Mesoscale and submesoscale effects on mixed layer depth in the southern ocean
Submesoscale dynamics play a key role in setting the stratification of the ocean surface mixed layer and mediating air-sea exchange, making them especially relevant to anthropogenic carbon uptake and primary productivity in the Southern Ocean. In this paper, a series of offline-nested numerical simu...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-17-0034.1 |
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ftncar:oai:drupal-site.org:articles_21074 2023-09-05T13:22:59+02:00 Mesoscale and submesoscale effects on mixed layer depth in the southern ocean Bachman, Scott D. (author) Taylor, J. R. (author) Adams, K. A. (author) Hosegood, P. J. (author) 2017-09 https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-17-0034.1 en eng Journal of Physical Oceanography--J. Phys. Oceanogr.--0022-3670--1520-0485 articles:21074 ark:/85065/d7dr2z17 doi:10.1175/JPO-D-17-0034.1 Copyright 2017 American Meteorological Society (AMS). article Text 2017 ftncar https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-17-0034.1 2023-08-14T18:48:17Z Submesoscale dynamics play a key role in setting the stratification of the ocean surface mixed layer and mediating air-sea exchange, making them especially relevant to anthropogenic carbon uptake and primary productivity in the Southern Ocean. In this paper, a series of offline-nested numerical simulations is used to study submesoscale flow in theDrake Passage and Scotia Sea regions of the Southern Ocean. These simulations are initialized from an ocean state estimate for late April 2015, with the intent to simulate features observed during the Surface Mixed Layer at Submesoscales (SMILES) research cruise, which occurred at that time and location. The nested models are downscaled from the original state estimate resolution of 1/12 degrees and grid spacing of about 8 km, culminating in a submesoscale-resolving model with a resolution of 1/192 degrees and grid spacing of about 500m. The submesoscale eddy field is found to be highly spatially variable, with pronounced hot spots of submesoscale activity. These areas of high submesoscale activity correspond to a significant difference in the 30-day average mixed layer depth DHML between the 1/12 degrees and 1/192 degrees simulations. Regions of large vertical velocities in the mixed layer correspond with high mesoscale strain rather than large DHML. It is found that DHML is well correlated with the mesoscale density gradient but weakly correlated with both the mesoscale kinetic energy and strain. This has implications for the development of submesoscale eddy parameterizations that are sensitive to the character of the large-scale flow. Article in Journal/Newspaper Scotia Sea Southern Ocean OpenSky (NCAR/UCAR - National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research) Scotia Sea Southern Ocean Journal of Physical Oceanography 47 9 2173 2188 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
OpenSky (NCAR/UCAR - National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research) |
op_collection_id |
ftncar |
language |
English |
description |
Submesoscale dynamics play a key role in setting the stratification of the ocean surface mixed layer and mediating air-sea exchange, making them especially relevant to anthropogenic carbon uptake and primary productivity in the Southern Ocean. In this paper, a series of offline-nested numerical simulations is used to study submesoscale flow in theDrake Passage and Scotia Sea regions of the Southern Ocean. These simulations are initialized from an ocean state estimate for late April 2015, with the intent to simulate features observed during the Surface Mixed Layer at Submesoscales (SMILES) research cruise, which occurred at that time and location. The nested models are downscaled from the original state estimate resolution of 1/12 degrees and grid spacing of about 8 km, culminating in a submesoscale-resolving model with a resolution of 1/192 degrees and grid spacing of about 500m. The submesoscale eddy field is found to be highly spatially variable, with pronounced hot spots of submesoscale activity. These areas of high submesoscale activity correspond to a significant difference in the 30-day average mixed layer depth DHML between the 1/12 degrees and 1/192 degrees simulations. Regions of large vertical velocities in the mixed layer correspond with high mesoscale strain rather than large DHML. It is found that DHML is well correlated with the mesoscale density gradient but weakly correlated with both the mesoscale kinetic energy and strain. This has implications for the development of submesoscale eddy parameterizations that are sensitive to the character of the large-scale flow. |
author2 |
Bachman, Scott D. (author) Taylor, J. R. (author) Adams, K. A. (author) Hosegood, P. J. (author) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
title |
Mesoscale and submesoscale effects on mixed layer depth in the southern ocean |
spellingShingle |
Mesoscale and submesoscale effects on mixed layer depth in the southern ocean |
title_short |
Mesoscale and submesoscale effects on mixed layer depth in the southern ocean |
title_full |
Mesoscale and submesoscale effects on mixed layer depth in the southern ocean |
title_fullStr |
Mesoscale and submesoscale effects on mixed layer depth in the southern ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mesoscale and submesoscale effects on mixed layer depth in the southern ocean |
title_sort |
mesoscale and submesoscale effects on mixed layer depth in the southern ocean |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-17-0034.1 |
geographic |
Scotia Sea Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Scotia Sea Southern Ocean |
genre |
Scotia Sea Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Scotia Sea Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
Journal of Physical Oceanography--J. Phys. Oceanogr.--0022-3670--1520-0485 articles:21074 ark:/85065/d7dr2z17 doi:10.1175/JPO-D-17-0034.1 |
op_rights |
Copyright 2017 American Meteorological Society (AMS). |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-17-0034.1 |
container_title |
Journal of Physical Oceanography |
container_volume |
47 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
2173 |
op_container_end_page |
2188 |
_version_ |
1776203550203838464 |