Estimating dissipation rates associated with double diffusion
Double diffusion refers to a variety of turbulent processes in which potential energy is released into kinetic energy, made possible in the ocean by the difference in molecular diffusivities between salinity and temperature. Here, we present a new method for estimating the kinetic energy dissipation...
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:530576 2023-05-15T15:54:34+02:00 Estimating dissipation rates associated with double diffusion Middleton, L. Fine, E. C. MacKinnon, J. A. Alford, M. H. Taylor, J.R. 2021-08-16 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/530576/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/530576/1/2021GL092779.pdf https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021GL092779 en eng Wiley https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/530576/1/2021GL092779.pdf Middleton, L. orcid:0000-0002-2821-6992 Fine, E. C.; MacKinnon, J. A.; Alford, M. H.; Taylor, J.R. 2021 Estimating dissipation rates associated with double diffusion. Geophysical Research Letters, 48 (15), e2021GL092779. 13, pp. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL092779 <https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL092779> cc_by_4 CC-BY Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2021 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL092779 2023-02-04T19:52:16Z Double diffusion refers to a variety of turbulent processes in which potential energy is released into kinetic energy, made possible in the ocean by the difference in molecular diffusivities between salinity and temperature. Here, we present a new method for estimating the kinetic energy dissipation rates forced by double-diffusive convection using temperature and salinity data alone. The method estimates the up-gradient diapycnal buoyancy flux associated with double diffusion, which is hypothesised to balance the dissipation rate. To calculate the temperature and salinity gradients on small scales we apply a canonical scaling for compensated thermohaline variance (or ‘spice’) on sub-measurement scales with a fixed buoyancy gradient. Our predicted dissipation rates compare favorably with microstructure measurements collected in the Chukchi Sea. Fine et al. (2018) showed that dissipation rates provide good estimates for heat fluxes in this region. Finally, we show the method maintains predictive skill when applied to a sub-sampling of the CTD data. Article in Journal/Newspaper Chukchi Chukchi Sea Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Chukchi Sea Geophysical Research Letters 48 15 |
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Open Polar |
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Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
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ftnerc |
language |
English |
description |
Double diffusion refers to a variety of turbulent processes in which potential energy is released into kinetic energy, made possible in the ocean by the difference in molecular diffusivities between salinity and temperature. Here, we present a new method for estimating the kinetic energy dissipation rates forced by double-diffusive convection using temperature and salinity data alone. The method estimates the up-gradient diapycnal buoyancy flux associated with double diffusion, which is hypothesised to balance the dissipation rate. To calculate the temperature and salinity gradients on small scales we apply a canonical scaling for compensated thermohaline variance (or ‘spice’) on sub-measurement scales with a fixed buoyancy gradient. Our predicted dissipation rates compare favorably with microstructure measurements collected in the Chukchi Sea. Fine et al. (2018) showed that dissipation rates provide good estimates for heat fluxes in this region. Finally, we show the method maintains predictive skill when applied to a sub-sampling of the CTD data. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Middleton, L. Fine, E. C. MacKinnon, J. A. Alford, M. H. Taylor, J.R. |
spellingShingle |
Middleton, L. Fine, E. C. MacKinnon, J. A. Alford, M. H. Taylor, J.R. Estimating dissipation rates associated with double diffusion |
author_facet |
Middleton, L. Fine, E. C. MacKinnon, J. A. Alford, M. H. Taylor, J.R. |
author_sort |
Middleton, L. |
title |
Estimating dissipation rates associated with double diffusion |
title_short |
Estimating dissipation rates associated with double diffusion |
title_full |
Estimating dissipation rates associated with double diffusion |
title_fullStr |
Estimating dissipation rates associated with double diffusion |
title_full_unstemmed |
Estimating dissipation rates associated with double diffusion |
title_sort |
estimating dissipation rates associated with double diffusion |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/530576/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/530576/1/2021GL092779.pdf https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021GL092779 |
geographic |
Chukchi Sea |
geographic_facet |
Chukchi Sea |
genre |
Chukchi Chukchi Sea |
genre_facet |
Chukchi Chukchi Sea |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/530576/1/2021GL092779.pdf Middleton, L. orcid:0000-0002-2821-6992 Fine, E. C.; MacKinnon, J. A.; Alford, M. H.; Taylor, J.R. 2021 Estimating dissipation rates associated with double diffusion. Geophysical Research Letters, 48 (15), e2021GL092779. 13, pp. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL092779 <https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL092779> |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL092779 |
container_title |
Geophysical Research Letters |
container_volume |
48 |
container_issue |
15 |
_version_ |
1766389814912876544 |