Near-inertial waves and turbulence driven by the growth of swell
Name
[15200485 - Journal of Physical Oceanography] Near-Inertial Waves and Turbulence Driven by the Growth of Swell.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
2.08 MB
Format
Unknown
Checksum (MD5)
bfcf8f1959b06864b091df3bbc89998d
Author(s)
Wagner, Gregory L
Chini, Gregory P
Ramadhan, Ali
Gallet, Basile
Ferrari, Raffaele
Date Issued
April 2021
Journal
Journal of Physical Oceanography
Publisher
American Meteorological Society
Version
Final published version
Abstract
AbstractBetween 5% and 25% of the total momentum transferred between the atmosphere and ocean is transmitted via the growth of long surface gravity waves called “swell.” In this paper, we use large-eddy simulations to show that swell-transmitted momentum excites near-inertial waves and drives turbulent mixing that deepens a rotating, stratified, turbulent ocean surface boundary layer. We find that swell-transmitted currents are less effective at producing turbulence and mixing the boundary layer than currents driven by an effective surface stress. Overall, however, the differences between swell-driven and surface-stress-driven boundary layers are relatively minor. In consequence, our results corroborate assumptions made in Earth system models that neglect the vertical structure of swell-transmitted momentum fluxes and instead parameterize all air–sea momentum transfer processes with an effective surface stress.
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-20-0178.1
