The decadal mean ocean circulation and Sverdrup balance
Elementary Sverdrup balance is tested in the context of the time-average of a 16-year duration time-varying ocean circulation estimate employing the great majority of global-scale data available between 1992 and 2007. The time-average circulation exhibits all of the conventional major features as de...
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Other Authors: | |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Journal of Marine Research/Yale
2010
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/74048 |
id |
ftmit:oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/74048 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftmit:oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/74048 2023-06-11T04:17:02+02:00 The decadal mean ocean circulation and Sverdrup balance Wunsch, Carl Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Wunsch, Carl 2010-12 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/74048 en_US eng Journal of Marine Research/Yale http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1357/002224011798765303 Journal of Marine Research 0022-2402 1543-9542 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/74048 Wunsch, Carl. “The Decadal Mean Ocean Circulation and Sverdrup Balance.” Journal of Marine Research 69.2 (2011): 417–434. orcid:0000-0001-6808-3664 Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ MIT web domain Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2010 ftmit 2023-05-29T08:37:18Z Elementary Sverdrup balance is tested in the context of the time-average of a 16-year duration time-varying ocean circulation estimate employing the great majority of global-scale data available between 1992 and 2007. The time-average circulation exhibits all of the conventional major features as depicted both through its absolute surface topography and vertically integrated transport stream function. Important small-scale features of the time average only become apparent, however, in the time-average vertical velocity, whether near the surface or in the abyss. In testing Sverdrup balance, the requirement is made that there should be a mid-water column depth where the magnitude of the vertical velocity is less than 10[superscript -8]m/s (about 0.3 m/year displacement). The requirement is not met in the Southern Ocean or high northern latitudes. Over much of the subtropical and lower latitude ocean, Sverdrup balance appears to provide a quantitatively useful estimate of the meridional transport (about 40% of the oceanic area). Application to computing the zonal component, by integration from the eastern boundary is, however, precluded in many places by failure of the local balances close to the coasts. Failure of Sverdrup balance at high northern latitudes is consistent with the expected much longer time to achieve dynamic equilibrium there, and the action of other forces, and has important consequences for ongoing ocean monitoring efforts. United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Contract NNX09AI87G) United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Contract NNX08AV89G) Article in Journal/Newspaper Southern Ocean DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Southern Ocean |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) |
op_collection_id |
ftmit |
language |
English |
description |
Elementary Sverdrup balance is tested in the context of the time-average of a 16-year duration time-varying ocean circulation estimate employing the great majority of global-scale data available between 1992 and 2007. The time-average circulation exhibits all of the conventional major features as depicted both through its absolute surface topography and vertically integrated transport stream function. Important small-scale features of the time average only become apparent, however, in the time-average vertical velocity, whether near the surface or in the abyss. In testing Sverdrup balance, the requirement is made that there should be a mid-water column depth where the magnitude of the vertical velocity is less than 10[superscript -8]m/s (about 0.3 m/year displacement). The requirement is not met in the Southern Ocean or high northern latitudes. Over much of the subtropical and lower latitude ocean, Sverdrup balance appears to provide a quantitatively useful estimate of the meridional transport (about 40% of the oceanic area). Application to computing the zonal component, by integration from the eastern boundary is, however, precluded in many places by failure of the local balances close to the coasts. Failure of Sverdrup balance at high northern latitudes is consistent with the expected much longer time to achieve dynamic equilibrium there, and the action of other forces, and has important consequences for ongoing ocean monitoring efforts. United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Contract NNX09AI87G) United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Contract NNX08AV89G) |
author2 |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Wunsch, Carl |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Wunsch, Carl |
spellingShingle |
Wunsch, Carl The decadal mean ocean circulation and Sverdrup balance |
author_facet |
Wunsch, Carl |
author_sort |
Wunsch, Carl |
title |
The decadal mean ocean circulation and Sverdrup balance |
title_short |
The decadal mean ocean circulation and Sverdrup balance |
title_full |
The decadal mean ocean circulation and Sverdrup balance |
title_fullStr |
The decadal mean ocean circulation and Sverdrup balance |
title_full_unstemmed |
The decadal mean ocean circulation and Sverdrup balance |
title_sort |
decadal mean ocean circulation and sverdrup balance |
publisher |
Journal of Marine Research/Yale |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/74048 |
geographic |
Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Southern Ocean |
genre |
Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Southern Ocean |
op_source |
MIT web domain |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1357/002224011798765303 Journal of Marine Research 0022-2402 1543-9542 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/74048 Wunsch, Carl. “The Decadal Mean Ocean Circulation and Sverdrup Balance.” Journal of Marine Research 69.2 (2011): 417–434. orcid:0000-0001-6808-3664 |
op_rights |
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
_version_ |
1768375818586685440 |