vertical velocities and associated fluxes. However, diagnosing the dynamics of these deep-reaching fronts from in situ observations remains challenging because of the lack of information on the 3-D structure of the horizontal velocity. Here, a realistic numerical simulation in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is used to study the dynamics of submesocale fronts in relation to velocity gradients, responsible for the formation of these fronts. Results highlight that the stirring properties of the flow at depth, which are related to the velocity gradients, can be inferred from finite-size Lyapunov exponent (FSLE) at the surface. Satellite altimetry observations of FSLE and velocity gradients are then used in combination with recent in situ observations collected by an elephant seal in the ACC to reconstruct frontal dynamics and their associated vertical velocities down to 500 m. The approach proposed here is well suited for the analysis of sub-mesoscale-resolving datasets and the design of future sub-mesoscale field campaigns. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lia Siegelman Patrice Klein Andrew F. Thompson Hector S. Torres Dimitris Menemenlis |
author_facet |
Lia Siegelman Patrice Klein Andrew F. Thompson Hector S. Torres Dimitris Menemenlis |
author_sort |
Lia Siegelman |
title |
Altimetry-Based Diagnosis of Deep-Reaching Sub-Mesoscale Ocean Fronts |
title_short |
Altimetry-Based Diagnosis of Deep-Reaching Sub-Mesoscale Ocean Fronts |
title_full |
Altimetry-Based Diagnosis of Deep-Reaching Sub-Mesoscale Ocean Fronts |
title_fullStr |
Altimetry-Based Diagnosis of Deep-Reaching Sub-Mesoscale Ocean Fronts |
title_full_unstemmed |
Altimetry-Based Diagnosis of Deep-Reaching Sub-Mesoscale Ocean Fronts |
title_sort |
altimetry-based diagnosis of deep-reaching sub-mesoscale ocean fronts |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids5030145 https://doaj.org/article/d0fffc3018984c5a947f284870c5a799 |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Elephant Seal |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Elephant Seal |
op_source |
Fluids, Vol 5, Iss 145, p 145 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5521/5/3/145 https://doaj.org/toc/2311-5521 doi:10.3390/fluids5030145 2311-5521 https://doaj.org/article/d0fffc3018984c5a947f284870c5a799 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids5030145 |
container_title |
Fluids |
container_volume |
5 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
145 |
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1766264341144797184 |