Article
 

Oceanic Turbulent Energy Budget using Large-Eddy Simulation of a Wind Event during DYNAMO

Public Deposited

Downloadable Content

Download PDF
https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/articles/5712mb88b

Descriptions

Attribute NameValues
Creator
Abstract
  • The dominant processes governing ocean mixing during an active phase of the Madden–Julian oscillation are identified. Air–sea fluxes and upper-ocean currents and hydrography, measured aboard the R/V Revelle during boreal fall 2011 in the Indian Ocean at 0°, 80.5°E, are integrated by means of a large-eddy simulation (LES) to infer mixing mechanisms and quantify the resulting vertical property fluxes. In the simulation, wind accelerates the mixed layer, and shear mixes the momentum downward, causing the mixed layer base to descend. Turbulent kinetic energy gains due to shear production and Langmuir circulations are opposed by stirring gravity and frictional losses. The strongest stirring of buoyancy follows precipitation events and penetrates to the base of the mixed layer. The focus here is on the initial 24 h of an unusually strong wind burst that began on 24 November 2011. The model shows that Langmuir turbulence influences only the uppermost few meters of the ocean. Below the wave-energized region, shear instability responds to the integrated momentum flux into the mixed layer, lagging the initial onset of the storm. Shear below the mixed layer persists after the storm has weakened and decelerates the surface jet slowly (compared with the acceleration at the peak of the storm). Slow loss of momentum from the mixed layer extends the effect of the surface wind burst by energizing the fluid at the base of the mixed layer, thereby prolonging heat uptake due to the storm. Ocean turbulence and air–sea fluxes contribute to the cooling of the mixed layer approximately in the ratio 1:3, consistent with observations.
  • Keywords: Indian Ocean, Mixed layer, Large eddy simulations, Physical Meteorology and Climatology, Tropics, Fluxes, Models and modeling, Mixing, Geographic location/entity, Atm/Ocean Structure/Phenomena
Resource Type
DOI
Date Available
Date Issued
Citation
  • Hoecker-Martínez, M. S., Smyth, W. D., & Skyllingstad, E. D. (2016). Oceanic Turbulent Energy Budget using Large Eddy Simulation of a wind event during DYNAMO. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 46(3), 827-840. doi:10.1175/JPO-D-15-0057.1
Journal Title
Journal Volume
  • 46
Journal Issue/Number
  • 3
Rights Statement
Funding Statement (additional comments about funding)
  • The work was supported by National Science Foundation Grant OCE-1129419.
Publisher
Peer Reviewed
Language
Replaces

Relationships

Parents:

This work has no parents.

Items

Thumbnail Title Date Uploaded Visibility Actions
file details Hoecker-MartinezOceanicTurbulentEnergy.pdf 2017-10-27 Public Download