Ocean‐Scale Interactions From Space
Satellite observations of the last two decades have led to a major breakthrough emphasizing the existence of a strongly energetic mesoscale turbulent eddy field in all the oceans. This ocean mesoscale turbulence is characterized by cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies (with a 100‐ to 300‐km size and dep...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2019-05-01
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| Series: | Earth and Space Science |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2018EA000492 |
| _version_ | 1828486718281482240 |
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| author | Patrice Klein Guillaume Lapeyre Lia Siegelman Bo Qiu Lee‐Lueng Fu Hector Torres Zhan Su Dimitris Menemenlis Sylvie Le Gentil |
| author_facet | Patrice Klein Guillaume Lapeyre Lia Siegelman Bo Qiu Lee‐Lueng Fu Hector Torres Zhan Su Dimitris Menemenlis Sylvie Le Gentil |
| author_sort | Patrice Klein |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Satellite observations of the last two decades have led to a major breakthrough emphasizing the existence of a strongly energetic mesoscale turbulent eddy field in all the oceans. This ocean mesoscale turbulence is characterized by cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies (with a 100‐ to 300‐km size and depth scales of ∼500–1,000 m) that capture approximatively 80% of the total kinetic energy and is now known to significantly impact the large‐scale ocean circulation, the ocean's carbon storage, the air‐sea interactions, and therefore the Earth climate as a whole. However, ocean mesoscale turbulence revealed by satellite observations has properties that differ from those related to classical geostrophic turbulence theories. In the last decade, a large number of theoretical and numerical studies has pointed to submesoscale surface fronts (1–50 km), not resolved by satellite altimeters, as the key suspect explaining these discrepancies. Submesoscale surface fronts have been shown to impact mesoscale eddies and the large‐scale ocean circulation in counterintuitive ways, leading in particular to up‐gradient fluxes. The ocean engine is now known to involve energetic scale interactions, over a much broader range of scales than expected one decade ago, from 1 to 5,000 km. New space observations with higher spatial resolution are however needed to validate and improve these recent theoretical and numerical results. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T09:38:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4e50ec4f780c482497ed87137527ef8e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2333-5084 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T09:38:05Z |
| publishDate | 2019-05-01 |
| publisher | American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Earth and Space Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-4e50ec4f780c482497ed87137527ef8e2022-12-22T01:12:47ZengAmerican Geophysical Union (AGU)Earth and Space Science2333-50842019-05-016579581710.1029/2018EA000492Ocean‐Scale Interactions From SpacePatrice Klein0Guillaume Lapeyre1Lia Siegelman2Bo Qiu3Lee‐Lueng Fu4Hector Torres5Zhan Su6Dimitris Menemenlis7Sylvie Le Gentil8Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA) California Institute of Technology Pasadena CA USALMD/IPSL,CNES,ENS,PSLRU Paris FranceJet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA) California Institute of Technology Pasadena CA USADepartment of Oceanography University of Hawai'i Honolulu HI USAJet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA) California Institute of Technology Pasadena CA USAJet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA) California Institute of Technology Pasadena CA USADepartment of Environmental Science and Engineering California Institute of Technology Pasadena CA USAJet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA) California Institute of Technology Pasadena CA USALOPS‐Ifremer/CNRS Brest FranceSatellite observations of the last two decades have led to a major breakthrough emphasizing the existence of a strongly energetic mesoscale turbulent eddy field in all the oceans. This ocean mesoscale turbulence is characterized by cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies (with a 100‐ to 300‐km size and depth scales of ∼500–1,000 m) that capture approximatively 80% of the total kinetic energy and is now known to significantly impact the large‐scale ocean circulation, the ocean's carbon storage, the air‐sea interactions, and therefore the Earth climate as a whole. However, ocean mesoscale turbulence revealed by satellite observations has properties that differ from those related to classical geostrophic turbulence theories. In the last decade, a large number of theoretical and numerical studies has pointed to submesoscale surface fronts (1–50 km), not resolved by satellite altimeters, as the key suspect explaining these discrepancies. Submesoscale surface fronts have been shown to impact mesoscale eddies and the large‐scale ocean circulation in counterintuitive ways, leading in particular to up‐gradient fluxes. The ocean engine is now known to involve energetic scale interactions, over a much broader range of scales than expected one decade ago, from 1 to 5,000 km. New space observations with higher spatial resolution are however needed to validate and improve these recent theoretical and numerical results.https://doi.org/10.1029/2018EA000492 |
| spellingShingle | Patrice Klein Guillaume Lapeyre Lia Siegelman Bo Qiu Lee‐Lueng Fu Hector Torres Zhan Su Dimitris Menemenlis Sylvie Le Gentil Ocean‐Scale Interactions From Space Earth and Space Science |
| title | Ocean‐Scale Interactions From Space |
| title_full | Ocean‐Scale Interactions From Space |
| title_fullStr | Ocean‐Scale Interactions From Space |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ocean‐Scale Interactions From Space |
| title_short | Ocean‐Scale Interactions From Space |
| title_sort | ocean scale interactions from space |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2018EA000492 |
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