Near-inertial waves and turbulence driven by the growth of swell
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Between 5% and 25% of the total momentum transferred between the atmosphere and ocean is transmitted via the growth of long surface gravity waves called “swell.” In this paper, we use large-eddy simulations to show that swell-transmitted mom...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Meteorological Society
2021
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/133789 |
| _version_ | 1826193210699939840 |
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| author | Wagner, Gregory L Chini, Gregory P Ramadhan, Ali Gallet, Basile Ferrari, Raffaele |
| author_facet | Wagner, Gregory L Chini, Gregory P Ramadhan, Ali Gallet, Basile Ferrari, Raffaele |
| author_sort | Wagner, Gregory L |
| collection | MIT |
| description | <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Between 5% and 25% of the total momentum transferred between the atmosphere and ocean is transmitted via the growth of long surface gravity waves called “swell.” In this paper, we use large-eddy simulations to show that swell-transmitted momentum excites near-inertial waves and drives turbulent mixing that deepens a rotating, stratified, turbulent ocean surface boundary layer. We find that swell-transmitted currents are less effective at producing turbulence and mixing the boundary layer than currents driven by an effective surface stress. Overall, however, the differences between swell-driven and surface-stress-driven boundary layers are relatively minor. In consequence, our results corroborate assumptions made in Earth system models that neglect the vertical structure of swell-transmitted momentum fluxes and instead parameterize all air–sea momentum transfer processes with an effective surface stress.</jats:p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:35:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/133789 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:35:22Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | American Meteorological Society |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1337892021-10-28T04:43:10Z Near-inertial waves and turbulence driven by the growth of swell Wagner, Gregory L Chini, Gregory P Ramadhan, Ali Gallet, Basile Ferrari, Raffaele <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Between 5% and 25% of the total momentum transferred between the atmosphere and ocean is transmitted via the growth of long surface gravity waves called “swell.” In this paper, we use large-eddy simulations to show that swell-transmitted momentum excites near-inertial waves and drives turbulent mixing that deepens a rotating, stratified, turbulent ocean surface boundary layer. We find that swell-transmitted currents are less effective at producing turbulence and mixing the boundary layer than currents driven by an effective surface stress. Overall, however, the differences between swell-driven and surface-stress-driven boundary layers are relatively minor. In consequence, our results corroborate assumptions made in Earth system models that neglect the vertical structure of swell-transmitted momentum fluxes and instead parameterize all air–sea momentum transfer processes with an effective surface stress.</jats:p> 2021-10-27T19:56:40Z 2021-10-27T19:56:40Z 2021 2021-09-16T13:52:12Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/133789 en 10.1175/JPO-D-20-0178.1 Journal of Physical Oceanography Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Meteorological Society American Meteorological Society (AMS) |
| spellingShingle | Wagner, Gregory L Chini, Gregory P Ramadhan, Ali Gallet, Basile Ferrari, Raffaele Near-inertial waves and turbulence driven by the growth of swell |
| title | Near-inertial waves and turbulence driven by the growth of swell |
| title_full | Near-inertial waves and turbulence driven by the growth of swell |
| title_fullStr | Near-inertial waves and turbulence driven by the growth of swell |
| title_full_unstemmed | Near-inertial waves and turbulence driven by the growth of swell |
| title_short | Near-inertial waves and turbulence driven by the growth of swell |
| title_sort | near inertial waves and turbulence driven by the growth of swell |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/133789 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT wagnergregoryl nearinertialwavesandturbulencedrivenbythegrowthofswell AT chinigregoryp nearinertialwavesandturbulencedrivenbythegrowthofswell AT ramadhanali nearinertialwavesandturbulencedrivenbythegrowthofswell AT galletbasile nearinertialwavesandturbulencedrivenbythegrowthofswell AT ferrariraffaele nearinertialwavesandturbulencedrivenbythegrowthofswell |