Enhancement in vertical fluxes at a front by mesoscale-submesoscale coupling

Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans

Volumn 119, Issue 12, 2014, Pages 8495-8511

  Ramachandran, Sanjiv ^a   Tandon, Amit ^a,b   Mahadevan, Amala ^c  

^a University of Massachusetts Dartmouth   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS DARTMOUTH   (United States)

^c WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION   (United States)

Author keywords

deep fronts; meso submeso coupling; mixed layer; submesoscale

Indexed keywords

BUOYANCY; EDDY; EKMAN LAYER; FRONTAL FEATURE; ISOPYCNAL LAYER; MESOSCALE METEOROLOGY; MIXED LAYER; PYCNOCLINE; ROSSBY NUMBER; SIMULATION; STRATIFICATION; THREE-DIMENSIONAL MODELING; TRACER; VERTICAL MOVEMENT;

EID: 85027940381     PISSN: 21699275     EISSN: 21699291     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1002/2014JC010211     Document Type: Article

References (47)

1. Akitomo, K., (2010), Baroclinic instability and submesoscale eddy formation in weakly stratified oceans under cooling, J. Geophys. Res., 115, C11027, doi: 10.1029/2010JC006125.
2. Andrews, D., and, M. E. McIntyre, (1976), Planetary waves in horizontal and vertical shear: The generalized Eliasen-Palm relation and the mean zonal acceleration, J. Atmos. Sci., 33, 2031-2048.
3. Boccaletti, G., R. Ferrari, and, B. Fox-Kemper, (2007), Mixed layer instabilities and restratification, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 37, 2228-2250.
4. Capet, X., J. C. McWilliams, M. J. Molemaker, and, A. F. Shchepetkin, (2008a), Mesoscale to submesoscale transition in the California Current System. Part I: Flow structure, eddy flux and observational tests, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 38, 29-43.
5. Capet, X., J. C. McWilliams, M. J. Molemaker, and, A. F. Shchepetkin, (2008b), Mesoscale to submesoscale transition in the California Current System. Part II: Frontal processes, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 38, 44-64.
6. Cerovecki, I., R. A. Plumb, and, W. Heres, (2009), Eddy transport and mixing on a wind- and buoyancy-driven jet on the sphere, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 39, 1133-1149.
7. Charney, J. G., (1948), On the scale of atmospheric motions, Geophys. Publikasjoner, 17, 251-265.
8. D'Asaro, E., C. Lee, L. Rainville, R. Harcourt, and, L. Thomas, (2011), Anisotropy and coherent structures in planetary turbulence, Science, 332, 318-322.
9. Eady, E. T., (1949), Long waves and cyclone waves, Tellus, 1, 33-52.
10. Ferrari, R., J. C. McWilliams, V. M. Canuto, and, M. Dubovikov, (2008), Parameterization of eddy fluxes near oceanic boundaries, J. Clim., 21, 2770-2789.
11. Fox-Kemper, B., and, R. Ferrari, (2008), Parameterization of mixed layer eddies. Part II: Prognosis and impact, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 38, 1166-1179.
12. Fox-Kemper, B., R. Ferrari, and, R. W. Hallberg, (2008), Parameterization of mixed layer eddies. Part I: Theory and diagnosis, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 38, 1145-1165.
13. Fox-Kemper, B., G. Danabasoglu, R. Ferrari, S. M. Griffies, R. W. Hallberg, M. M. Holland, M. E. Maltrud, S. Peacock, and, B. L. Samuels, (2011), Parameterization of mixed layer eddies. III: Implementation and impact in global ocean climate simulations, Ocean Modell., 39, 61-78.
14. Gent, P. R., and, J. C. McWilliams, (1990), Isopycnal mixing in ocean circulation models, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 20, 150-155.
15. Griffies, S. M., (1998), The Gent-McWilliams skew flux, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 28, 831-841.
16. Griffies, S. M., A. Gnanadesikan, R. C. Pacanowski, V. D. Larichev, J. K. Dukowicz, and, R. D. Smith, (1998), Isoneutral diffusion in a z-coordinate ocean model, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 28, 805-830.
17. Held, I. M., and, T. Schneider, (1999), The surface branch of the zonally averaged mass transport circulation in the troposphere, J. Atmos. Sci., 56, 1688-1697.
18. Klein, P., and, G. Lapeyre, (2009), The oceanic vertical pump induced by mesoscale and submesoscale turbulence, Annu. Rev. Mar. Sci., 1, 351-375.
19. Klein, P., B. L. Hua, G. Lapeyre, X. Capet, S. L. Gentil, and, H. Sasaki, (2008), Upper ocean turbulence from high-resolution 3D simulations, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 38, 1748-1763.
20. Leonard, B. P., (1988), Simple high-accuracy resolution program for convective modelling of discontinuities, Int. J. Numer. Methods Fluids, 8, 1291-1318.
21. Lévy, M., P. Klein, and, A. M. Treguier, (2001), Impacts of sub-mesoscale physics on production and subduction of phytoplankton in an oligotrophic regime, J. Mar. Res., 59, 535-565.
22. Mahadevan, A., (1996), A non-hydrostatic mesoscale ocean model. 1: Well-posedness and scaling, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 26, 1168-1880.
23. Mahadevan, A., (2006), Modeling vertical motion at ocean fronts, Ocean Modell., 14, 222-240.
24. Mahadevan, A., and, D. Archer, (2000), Modeling the impact of fronts and mesoscale circulation on the nutrient supply and biogeochemistry of the upper ocean, J. Geophys. Res., 105, 1209-1225.
25. Mahadevan, A., and, A. Tandon, (2006), An analysis of mechanisms for submesoscale vertical motion at ocean fronts, Ocean Modell., 14, 241-256.
26. Mahadevan, A., L. Thomas, and, A. Tandon, (2008), Comment on "eddy/wind interactions stimulate extraordinary mid-ocean plankton blooms," Science, 320, 448.
27. Mahadevan, A., A. Tandon, and, R. Ferrari, (2010), Rapid changes in mixed layer stratification driven by submesoscale instabilities and winds, J. Geophys. Res., 115, C03017, doi: 10.1029/2008JC005203.
28. Mahadevan, A., E. D. Asaro, C. Lee, and, M. J. Perry, (2012), Eddy-driven stratification initiates North Atlantic spring phytoplankton blooms, Science, 337, 54-58.
29. Middleton, J. F., and, J. W. Loder, (1989), Skew fluxes in polarized wave fields, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 19, 68-76.
30. Nagai, T., A. Tandon, H. Yamazaki, and, M. J. Doubell, (2012), Direct observations of microscale turbulence and thermohaline structure in the Kuroshio Front, J. Geophys. Res. Oceans, 117, C08013, doi: 10.1029/2011JC007228.
31. Özgökmen, T. M., A. C. Poje, P. F. Fischer, H. Childs, H. Krishnan, C. Garth, A. C. Haza, and, E. Ryan, (2012), On multi-scale dispertion under the influence of surface mixed-layer instabilities and deep flows, Ocean Modell., 56, 16-30.
32. Plumb, R. A., and, R. Ferrari, (2005), Transformed Eulerian-mean theory. Part I: Nonquasigeostrophic theory for eddies on a zonal-mean flow, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 35, 165-174.
33. Ramachandran, S., A. Tandon, and, A. Mahadevan, (2013), Effect of subgrid-scale mixing on the evolution of forced submesoscale instabilities, Ocean Modell., 66, 45-63.
34. Redi, M. H., (1982), Oceanic isopycnal mixing by coordinate rotation, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 12, 1154-1158.
35. Roman, F., G. Stipcich, V. Armenio, R. Inghilesi, and, S. Corsini, (2010), Large eddy simulation of mixing in coastal areas, Int. J. Heat Fluid Flow, 31, 327-341.
36. Scherbina, A. Y., E. A. D'Asaro, C. M. Lee, J. M. Klymak, M. J. Molemaker, and, J. C. McWilliams, (2013), Statistics of vertical vorticity, divergence and strain in a developed submesoscale turbulence field, Geophys. Res. Lett., 40, 4706-4711, doi: 10.1002/grl.50919.
37. Schmidtko, S., G. C. Johnson, and, J. M. Lyman, (2013), MIMOC: A global monthly isopycnal upper-ocean climatology with mixed layers, J. Geophys. Res., 118, 1658-1672, doi: 10.1002/jgrc.20122.
38. Smith, S., (2007), The geography of linear baroclinic instability in earth's oceans, J. Mar. Res., 65, 655-683.
39. Stone, P. H., (1970), On non-geostrophic baroclinic stability: Part II, J. Atmos. Sci., 27, 721-726.
40. Tandon, A., and, C. Garrett, (1994), Mixed layer restratification due to a horizontal density gradient, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 24, 1419-1424.
41. Tandon, A., and, C. Garrett, (1995), Geostrophic adjustment and restratification of a mixed layer with horizontal gradients above a stratified layer, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 25, 2229-2241.
42. Taylor, J. R., and, R. Ferrari, (2009), On the equilibriation of a symmetrically unstable front via a secondary shear instability, J. Fluid Mech., 622, 103-113.
43. Taylor, J. R., and, R. Ferrari, (2010), Buoyancy and wind-driven convection at mixed layer density fronts, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 40, 1222-1242.
44. Taylor, J. R., and, R. Ferrari, (2011), Ocean fronts trigger high latitude phytoplankton blooms, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L23601, doi: 10.1029/2011GL049312.
45. Thomas, L., (2005), Destruction of potential vorticity by winds, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 35, 2457-2466.
46. Thomas, L. N., and, J. R. Taylor, (2010), Reduction of the usable wind-work on the general circulation by forced symmetric instability, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L18606, doi: 10.1029/2010GL044680.
47. Tulloch, R., J. Marshall, C. Hill, and, K. S. Smith, (2011), Scales, growth rates and spectral fluxes of baroclinic instability in the ocean, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 41, 1057-1076.