Surface eddy diffusivity for heat in a model of the northwest Atlantic Ocean

Eddies influence the surface beat budget both by modifying the surface heat flux and by the lateral transfer of heat within the surface mixed layer. It is shown that the presence of eddies modifies the surface heat flux in a model of the northwest Atlantic Ocean by more than 100 W m-2 over the Gulf...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zhai, X, Greatbatch, R
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2006
_version_ 1797062300671148032
author Zhai, X
Greatbatch, R
author_facet Zhai, X
Greatbatch, R
author_sort Zhai, X
collection OXFORD
description Eddies influence the surface beat budget both by modifying the surface heat flux and by the lateral transfer of heat within the surface mixed layer. It is shown that the presence of eddies modifies the surface heat flux in a model of the northwest Atlantic Ocean by more than 100 W m-2 over the Gulf Stream system. The diffusive effect of eddies is then illustrated by comparing two model runs, in the second of which the surface heat flux acts only on large spatial scales and interaction with the mesoscale eddies is suppressed. This second run exhibits finer-scale structure and tighter thermal fronts than in the fully interactive run. Finally, we estimate the surface eddy diffusivity associated with surface thermal damping from the fully interactive run. The estimated diffusivity takes large values (more than 103 m2 s-1) south of the Gulf Stream and smaller values elsewhere. Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union.
first_indexed 2024-03-06T20:43:34Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:35136ff3-0ddf-4baf-af3f-c269eaa7a69f
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-06T20:43:34Z
publishDate 2006
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:35136ff3-0ddf-4baf-af3f-c269eaa7a69f2022-03-26T13:29:56ZSurface eddy diffusivity for heat in a model of the northwest Atlantic OceanJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:35136ff3-0ddf-4baf-af3f-c269eaa7a69fEnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2006Zhai, XGreatbatch, REddies influence the surface beat budget both by modifying the surface heat flux and by the lateral transfer of heat within the surface mixed layer. It is shown that the presence of eddies modifies the surface heat flux in a model of the northwest Atlantic Ocean by more than 100 W m-2 over the Gulf Stream system. The diffusive effect of eddies is then illustrated by comparing two model runs, in the second of which the surface heat flux acts only on large spatial scales and interaction with the mesoscale eddies is suppressed. This second run exhibits finer-scale structure and tighter thermal fronts than in the fully interactive run. Finally, we estimate the surface eddy diffusivity associated with surface thermal damping from the fully interactive run. The estimated diffusivity takes large values (more than 103 m2 s-1) south of the Gulf Stream and smaller values elsewhere. Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union.
spellingShingle Zhai, X
Greatbatch, R
Surface eddy diffusivity for heat in a model of the northwest Atlantic Ocean
title Surface eddy diffusivity for heat in a model of the northwest Atlantic Ocean
title_full Surface eddy diffusivity for heat in a model of the northwest Atlantic Ocean
title_fullStr Surface eddy diffusivity for heat in a model of the northwest Atlantic Ocean
title_full_unstemmed Surface eddy diffusivity for heat in a model of the northwest Atlantic Ocean
title_short Surface eddy diffusivity for heat in a model of the northwest Atlantic Ocean
title_sort surface eddy diffusivity for heat in a model of the northwest atlantic ocean
work_keys_str_mv AT zhaix surfaceeddydiffusivityforheatinamodelofthenorthwestatlanticocean
AT greatbatchr surfaceeddydiffusivityforheatinamodelofthenorthwestatlanticocean