Narrowband oscillations in the upper equatorial Ocean. Part I: Interpretation as shear instabilities

Journal of Physical Oceanography

Volumn 41, Issue 3, 2011, Pages 397-411

  Moum, J N ^a   Nash, J D ^a   Smyth, W D ^a  

^a OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Currents; Ocean circulations; Pacific Ocean

Indexed keywords

CURRENTS; DENSITY PROFILE; DISSIPATION RATES; DOPPLER SHIFTING; ENHANCED MIXING; EQUATORIAL UNDERCURRENTS; INTERNAL GRAVITY WAVES; INTRINSIC FREQUENCY; M-SCALE; NARROW BANDS; OCEAN CIRCULATION; ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE; OSCILLATION FREQUENCY; PACIFIC OCEAN; PHASE CHANGE; PHASE SPEED; SHEAR FREQUENCIES; SHEAR INSTABILITY; SPECTRAL PEAK; STRATIFIED SHEAR FLOW; TEMPERATURE FLUCTUATION; TEMPERATURE VARIANCE; TROPICAL ATMOSPHERES; TURBULENCE ENERGY; VERTICAL COHERENCE; WAVE NUMBERS;

ATMOSPHERIC TURBULENCE; ENERGY DISSIPATION; GRAVITATIONAL EFFECTS; LINEAR STABILITY ANALYSIS; SHEAR FLOW;

OCEAN CURRENTS;

CURRENT VELOCITY; DENSITY CURRENT; GRAVITY WAVE; INSTABILITY; INTERNAL WAVE; OCEAN WAVE; OCEANIC CIRCULATION; OCEANIC CURRENT; OSCILLATION; STRATIFICATION; TEMPERATURE; TURBULENCE;

PACIFIC OCEAN;

EID: 79954989326     PISSN: 00223670     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1175/2010JPO4450.1     Document Type: Article

References (24)

1. Baines, P. G., and H. Mitsudera, 1994: On the mechanism of shear flow instabilities. J. Fluid Mech., 276, 327-342.
2. Crawford, W. R., and T. R. Osborn, 1981: Control of equatorial currents by turbulent dissipation. Science, 212, 539-540.
3. Fairall, C., E. Bradley, D. Rogers, J. Edson, and G. Young, 1996: Bulk parameterization of air-sea fluxes for Tropical Ocean- Global Atmosphere Coupled-Ocean Atmosphere Response Experiment. J. Geophys. Res., 101 (C2), 3747-3767.
4. Gregg, M. C., H. Peters, J. C. Wesson, N. S. Oakey, and T. J. Shay, 1985: Intensive measurements of turbulence and shear in the Equatorial Undercurrent. Nature, 318, 140-144.
5. Hazel, P., 1972: Numerical studies of the stability of inviscid parallel shear flows. J. Fluid Mech., 51, 39-62.
6. Howard, L., 1961: Note on a paper of John W. Miles. J. Fluid Mech., 10, 509-512.
7. Lien, R., M. J. McPhaden, and M. C. Gregg, 1996: High-frequency internal waves at 0°, 140°W and their possible relationship to deep-cycle turbulence. J. Phys. Oceanogr., 26, 581-600.
8. Mack, A. P., and D. Hebert, 1997: Internal gravity waves in the upper eastern equatorial Pacific: Observations and numerical solutions. J. Geophys. Res., 102, 21 081-21 100.
9. McCreary, J. P., 1981: A linear stratified ocean model of the Equatorial Undercurrent. Philos. Trans. Roy. Soc. London, 298A, 603-635.
10. McPhaden, M. J., and H. Peters, 1992: Diurnal cycle of internal wave variability in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. J. Phys. Oceanogr., 22, 1317-1329.
11. Moum, J. N., and D. R. Caldwell, 1985: Local influences on shear flow turbulence in the equatorial ocean. Science, 230, 215-315.
12. Moum, J. N, and J. D. Nash, 2009: Mixing measurements on an equatorial ocean mooring. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 26, 317-336.
13. Moum, J. N, D. Hebert, C. A. Paulson, and D. R. Caldwell, 1992a: Turbulence and internal waves at the equator. Part I: Statistics from towed thermistors and a microstructure profiler. J. Phys. Oceanogr., 22, 1330-1345.
14. Moum, J. N, M. J. McPhaden, D. Hebert, H. Peters, C. A. Paulson, and D. R. Caldwell, 1992b: Internal waves, dynamic instabilities, and turbulence in the equatorial thermocline: An introduction to three papers in this issue. J. Phys. Oceanogr., 22, 1357-1359.
15. Moum, J. N,R.-C. Lien, A. Perlin, J. D. Nash, M. C. Gregg, and P. J. Wiles, 2009: Sea surface cooling at the equator by subsurface mixing in tropical instability waves. Nat. Geosci., 2, 761-765.
16. Pham, H. T., and S. Sarkar, 2010: Internal waves and turbulence in a stable stratified jet. J. Fluid Mech., 648, 297-324.
17. Skyllingstad, E. D., and D. W. Denbo, 1994: The role of internal gravitywaves in the equatorial current system. J. Phys.Oceanogr., 24, 2093-2110.
18. Smyth, W. D., and W. Peltier, 1989: The transition between Kelvin-Helmholtz and Holmboe instability: An investigation of the overreflection hypothesis. J. Atmos. Sci., 46, 3698-3720.
19. Smyth, W. D., and J. N. Moum, 2002: Waves and instability in an asymmetrically stratified jet. Dyn. Atmos. Oceans, 35, 265-294.
20. Smyth, W. D., and J. N. Moum, and J. D. Nash, 2011: Narrowband oscillations in the upper equatorial ocean. Part II: Properties of shear instabilities. J. Phys. Oceanogr., 41, 412-428.
21. Sun, C., W. D. Smyth, and J. N. Moum, 1998: Dynamic instability of stratified shear flow in the upper equatorial ocean. J. Geophys. Res., 103 (C5), 10 323-10 337.
22. Turner, J. S., 1973: Buoyancy Effects in Fluids. Cambridge University Press, 367 pp.
23. Wijesekera, H., and T. M. Dillon, 1991: Internal waves and mixing in the upper equatorial ocean. J. Geophys. Res., 96 (C4), 7115-7125.
24. Zaron, E. D., and J. N. Moum, 2009: A new look at Richardson number mixing schemes for equatorial ocean modeling. J. Phys. Oceanogr., 39, 2652-2664.