Mixed layer acoustic propagation with small scale ocean dynamics

2021 ◽  
Vol 150 (4) ◽  
pp. A25-A25
Author(s):  
Edward Richards ◽  
John A. Colosi
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Acoustic Propagation ◽  
Ocean Dynamics ◽  
Small Scale

scholarly journals Mixing in the Transition Layer during Two Storm Events

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Dohan ◽  
Russ E. Davis
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Transition Layer ◽  
Wavelet Transforms ◽  
Ocean Dynamics ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Storm Events ◽  
Inertial Waves ◽  
Space Time Structure ◽  
Inertial Energy

Abstract Upper-ocean dynamics analyzed from mooring-array observations are contrasted between two storms of comparable magnitude. Particular emphasis is put on the role of the transition layer, the strongly stratified layer between the well-mixed upper layer, and the deeper more weakly stratified region. The midlatitude autumn storms occurred within 20 days of each other and were measured at five moorings. In the first storm, the mixed layer follows a classical slab-layer response, with a steady deepening during the course of the storm and little mixing of the thermocline beneath. In the second storm, rather than deepening, the mixed layer shoals while intense near-inertial waves are resonantly excited within the mixed layer. These create a large shear throughout the transition layer, generating turbulence that broadens the transition layer. Details of the space–time structure of the frequencies in both short waves and near-inertial waves are presented. Small-scale waves are excited within the transition layer. Their frequencies change with time and there are no clear peaks at harmonics of inertial or tidal frequencies. Wavelet transforms of the inertial oscillations show the evolution as a spreading in frequency, a deepening of the core into the transition layer, and a shift off the inertial frequency. A second near-inertial energy core appears below the transition layer at all moorings coincident with a rapid decay of mixed layer currents. An overall result is that direct wind-generated motions extend to the depth of the transition layer. The transition layer is a location of enhanced wave activity and enhanced shear-driven mixing.

scholarly journals Energetic Submesoscales Maintain Strong Mixed Layer Stratification during an Autumn Storm

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (10) ◽  
pp. 2419-2427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel B. Whitt ◽  
John R. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Layer ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Upper Ocean ◽  
Ocean Mixed Layer ◽  
Ocean Stratification ◽  
The North ◽  
Large Eddy ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Scale Turbulence

AbstractAtmospheric storms are an important driver of changes in upper-ocean stratification and small-scale (1–100 m) turbulence. Yet, the modifying effects of submesoscale (0.1–10 km) motions in the ocean mixed layer on stratification and small-scale turbulence during a storm are not well understood. Here, large-eddy simulations are used to study the coupled response of submesoscale and small-scale turbulence to the passage of an idealized autumn storm, with a wind stress representative of a storm observed in the North Atlantic above the Porcupine Abyssal Plain. Because of a relatively shallow mixed layer and a strong downfront wind, existing scaling theory predicts that submesoscales should be unable to restratify the mixed layer during the storm. In contrast, the simulations reveal a persistent and strong mean stratification in the mixed layer both during and after the storm. In addition, the mean dissipation rate remains elevated throughout the mixed layer during the storm, despite the strong mean stratification. These results are attributed to strong spatial variability in stratification and small-scale turbulence at the submesoscale and have important implications for sampling and modeling submesoscales and their effects on stratification and turbulence in the upper ocean.

scholarly journals Ocean Convection

Fluids ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (10) ◽  
pp. 360
Author(s):  
Catherine Vreugdenhil ◽  
Bishakhdatta Gayen
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Water Mass ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Open Ocean ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Ocean Dynamics ◽  
Global Circulation Models ◽  
Ocean Convection

Ocean convection is a key mechanism that regulates heat uptake, water-mass transformation, CO2 exchange, and nutrient transport with crucial implications for ocean dynamics and climate change. Both cooling to the atmosphere and salinification, from evaporation or sea-ice formation, cause surface waters to become dense and down-well as turbulent convective plumes. The upper mixed layer in the ocean is significantly deepened and sustained by convection. In the tropics and subtropics, night-time cooling is a main driver of mixed layer convection, while in the mid- and high-latitude regions, winter cooling is key to mixed layer convection. Additionally, at higher latitudes, and particularly in the sub-polar North Atlantic Ocean, the extensive surface heat loss during winter drives open-ocean convection that can reach thousands of meters in depth. On the Antarctic continental shelf, polynya convection regulates the formation of dense bottom slope currents. These strong convection events help to drive the immense water-mass transport of the globally-spanning meridional overturning circulation (MOC). However, convection is often highly localised in time and space, making it extremely difficult to accurately measure in field observations. Ocean models such as global circulation models (GCMs) are unable to resolve convection and turbulence and, instead, rely on simple convective parameterizations that result in a poor representation of convective processes and their impact on ocean circulation, air–sea exchange, and ocean biology. In the past few decades there has been markedly more observations, advancements in high-resolution numerical simulations, continued innovation in laboratory experiments and improvement of theory for ocean convection. The impacts of anthropogenic climate change on ocean convection are beginning to be observed, but key questions remain regarding future climate scenarios. Here, we review the current knowledge and future direction of ocean convection arising from sea–surface interactions, with a focus on mixed layer, open-ocean, and polynya convection.

scholarly journals State and Perspectives of the Concept of Large‐Scale Conditioning of Regional Climate Modelling

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans von Storch ◽  
Leone Cavicchia ◽  
Frauke Feser ◽  
Delei Li
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Dynamical Downscaling ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Ocean Dynamics ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Climate Modelling ◽  
Coastal Regions ◽  
Global Models ◽  
Atmospheric Disturbances ◽  
Low Level Jets

We review the state of dynamical downscaling with scale-constrained regional and global models. The methodology, in particular spectral nudging, has become a routine and well-researched tool for hindcasting climatologies of sub-synoptic atmospheric disturbances in coastal regions. At present, the spectrum of applications is expanding to other phenomena, but also to ocean dynamics and to extended forecasting. Also new diagnostic challenges are appearing such as spatial characteristics of small-scale phenomena such as Low Level Jets.

Modeling Tropical Cyclones in a Changing Climate

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico Scoccimarro
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclone ◽  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
General Circulation Model ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Climate System ◽  
Ocean Dynamics ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Computational Power

Tropical cyclones (TCs) in their most intense expression (hurricanes or typhoons) are the main natural hazards known to humankind. The impressive socioeconomic consequences for countries dealing with TCs make our ability to model these organized convective structures a key issue to better understanding their nature and their interaction with the climate system. The destructive effects of TCs are mainly caused by three factors: strong wind, storm surge, and extreme precipitation. These TC-induced effects contribute to the annual worldwide damage of the order of billions of dollars and a death toll of thousands of people. Together with the development of tools able to simulate TCs, an accurate estimate of the impact of global warming on TC activity is thus not only of academic interest but also has important implications from a societal and economic point of view. The aim of this article is to provide a description of the TC modeling implementations available to investigate present and future climate scenarios. The two main approaches to dynamically model TCs under a climate perspective are through hurricane models and climate models. Both classes of models evaluate the numerical equations governing the climate system. A hurricane model is an objective tool, designed to simulate the behavior of a tropical cyclone representing the detailed time evolution of the vortex. Considering the global scale, a climate model can be an atmosphere (or ocean)-only general circulation model (GCM) or a fully coupled general circulation model (CGCM). To improve the ability of a climate model in representing small-scale features, instead of a general circulation model, a regional model (RM) can be used: this approach makes it possible to increase the spatial resolution, reducing the extension of the domain considered. In order to be able to represent the tropical cyclone structure, a climate model needs a sufficiently high horizontal resolution (of the order of tens of kilometers) leading to the usage of a great deal of computational power. Both tools can be used to evaluate TC behavior under different climate conditions. The added value of a climate model is its ability to represent the interplay of TCs with the climate system, namely two-way relationships with both atmosphere and ocean dynamics and thermodynamics. In particular, CGCMs are able to take into account the well-known feedback between atmosphere and ocean components induced by TC activity and also the TC–related remote impacts on large-scale atmospheric circulation. The science surrounding TCs has developed in parallel with the increasing complexity of the mentioned tools, both in terms of progress in explaining the physical processes involved and the increased availability of computational power. Many climate research groups around the world, dealing with such numerical models, continuously provide data sets to the scientific community, feeding this branch of climate change science.

scholarly journals Sensitivity of winter North Atlantic-European climate to resolved atmosphere and ocean dynamics

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Reindert J. Haarsma ◽  
Javier García-Serrano ◽  
Chloé Prodhomme ◽  
Omar Bellprat ◽  
Paolo Davini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atmospheric Circulation ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Gulf Stream ◽  
Ocean Dynamics ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Western Boundary ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
Mean Climate ◽  
Meso Scale

Abstract Northern Hemisphere western boundary currents, like the Gulf Stream, are key regions for cyclogenesis affecting large-scale atmospheric circulation. Recent observations and model simulations with high-temporal and -spatial resolution have provided evidence that the associated ocean fronts locally affect troposphere dynamics. A coherent view of how this affects the mean climate and its variability is, however, lacking. In particular the separate role of resolved ocean and atmosphere dynamics in shaping the atmospheric circulation is still largely unknown. Here we demonstrate for the first time, by using coupled seasonal forecast experiments at different resolutions, that resolving meso-scale oceanic variability in the Gulf Stream region strongly affects mid-latitude interannual atmospheric variability, including the North Atlantic Oscillation. Its impact on climatology, however, is minor. Increasing atmosphere resolution to meso-scale, on the other hand, strongly affects mean climate but moderately its variability. We also find that regional predictability relies on adequately resolving small-scale atmospheric processes, while resolving small-scale oceanic processes acts as an unpredictable source of noise, except for the North Atlantic storm-track where the forcing of the atmosphere translates into skillful predictions.

scholarly journals Phytoplankton bloom phenomena in the North Atlantic Ocean and Arabian Sea

2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (6) ◽  
pp. 2021-2028 ◽  
Author(s):  
John F. Marra ◽  
Tommy D. Dickey ◽  
Albert J. Plueddemann ◽  
Robert A. Weller ◽  
Christopher S. Kinkade ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Column ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Arabian Sea ◽  
Phytoplankton Bloom ◽  
Mixed Layer Depth ◽  
Ocean Dynamics ◽  
Layer Depth ◽  
Diurnal Variability ◽  
Water Column Stratification ◽  
Iceland Basin

Abstract We review bio-optical and physical data from three mooring experiments, the Marine Light–Mixed Layers programme in spring 1989 and 1991 in the Iceland Basin (59°N/21°W), and the Forced Upper Ocean Dynamics Experiment in the central Arabian Sea from October 1994 to 1995 (15.5°N/61.5°E). In the Iceland Basin, from mid-April to mid-June in 1989, chlorophyll-a concentrations are sensitive to small changes in stratification, with intermittent increases early in the record. The spring increase occurs after 20 May, coincident with persistent water column stratification. In 1991, the bloom occurs 2 weeks earlier than in 1989, with a background of strong short-term and diurnal variability in mixed layer depth and minimal horizontal advection. In the Arabian Sea, the mixing response to the northeast and southwest monsoons, plus the response to mesoscale eddies, produces four blooms over the annual cycle. The mixed layer depth in the Arabian Sea never exceeds the euphotic zone, allowing interactions between phytoplankton and grazer populations to become important. For all three mooring experiments, change in water column stratification is key in producing phytoplankton blooms.

Silicon Spaced Wafer Stack Thermoacoustic Refrigerator Design and Testing

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. G. Holmberg ◽  
S. Y. Tsai ◽  
A. M. Wo
Keyword(s):  
Heat Conduction ◽  
Acoustic Propagation ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Acoustic Source ◽  
Test Platform ◽  
Anisotropic Heat Conduction ◽  
Design And Testing ◽  
Good Heat ◽  
Si Wafer ◽  
Thermoacoustic Refrigerator

The design of a new, small-scale thermoacoustic refrigerator stack and heat exchanger test platform is presented. A special silicon (Si) stack is fabricated to encourage anisotropic heat conduction — good heat conduction along the plane of the Si wafer (normal to the direction of acoustic propagation) and poor conduction across it (along the direction of acoustic propagation). This is accomplished by separating two wafer pieces with an insulator in between. The aim of this paper is to quantify the performance of this stack arrangement. The apparatus utilizes a modified piston engine with a motor running the piston (max 300 Hz) as an acoustic source. Comparison of results show that the a slight performance degradation for the Si stack compared with that of the ceramic stack. It is believed that advantages gain by suppressing heat conduction along the stack is offset by increased losses due to viscous effect and flow streaming within the Si stack.

scholarly journals Mixed Layer Lateral Eddy Fluxes Mediated by Air–Sea Interaction

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 130-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Shuckburgh ◽  
Guillaume Maze ◽  
David Ferreira ◽  
John Marshall ◽  
Helen Jones ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Mixed Layer Depth ◽  
Effective Diffusivity ◽  
Eddy Diffusivity ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Temperature Fields ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Eddy Diffusivities

Abstract The modulation of air–sea heat fluxes by geostrophic eddies due to the stirring of temperature at the sea surface is discussed and quantified. It is argued that the damping of eddy temperature variance by such air–sea fluxes enhances the dissipation of surface temperature fields. Depending on the time scale of damping relative to that of the eddying motions, surface eddy diffusivities can be significantly enhanced over interior values. The issues are explored and quantified in a controlled setting by driving a tracer field, a proxy for sea surface temperature, with surface altimetric observations in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) of the Southern Ocean. A new, tracer-based diagnostic of eddy diffusivity is introduced, which is related to the Nakamura effective diffusivity. Using this, the mixed layer lateral eddy diffusivities associated with (i) eddy stirring and small-scale mixing and (ii) surface damping by air–sea interaction is quantified. In the ACC, a diffusivity associated with surface damping of a comparable magnitude to that associated with eddy stirring (∼500 m2 s−1) is found. In frontal regions prevalent in the ACC, an augmentation of surface lateral eddy diffusivities of this magnitude is equivalent to an air–sea flux of 100 W m−2 acting over a mixed layer depth of 100 m, a very significant effect. Finally, the implications for other tracer fields such as salinity, dissolved gases, and chlorophyll are discussed. Different tracers are found to have surface eddy diffusivities that differ significantly in magnitude.

scholarly journals A One-Dimensional Mixed Layer Ocean Model for Use in Three-Dimensional Climate Simulations: Control Simulation Compared to Observations

2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (13) ◽  
pp. 2199-2221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Y. Stephens ◽  
Robert J. Oglesby ◽  
Martin Maxey
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Mixed Layer Depth ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Ocean Model ◽  
Ocean Dynamics ◽  
One Dimensional ◽  
Mixed Layer Ocean

Abstract A study has been made of the dynamic interactions between the surface layer of the ocean and the atmosphere using a climate model that contains a new approach to predicting the sea surface temperature (SST). The atmospheric conditions are simulated numerically with the NCAR Community Climate Model (CCM3). The SST is determined by a modified Kraus–Turner-type one-dimensional mixed layer ocean model (MLOM) for the upper ocean that has been coupled to CCM3. The MLOM simulates vertical ocean dynamics and demonstrates the effects of the seasonal variation of mixed layer depth and convective instability on the SST. A purely thermodynamic slab ocean model (SOM) is currently available for use with CCM3 to predict the SST. A large-scale ocean general circulation model (OGCM) may also be coupled to CCM3; however, the OGCM is computationally intensive and is therefore not a good tool for conducting multiple sensitivity studies. The MLOM provides an alternative to the SOM that contains seasonally and spatially specified mixed layer depths. The SOM also contains a heat flux correction called Q-flux that crudely accounts for ocean heat transport by artificially specifying a heat flux that forces the SOM to replicate the observed SST. The results of the coupled MLOM–CCM3 reveal that the MLOM may be used on a global scale and can therefore replace the standard coupled SOM–CCM3 that contains no explicit ocean dynamics. Additionally, stand-alone experiments of the MLOM that are forced with realistic winds, heat, and moisture fluxes show that the MLOM closely approximates the observed seasonal cycle of SST.

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