Seasonality of submesoscale flows in the ocean surface boundary layer
A signature of submesoscale flows in the upper ocean is skewness in the distribution of relative vorticity. Expected to result for high Rossby number flows, such skewness has implications for mixing, dissipation, and stratification within the upper ocean. An array of moorings deployed in the Northea...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| פורמט: | Journal article |
| יצא לאור: |
AGU Publications
2016
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| _version_ | 1826280961474560000 |
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| author | Buckingham, C Garabato, A Thompson, A Brannigan, L Lazar, A Marshall, D Nurser, A Damerell, G Heywood, K Belcher, SE |
| author_facet | Buckingham, C Garabato, A Thompson, A Brannigan, L Lazar, A Marshall, D Nurser, A Damerell, G Heywood, K Belcher, SE |
| author_sort | Buckingham, C |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | A signature of submesoscale flows in the upper ocean is skewness in the distribution of relative vorticity. Expected to result for high Rossby number flows, such skewness has implications for mixing, dissipation, and stratification within the upper ocean. An array of moorings deployed in the Northeast Atlantic for 1 year as part of the experiment of the Ocean Surface Mixing, Ocean Submesoscale Interaction Study (OSMOSIS) reveals that relative vorticity is positively skewed during winter even though the scale of the Rossby number is less than 0.5. Furthermore, this skewness is reduced to zero during spring and autumn. There is also evidence of modest seasonal variations in the gradient Rossby number. The proposed mechanism by which relative vorticity is skewed is that the ratio of lateral to vertical buoyancy gradients, as summarized by the inverse gradient Richardson number, restricts its range during winter but less so at other times of the year. These results support recent observations and model simulations suggesting that the upper ocean is host to a seasonal cycle in submesoscale turbulence. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T00:21:36Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:7cbcc9fb-6bb9-4f23-9fbe-7393e3500c98 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T00:21:36Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | AGU Publications |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:7cbcc9fb-6bb9-4f23-9fbe-7393e3500c982022-03-26T20:59:02ZSeasonality of submesoscale flows in the ocean surface boundary layerJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:7cbcc9fb-6bb9-4f23-9fbe-7393e3500c98Symplectic Elements at OxfordAGU Publications2016Buckingham, CGarabato, AThompson, ABrannigan, LLazar, AMarshall, DNurser, ADamerell, GHeywood, KBelcher, SEA signature of submesoscale flows in the upper ocean is skewness in the distribution of relative vorticity. Expected to result for high Rossby number flows, such skewness has implications for mixing, dissipation, and stratification within the upper ocean. An array of moorings deployed in the Northeast Atlantic for 1 year as part of the experiment of the Ocean Surface Mixing, Ocean Submesoscale Interaction Study (OSMOSIS) reveals that relative vorticity is positively skewed during winter even though the scale of the Rossby number is less than 0.5. Furthermore, this skewness is reduced to zero during spring and autumn. There is also evidence of modest seasonal variations in the gradient Rossby number. The proposed mechanism by which relative vorticity is skewed is that the ratio of lateral to vertical buoyancy gradients, as summarized by the inverse gradient Richardson number, restricts its range during winter but less so at other times of the year. These results support recent observations and model simulations suggesting that the upper ocean is host to a seasonal cycle in submesoscale turbulence. |
| spellingShingle | Buckingham, C Garabato, A Thompson, A Brannigan, L Lazar, A Marshall, D Nurser, A Damerell, G Heywood, K Belcher, SE Seasonality of submesoscale flows in the ocean surface boundary layer |
| title | Seasonality of submesoscale flows in the ocean surface boundary layer |
| title_full | Seasonality of submesoscale flows in the ocean surface boundary layer |
| title_fullStr | Seasonality of submesoscale flows in the ocean surface boundary layer |
| title_full_unstemmed | Seasonality of submesoscale flows in the ocean surface boundary layer |
| title_short | Seasonality of submesoscale flows in the ocean surface boundary layer |
| title_sort | seasonality of submesoscale flows in the ocean surface boundary layer |
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