A Description of Local and Nonlocal Eddy–Mean Flow Interaction in a Global Eddy-Permitting State Estimate
Name
Chen-2014-A Description of Loc.pdf
Size
1.87 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
22ffff4f00892d5c81cc8b2820788881
Author(s)
Chen, Ru
Flierl, Glenn Richard
Wunsch, Carl Isaac
Date Issued
September 2014
Journal
Journal of Physical Oceanography
Publisher
American Meteorological Society
Citation
Chen, Ru, Glenn R. Flierl, and Carl Wunsch. “A Description of Local and Nonlocal Eddy–Mean Flow Interaction in a Global Eddy-Permitting State Estimate.” J. Phys. Oceanogr. 44, no. 9 (September 2014): 2336–2352. © 2014 American Meteorological Society
Version
Final published version
Abstract
The assumption that local baroclinic instability dominates eddy–mean flow interactions is tested on a global scale using a dynamically consistent eddy-permitting state estimate. Interactions are divided into local and nonlocal. If all the energy released from the mean flow through eddy–mean flow interaction is used to support eddy growth in the same region, or if all the energy released from eddies through eddy–mean flow interaction is used to feed back to the mean flow in the same region, eddy–mean flow interaction is local; otherwise, it is nonlocal. Different regions have different characters: in the subtropical region studied in detail, interactions are dominantly local. In the Southern Ocean and Kuroshio and Gulf Stream Extension regions, they are mainly nonlocal. Geographical variability of dominant eddy–eddy and eddy–mean flow processes is a dominant factor in understanding ocean energetics.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Terms of Use
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.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1175/jpo-d-14-0009.1
