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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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2311-5521/5/3/145/ 2023-08-20T04:02:29+02:00 Altimetry-Based Diagnosis of Deep-Reaching Sub-Mesoscale Ocean Fronts Lia Siegelman Patrice Klein Andrew F. Thompson Hector S. Torres Dimitris Menemenlis 2020-08-28 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids5030145 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Geophysical and Environmental Fluid Mechanics https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/fluids5030145 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Fluids; Volume 5; Issue 3; Pages: 145 altimetry finite-size Lyapunov exponent ocean dynamics sub-mesoscale Text 2020 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids5030145 2023-08-01T00:00:04Z 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. Text Antarc* Antarctic Elephant Seal MDPI Open Access Publishing Antarctic The Antarctic Fluids 5 3 145 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
altimetry finite-size Lyapunov exponent ocean dynamics sub-mesoscale |
spellingShingle |
altimetry finite-size Lyapunov exponent ocean dynamics sub-mesoscale 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 |
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 |
Text |
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 |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids5030145 |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Elephant Seal |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Elephant Seal |
op_source |
Fluids; Volume 5; Issue 3; Pages: 145 |
op_relation |
Geophysical and Environmental Fluid Mechanics https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/fluids5030145 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
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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1774712944617062400 |