Results from Tests of Direct Wave Mixing in the Ocean's Surface Mixed Layer

The parameterization of direct wave mixing proposed by Qiao et al. (2004) was tested with data from the Ocean Weathership Station (OWS) Papa in the northeast Pacific and with data from three NOAA buoys, two in the northeast Pacific and one in the northwest Atlantic. Previous testing has indicated th...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Martin, Paul J, Rogers, Erick, Allard, Rick A, Hogan, Patrick J, Richman, James G
Other Authors: NAVAL RESEARCH LAB STENNIS DETACHMENT STENNIS SPACE CENTER MS OCEANOGRAPHY DIV
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 2012
Subjects:
Physical and Dynamic Oceanography
*MIXED LAYER(MARINE)
*OCEAN SURFACE
GRAVITY WAVES
NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN
OCEAN MODELS
OPEN WATER
SIMULATION
SURFACE TEMPERATURE
SURFACE WAVES
THERMOCLINES
TURBULENCE
DIRECT MIXING
MIXED LAYER
NOAA BUOY DATA
NONBREAKING SURFACE WAVES
OCEAN MODELING
OCEAN TURBULENCE
OCEAN WEATHERSHIP STATION PAPA
OPEN OCEAN
SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE
SURFACE MIXED LAYER
UPPER OCEAN MIXING
VERTICAL MIXING
WAVE MIXING
PE0602435N
WU736288025
Mellor
Pacific
Northwest Atlantic
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA576770
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA576770
Description
Summary:The parameterization of direct wave mixing proposed by Qiao et al. (2004) was tested with data from the Ocean Weathership Station (OWS) Papa in the northeast Pacific and with data from three NOAA buoys, two in the northeast Pacific and one in the northwest Atlantic. Previous testing has indicated that the commonly used Mellor-Yamada-type mixed-layer models tend to underpredict the mixed-layer depth (MLD) in the open ocean. Adding the vertical mixing proposed by Qiao et al. (2004) to the vertical mixing predicted by the Mellor-Yamada Level 2 turbulence model increased the predicted MLD and improved the agreement between the predicted and observed sea-surface temperature (SST) at Papa. However, the results of the tests showed two significant problems with the parameterization of the wave mixing. At OWS Papa, the wave mixing caused too much diffusion of heat through the seasonal thermocline below the mixed layer, and too much diffusion of the thermocline itself. At the NOAA buoys and, less conclusively, at OWS Papa, the wave mixing inhibited the formation of shallow mixed layers and their associated SST spikes during periods of light winds due to the presence of swell. The original document contains color images.

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