Mesoscale atmosphere ocean coupling enhances the transfer of wind energy into the ocean
Although it is well established that the large-scale wind drives much of the world’s ocean circulation, the contribution of the wind energy input at mesoscales (10–200 km) remains poorly known. Here we use regional simulations with a coupled high-resolution atmosphere–ocean model of the South Atlant...
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ftethz:oai:www.research-collection.ethz.ch:20.500.11850/117738 2023-08-20T04:09:57+02:00 Mesoscale atmosphere ocean coupling enhances the transfer of wind energy into the ocean Byrne, David Münnich, Matthias id_orcid:0 000-0003-3292-2934 Frenger, Ivy Gruber, Nicolas id_orcid:0 000-0002-2085-2310 2016 application/application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/117738 https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000117738 en eng Nature info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1038/ncomms11867 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/000378388500001 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/117738 doi:10.3929/ethz-b-000117738 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Nature Communications, 7 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2016 ftethz https://doi.org/20.500.11850/11773810.3929/ethz-b-00011773810.1038/ncomms11867 2023-07-30T23:48:32Z Although it is well established that the large-scale wind drives much of the world’s ocean circulation, the contribution of the wind energy input at mesoscales (10–200 km) remains poorly known. Here we use regional simulations with a coupled high-resolution atmosphere–ocean model of the South Atlantic, to show that mesoscale ocean features and, in particular, eddies can be energized by their thermodynamic interactions with the atmosphere. Owing to their sea-surface temperature anomalies affecting the wind field above them, the oceanic eddies in the presence of a large-scale wind gradient provide a mesoscale conduit for the transfer of energy into the ocean. Our simulations show that this pathway is responsible for up to 10% of the kinetic energy of the oceanic mesoscale eddy field in the South Atlantic. The conditions for this pathway to inject energy directly into the mesoscale prevail over much of the Southern Ocean north of the Polar Front. ISSN:2041-1723 Article in Journal/Newspaper Southern Ocean ETH Zürich Research Collection Southern Ocean |
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ETH Zürich Research Collection |
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ftethz |
language |
English |
description |
Although it is well established that the large-scale wind drives much of the world’s ocean circulation, the contribution of the wind energy input at mesoscales (10–200 km) remains poorly known. Here we use regional simulations with a coupled high-resolution atmosphere–ocean model of the South Atlantic, to show that mesoscale ocean features and, in particular, eddies can be energized by their thermodynamic interactions with the atmosphere. Owing to their sea-surface temperature anomalies affecting the wind field above them, the oceanic eddies in the presence of a large-scale wind gradient provide a mesoscale conduit for the transfer of energy into the ocean. Our simulations show that this pathway is responsible for up to 10% of the kinetic energy of the oceanic mesoscale eddy field in the South Atlantic. The conditions for this pathway to inject energy directly into the mesoscale prevail over much of the Southern Ocean north of the Polar Front. ISSN:2041-1723 |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Byrne, David Münnich, Matthias id_orcid:0 000-0003-3292-2934 Frenger, Ivy Gruber, Nicolas id_orcid:0 000-0002-2085-2310 |
spellingShingle |
Byrne, David Münnich, Matthias id_orcid:0 000-0003-3292-2934 Frenger, Ivy Gruber, Nicolas id_orcid:0 000-0002-2085-2310 Mesoscale atmosphere ocean coupling enhances the transfer of wind energy into the ocean |
author_facet |
Byrne, David Münnich, Matthias id_orcid:0 000-0003-3292-2934 Frenger, Ivy Gruber, Nicolas id_orcid:0 000-0002-2085-2310 |
author_sort |
Byrne, David |
title |
Mesoscale atmosphere ocean coupling enhances the transfer of wind energy into the ocean |
title_short |
Mesoscale atmosphere ocean coupling enhances the transfer of wind energy into the ocean |
title_full |
Mesoscale atmosphere ocean coupling enhances the transfer of wind energy into the ocean |
title_fullStr |
Mesoscale atmosphere ocean coupling enhances the transfer of wind energy into the ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mesoscale atmosphere ocean coupling enhances the transfer of wind energy into the ocean |
title_sort |
mesoscale atmosphere ocean coupling enhances the transfer of wind energy into the ocean |
publisher |
Nature |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/117738 https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000117738 |
geographic |
Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Southern Ocean |
genre |
Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Nature Communications, 7 |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1038/ncomms11867 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/000378388500001 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/117738 doi:10.3929/ethz-b-000117738 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/20.500.11850/11773810.3929/ethz-b-00011773810.1038/ncomms11867 |
_version_ |
1774723729796890624 |