On the loss of wind-induced near-inertial energy to turbulent mixing in the upper ocean
Wind-induced near-inertial energy has been believed to be an important source for generating the ocean mixing required to maintain the global meridional overturning circulation. In the present study, the near-inertial energy budget in a realistic (1)/(12)degrees model of the North Atlantic Ocean dri...
Published in: | Journal of Physical Oceanography |
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Language: | English |
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AMS (American Meteorological Society)
2009
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ftoceanrep:oai:oceanrep.geomar.de:4862 2023-05-15T17:32:30+02:00 On the loss of wind-induced near-inertial energy to turbulent mixing in the upper ocean Zhai, Xiaoming Greatbatch, Richard Eden, Carsten Hibiya, T. 2009 text https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/4862/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/4862/1/888_Zhai_2009_OnTheLossOfWindinduced_Artzeit_pubid12025.pdf https://doi.org/10.1175/2009JPO4259.1 en eng AMS (American Meteorological Society) https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/4862/1/888_Zhai_2009_OnTheLossOfWindinduced_Artzeit_pubid12025.pdf Zhai, X., Greatbatch, R. , Eden, C. and Hibiya, T. (2009) On the loss of wind-induced near-inertial energy to turbulent mixing in the upper ocean. Open Access Journal of Physical Oceanography, 39 (11). pp. 3040-3045. DOI 10.1175/2009JPO4259.1 <https://doi.org/10.1175/2009JPO4259.1>. doi:10.1175/2009JPO4259.1 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Article PeerReviewed 2009 ftoceanrep https://doi.org/10.1175/2009JPO4259.1 2023-04-07T14:50:10Z Wind-induced near-inertial energy has been believed to be an important source for generating the ocean mixing required to maintain the global meridional overturning circulation. In the present study, the near-inertial energy budget in a realistic (1)/(12)degrees model of the North Atlantic Ocean driven by synoptically varying wind forcing is examined. The authors find that nearly 70% of the wind-induced near-inertial energy at the sea surface is lost to turbulent mixing within the top 200 m and, hence, is not available to generate diapycnal mixing at greater depth. Assuming this result can be extended to the global ocean, it is estimated that the wind-induced near-inertial energy available for ocean mixing at depth is, at most, 0.1 TW. This confirms a recent suggestion that the role of wind-induced near-inertial energy in sustaining the global overturning circulation might have been overemphasized. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic OceanRep (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre für Ocean Research Kiel) Journal of Physical Oceanography 39 11 3040 3045 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
OceanRep (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre für Ocean Research Kiel) |
op_collection_id |
ftoceanrep |
language |
English |
description |
Wind-induced near-inertial energy has been believed to be an important source for generating the ocean mixing required to maintain the global meridional overturning circulation. In the present study, the near-inertial energy budget in a realistic (1)/(12)degrees model of the North Atlantic Ocean driven by synoptically varying wind forcing is examined. The authors find that nearly 70% of the wind-induced near-inertial energy at the sea surface is lost to turbulent mixing within the top 200 m and, hence, is not available to generate diapycnal mixing at greater depth. Assuming this result can be extended to the global ocean, it is estimated that the wind-induced near-inertial energy available for ocean mixing at depth is, at most, 0.1 TW. This confirms a recent suggestion that the role of wind-induced near-inertial energy in sustaining the global overturning circulation might have been overemphasized. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Zhai, Xiaoming Greatbatch, Richard Eden, Carsten Hibiya, T. |
spellingShingle |
Zhai, Xiaoming Greatbatch, Richard Eden, Carsten Hibiya, T. On the loss of wind-induced near-inertial energy to turbulent mixing in the upper ocean |
author_facet |
Zhai, Xiaoming Greatbatch, Richard Eden, Carsten Hibiya, T. |
author_sort |
Zhai, Xiaoming |
title |
On the loss of wind-induced near-inertial energy to turbulent mixing in the upper ocean |
title_short |
On the loss of wind-induced near-inertial energy to turbulent mixing in the upper ocean |
title_full |
On the loss of wind-induced near-inertial energy to turbulent mixing in the upper ocean |
title_fullStr |
On the loss of wind-induced near-inertial energy to turbulent mixing in the upper ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
On the loss of wind-induced near-inertial energy to turbulent mixing in the upper ocean |
title_sort |
on the loss of wind-induced near-inertial energy to turbulent mixing in the upper ocean |
publisher |
AMS (American Meteorological Society) |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/4862/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/4862/1/888_Zhai_2009_OnTheLossOfWindinduced_Artzeit_pubid12025.pdf https://doi.org/10.1175/2009JPO4259.1 |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_relation |
https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/4862/1/888_Zhai_2009_OnTheLossOfWindinduced_Artzeit_pubid12025.pdf Zhai, X., Greatbatch, R. , Eden, C. and Hibiya, T. (2009) On the loss of wind-induced near-inertial energy to turbulent mixing in the upper ocean. Open Access Journal of Physical Oceanography, 39 (11). pp. 3040-3045. DOI 10.1175/2009JPO4259.1 <https://doi.org/10.1175/2009JPO4259.1>. doi:10.1175/2009JPO4259.1 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1175/2009JPO4259.1 |
container_title |
Journal of Physical Oceanography |
container_volume |
39 |
container_issue |
11 |
container_start_page |
3040 |
op_container_end_page |
3045 |
_version_ |
1766130667501912064 |