The dependence of southern ocean meridional overturning on wind stress
An eddy-resolving numerical model of a zonal flow, meant to resemble the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, is described and analyzed using the framework of J. Marshall and T. Radko. In addition to wind and buoyancy forcing at the surface, the model contains a sponge layer at the northern boundary that...
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American Meteorological Society
2011
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ftunivreading:oai:centaur.reading.ac.uk:33164 2024-06-23T07:47:11+00:00 The dependence of southern ocean meridional overturning on wind stress Abernathey, Ryan Marshall, John Ferreira, David 2011 https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/33164/ https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-11-023.1 unknown American Meteorological Society Abernathey, R., Marshall, J. and Ferreira, D. <https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/view/creators/90005370.html> orcid:0000-0003-3243-9774 (2011) The dependence of southern ocean meridional overturning on wind stress. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 41 (12). pp. 2261-2278. ISSN 0022-3670 doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-11-023.1 <https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-11-023.1> Article PeerReviewed 2011 ftunivreading https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-11-023.1 2024-06-11T14:59:15Z An eddy-resolving numerical model of a zonal flow, meant to resemble the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, is described and analyzed using the framework of J. Marshall and T. Radko. In addition to wind and buoyancy forcing at the surface, the model contains a sponge layer at the northern boundary that permits a residual meridional overturning circulation (MOC) to exist at depth. The strength of the residual MOC is diagnosed for different strengths of surface wind stress. It is found that the eddy circulation largely compensates for the changes in Ekman circulation. The extent of the compensation and thus the sensitivity of the MOC to the winds depend on the surface boundary condition. A fixed-heat-flux surface boundary severely limits the ability of the MOC to change. An interactive heat flux leads to greater sensitivity. To explain the MOC sensitivity to the wind strength under the interactive heat flux, transformed Eulerian-mean theory is applied, in which the eddy diffusivity plays a central role in determining the eddy response. A scaling theory for the eddy diffusivity, based on the mechanical energy balance, is developed and tested; the average magnitude of the diffusivity is found to be proportional to the square root of the wind stress. The MOC sensitivity to the winds based on this scaling is compared with the true sensitivity diagnosed from the experiments. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Southern Ocean CentAUR: Central Archive at the University of Reading Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic Journal of Physical Oceanography 41 12 2261 2278 |
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Open Polar |
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CentAUR: Central Archive at the University of Reading |
op_collection_id |
ftunivreading |
language |
unknown |
description |
An eddy-resolving numerical model of a zonal flow, meant to resemble the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, is described and analyzed using the framework of J. Marshall and T. Radko. In addition to wind and buoyancy forcing at the surface, the model contains a sponge layer at the northern boundary that permits a residual meridional overturning circulation (MOC) to exist at depth. The strength of the residual MOC is diagnosed for different strengths of surface wind stress. It is found that the eddy circulation largely compensates for the changes in Ekman circulation. The extent of the compensation and thus the sensitivity of the MOC to the winds depend on the surface boundary condition. A fixed-heat-flux surface boundary severely limits the ability of the MOC to change. An interactive heat flux leads to greater sensitivity. To explain the MOC sensitivity to the wind strength under the interactive heat flux, transformed Eulerian-mean theory is applied, in which the eddy diffusivity plays a central role in determining the eddy response. A scaling theory for the eddy diffusivity, based on the mechanical energy balance, is developed and tested; the average magnitude of the diffusivity is found to be proportional to the square root of the wind stress. The MOC sensitivity to the winds based on this scaling is compared with the true sensitivity diagnosed from the experiments. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Abernathey, Ryan Marshall, John Ferreira, David |
spellingShingle |
Abernathey, Ryan Marshall, John Ferreira, David The dependence of southern ocean meridional overturning on wind stress |
author_facet |
Abernathey, Ryan Marshall, John Ferreira, David |
author_sort |
Abernathey, Ryan |
title |
The dependence of southern ocean meridional overturning on wind stress |
title_short |
The dependence of southern ocean meridional overturning on wind stress |
title_full |
The dependence of southern ocean meridional overturning on wind stress |
title_fullStr |
The dependence of southern ocean meridional overturning on wind stress |
title_full_unstemmed |
The dependence of southern ocean meridional overturning on wind stress |
title_sort |
dependence of southern ocean meridional overturning on wind stress |
publisher |
American Meteorological Society |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/33164/ https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-11-023.1 |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
Abernathey, R., Marshall, J. and Ferreira, D. <https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/view/creators/90005370.html> orcid:0000-0003-3243-9774 (2011) The dependence of southern ocean meridional overturning on wind stress. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 41 (12). pp. 2261-2278. ISSN 0022-3670 doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-11-023.1 <https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-11-023.1> |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-11-023.1 |
container_title |
Journal of Physical Oceanography |
container_volume |
41 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
2261 |
op_container_end_page |
2278 |
_version_ |
1802651279274541056 |