Shedding light into mesoscale dynamics and vertical motion through synthetic and in situ observations
Mesoscale oceanic structures have a key role on the oceanic global circulation through the enhancement of large-scale fluxes of heat, salt, momentum, and biogeochemical tracers. Moreover, mesoscale vertical motions may have an important contribution on the nutrient replenishment of the euphotic laye...
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ftunivlaspalmas:oai:https://accedacris.ulpgc.es:10553/54051 2023-05-15T17:41:44+02:00 Shedding light into mesoscale dynamics and vertical motion through synthetic and in situ observations Barceló-Llull, Bàrbara Sangrà Inciarte, Pablo Pallàs-Sanz, Enric Pascual, Ananda Marrero-Díaz, Ángeles Facultad de Ciencias del Mar 2017 http://hdl.handle.net/10553/54051 spa spa http://hdl.handle.net/10553/54051 2510 Oceanografía 2017 ftunivlaspalmas 2019-09-08T16:53:00Z Mesoscale oceanic structures have a key role on the oceanic global circulation through the enhancement of large-scale fluxes of heat, salt, momentum, and biogeochemical tracers. Moreover, mesoscale vertical motions may have an important contribution on the nutrient replenishment of the euphotic layer, and, hence, on marine ecosystems. Furthermore, mesoscale coherent features, or eddies, have the capacity to trap fluid of their formation regions within their cores and propagate offshore over long distances. However, despite their importance, the mechanisms through which mesoscale structures, as mesoscale eddies, influence marine ecosystems are still under discussion. In this dissertation we aim to shed some light on the thermohaline and dynamical structure, including ageostrophic secondary circulation, of mesoscale features through remote sensing observations and in situ data, paying special attention to mesoscale eddies and induced vertical motions. To achieve this goal, the thesis is developed in four chapters self-contained, three of them are already published. First, we demonstrate the importance of mesoscale vertical motions on nutrient distribution in an oligotrophic region of the global ocean through synthetic observation-based data. Vertical motions may account for local increases of nitrate uptake rates of up to 30% in regions with mesoscale activity. Then, we take advantage of the high-resolution in situ data obtained from the intensively sampling of a mesoscale eddy within the Canary Eddy Corridor, the main pathway for long-lived eddies in the northeast Atlantic which constitutes a natural laboratory for the study of these structures. With these data we analyze in detail the anatomy of the eddy, revealing its main hydrographic and dynamic characteristics. Thirdly, as the eddy is moderately ageostrophic, we estimate and analyze its ageostrophic secondary circulation, revealing for the first time the distribution of the vertical velocity field within a mesoscale eddy through highresolution in situ data. Finally, we perform a comparison of the synthetic observation-based product with the in situ data obtained from the cruise, evaluating the capacity of the synthetic fields to reproduce the eddy hydrodynamic structure. Programa de doctorado: Oceanografía Other/Unknown Material Northeast Atlantic Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: Acceda Corridor The ENVELOPE(78.139,78.139,-68.582,-68.582) Corridor, The ENVELOPE(78.139,78.139,-68.582,-68.582) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: Acceda |
op_collection_id |
ftunivlaspalmas |
language |
Spanish |
topic |
2510 Oceanografía |
spellingShingle |
2510 Oceanografía Barceló-Llull, Bàrbara Shedding light into mesoscale dynamics and vertical motion through synthetic and in situ observations |
topic_facet |
2510 Oceanografía |
description |
Mesoscale oceanic structures have a key role on the oceanic global circulation through the enhancement of large-scale fluxes of heat, salt, momentum, and biogeochemical tracers. Moreover, mesoscale vertical motions may have an important contribution on the nutrient replenishment of the euphotic layer, and, hence, on marine ecosystems. Furthermore, mesoscale coherent features, or eddies, have the capacity to trap fluid of their formation regions within their cores and propagate offshore over long distances. However, despite their importance, the mechanisms through which mesoscale structures, as mesoscale eddies, influence marine ecosystems are still under discussion. In this dissertation we aim to shed some light on the thermohaline and dynamical structure, including ageostrophic secondary circulation, of mesoscale features through remote sensing observations and in situ data, paying special attention to mesoscale eddies and induced vertical motions. To achieve this goal, the thesis is developed in four chapters self-contained, three of them are already published. First, we demonstrate the importance of mesoscale vertical motions on nutrient distribution in an oligotrophic region of the global ocean through synthetic observation-based data. Vertical motions may account for local increases of nitrate uptake rates of up to 30% in regions with mesoscale activity. Then, we take advantage of the high-resolution in situ data obtained from the intensively sampling of a mesoscale eddy within the Canary Eddy Corridor, the main pathway for long-lived eddies in the northeast Atlantic which constitutes a natural laboratory for the study of these structures. With these data we analyze in detail the anatomy of the eddy, revealing its main hydrographic and dynamic characteristics. Thirdly, as the eddy is moderately ageostrophic, we estimate and analyze its ageostrophic secondary circulation, revealing for the first time the distribution of the vertical velocity field within a mesoscale eddy through highresolution in situ data. Finally, we perform a comparison of the synthetic observation-based product with the in situ data obtained from the cruise, evaluating the capacity of the synthetic fields to reproduce the eddy hydrodynamic structure. Programa de doctorado: Oceanografía |
author2 |
Sangrà Inciarte, Pablo Pallàs-Sanz, Enric Pascual, Ananda Marrero-Díaz, Ángeles Facultad de Ciencias del Mar |
author |
Barceló-Llull, Bàrbara |
author_facet |
Barceló-Llull, Bàrbara |
author_sort |
Barceló-Llull, Bàrbara |
title |
Shedding light into mesoscale dynamics and vertical motion through synthetic and in situ observations |
title_short |
Shedding light into mesoscale dynamics and vertical motion through synthetic and in situ observations |
title_full |
Shedding light into mesoscale dynamics and vertical motion through synthetic and in situ observations |
title_fullStr |
Shedding light into mesoscale dynamics and vertical motion through synthetic and in situ observations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Shedding light into mesoscale dynamics and vertical motion through synthetic and in situ observations |
title_sort |
shedding light into mesoscale dynamics and vertical motion through synthetic and in situ observations |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10553/54051 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(78.139,78.139,-68.582,-68.582) ENVELOPE(78.139,78.139,-68.582,-68.582) |
geographic |
Corridor The Corridor, The |
geographic_facet |
Corridor The Corridor, The |
genre |
Northeast Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Northeast Atlantic |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/10553/54051 |
_version_ |
1766143452788031488 |