Defining Southern Ocean fronts using unsupervised classification
Oceanographic fronts are transitions between thermohaline structures with different characteristics. Such transitions are ubiquitous, and their locations and properties affect how the ocean operates as part of the global climate system. In the Southern Ocean, fronts have classically been defined usi...
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2021
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:530276 2023-05-15T18:24:42+02:00 Defining Southern Ocean fronts using unsupervised classification Thomas, Simon D.A. Jones, Daniel C. Faul, Anita Mackie, Erik Pauthenet, Etienne 2021-11-02 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/530276/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/530276/1/os-17-1545-2021.pdf https://os.copernicus.org/articles/17/1545/2021/os-17-1545-2021.html en eng European Geosciences Union https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/530276/1/os-17-1545-2021.pdf Thomas, Simon D.A. orcid:0000-0001-7911-1659 Jones, Daniel C. orcid:0000-0002-8701-4506 Faul, Anita orcid:0000-0002-5911-2109 Mackie, Erik orcid:0000-0002-0990-1580 Pauthenet, Etienne. 2021 Defining Southern Ocean fronts using unsupervised classification. Ocean Science, 17 (6). 1545-1562. https://doi.org/10.5194/os-17-1545-2021 <https://doi.org/10.5194/os-17-1545-2021> cc_by_4 CC-BY Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2021 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.5194/os-17-1545-2021 2023-02-04T19:52:05Z Oceanographic fronts are transitions between thermohaline structures with different characteristics. Such transitions are ubiquitous, and their locations and properties affect how the ocean operates as part of the global climate system. In the Southern Ocean, fronts have classically been defined using a small number of continuous, circumpolar features in sea surface height or dynamic height. Modern observational and theoretical developments are challenging and expanding this traditional framework to accommodate a more complex view of fronts. Here, we present a complementary new approach for calculating fronts using an unsupervised classification method called Gaussian mixture modelling (GMM) and a novel inter-class parameter called the I-metric. The I-metric approach produces a probabilistic view of front location, emphasising the fact that the boundaries between water masses are not uniformly sharp across the entire Southern Ocean. The I-metric approach uses thermohaline information from a range of depth levels, making it more general than approaches that only use near-surface properties. We train the GMM using an observationally constrained state estimate in order to have more uniform spatial and temporal data coverage. The probabilistic boundaries defined by the I-metric roughly coincide with several classically defined fronts, offering a novel view of this structure. The I-metric fronts appear to be relatively sharp in the open ocean and somewhat diffuse near large topographic features, possibly highlighting the importance of topographically induced mixing. For comparison with a more localised method, we also use an edge detection approach for identifying fronts. We find a strong correlation between the edge field of the leading principal component and the zonal velocity; the edge detection method highlights the presence of jets, which are supported by thermal wind balance. This more localised method highlights the complex, multiscale structure of Southern Ocean fronts, complementing and contrasting with the ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Southern Ocean Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Southern Ocean Ocean Science 17 6 1545 1562 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
description |
Oceanographic fronts are transitions between thermohaline structures with different characteristics. Such transitions are ubiquitous, and their locations and properties affect how the ocean operates as part of the global climate system. In the Southern Ocean, fronts have classically been defined using a small number of continuous, circumpolar features in sea surface height or dynamic height. Modern observational and theoretical developments are challenging and expanding this traditional framework to accommodate a more complex view of fronts. Here, we present a complementary new approach for calculating fronts using an unsupervised classification method called Gaussian mixture modelling (GMM) and a novel inter-class parameter called the I-metric. The I-metric approach produces a probabilistic view of front location, emphasising the fact that the boundaries between water masses are not uniformly sharp across the entire Southern Ocean. The I-metric approach uses thermohaline information from a range of depth levels, making it more general than approaches that only use near-surface properties. We train the GMM using an observationally constrained state estimate in order to have more uniform spatial and temporal data coverage. The probabilistic boundaries defined by the I-metric roughly coincide with several classically defined fronts, offering a novel view of this structure. The I-metric fronts appear to be relatively sharp in the open ocean and somewhat diffuse near large topographic features, possibly highlighting the importance of topographically induced mixing. For comparison with a more localised method, we also use an edge detection approach for identifying fronts. We find a strong correlation between the edge field of the leading principal component and the zonal velocity; the edge detection method highlights the presence of jets, which are supported by thermal wind balance. This more localised method highlights the complex, multiscale structure of Southern Ocean fronts, complementing and contrasting with the ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Thomas, Simon D.A. Jones, Daniel C. Faul, Anita Mackie, Erik Pauthenet, Etienne |
spellingShingle |
Thomas, Simon D.A. Jones, Daniel C. Faul, Anita Mackie, Erik Pauthenet, Etienne Defining Southern Ocean fronts using unsupervised classification |
author_facet |
Thomas, Simon D.A. Jones, Daniel C. Faul, Anita Mackie, Erik Pauthenet, Etienne |
author_sort |
Thomas, Simon D.A. |
title |
Defining Southern Ocean fronts using unsupervised classification |
title_short |
Defining Southern Ocean fronts using unsupervised classification |
title_full |
Defining Southern Ocean fronts using unsupervised classification |
title_fullStr |
Defining Southern Ocean fronts using unsupervised classification |
title_full_unstemmed |
Defining Southern Ocean fronts using unsupervised classification |
title_sort |
defining southern ocean fronts using unsupervised classification |
publisher |
European Geosciences Union |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/530276/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/530276/1/os-17-1545-2021.pdf https://os.copernicus.org/articles/17/1545/2021/os-17-1545-2021.html |
geographic |
Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Southern Ocean |
genre |
Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/530276/1/os-17-1545-2021.pdf Thomas, Simon D.A. orcid:0000-0001-7911-1659 Jones, Daniel C. orcid:0000-0002-8701-4506 Faul, Anita orcid:0000-0002-5911-2109 Mackie, Erik orcid:0000-0002-0990-1580 Pauthenet, Etienne. 2021 Defining Southern Ocean fronts using unsupervised classification. Ocean Science, 17 (6). 1545-1562. https://doi.org/10.5194/os-17-1545-2021 <https://doi.org/10.5194/os-17-1545-2021> |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-17-1545-2021 |
container_title |
Ocean Science |
container_volume |
17 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
1545 |
op_container_end_page |
1562 |
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1766205515892785152 |