Estimating Suppression of Eddy Mixing by Mean Flows
Author(s)
Klocker, Andreas; Ferrari, Raffaele; LaCasce, Joseph H., 1964-
DownloadKlocker-2012-Estimating Suppression of Eddy Mixing by Mean Flows.pdf (698.5Kb)
PUBLISHER_POLICY
Publisher Policy
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.
Terms of use
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Particle- and tracer-based estimates of lateral diffusivities are used to estimate the suppression of eddy mixing across strong currents. Particles and tracers are advected using a velocity field derived from sea surface height measurements from the South Pacific, in a region west of Drake Passage. This velocity field has been used in a companion paper to show that both particle- and tracer-based estimates of eddy diffusivities are equivalent, despite recent claims to the contrary. These estimates of eddy diffusivities are here analyzed to show 1) that the degree of suppression of mixing across the strong Antarctic Circumpolar Current is correctly predicted by mixing length theory modified to include eddy propagation along the mean flow and 2) that the suppression can be inferred from particle trajectories by studying the structure of the autocorrelation function of the particle velocities beyond the first zero crossing. These results are then used to discuss how to compute lateral and vertical variations in eddy diffusivities using floats and drifters in the real ocean.
Date issued
2012-09Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary SciencesJournal
Journal of Physical Oceanography
Publisher
American Meteorological Society
Citation
Klocker, Andreas, Raffaele Ferrari, and Joseph H. LaCasce. “Estimating Suppression of Eddy Mixing by Mean Flows.” Journal of Physical Oceanography 42.9 (2012): 1566–1576. ©2013 American Meteorological Society
Version: Final published version
ISSN
0022-3670
1520-0485