Statistics of vertical vorticity, divergence, and strain in a developed submesoscale turbulence field
| Type | : | ACL |
|---|---|---|
| Nature | : | Production scientifique |
| Au bénéfice du Laboratoire | : | Non |
| Statut de publication | : | Publié |
| Année de publication | : | 2013 |
| Auteurs (6) | : | SHCHERBINA A,y D'ASARO Eric LEE C KLYMAK Jody,m MOLEMAKER M,j MCWILLIAMS J,c |
| Revue scientifique | : | Geophysical Research Letters |
| Volume | : | 40 |
| Fascicule | : | 17 |
| Pages | : | 4706-4711 |
| DOI | : | 10.1002/grl.50919 |
| URL | : | - |
| Abstract | : | A detailed view of upper ocean vorticity, divergence, and strain statistics was obtained by a two-vessel survey in the North Atlantic Mode Water region in winter 2012. Synchronous Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler sampling provided the first in situ estimates of the full velocity gradient tensor at O(1km) scale without the usual mix of spatial and temporal aliasing. The observed vorticity distribution in the mixed layer was markedly asymmetric (skewness 2.5), with sparse strands of strong cyclonic vorticity embedded in a weak, predominantly anticyclonic background. Skewness of the vorticity distribution decreased linearly with depth, disappearing completely in the pycnocline. Statistics of divergence and strain rate generally followed the normal and distributions, respectively. These observations confirm a high-resolution numerical model prediction for the structure of the active submesoscale turbulence field in this area. |
| Mots-clés | : | COHERENT STRUCTURES; ENERGY; MESOSCALE; MOTION; observations; skewness; statistics; submesoscale; turbulence; UPPER-OCEAN TURBULENCE; vorticity |
| Commentaire | : | Times Cited in Web of Science Core Collection: 124 |
| Tags | : | - |
| Fichier attaché | : | - |
| Citation | : |
Shcherbina AY, D'Asaro E, Lee C, Klymak JM, Molemaker MJ, McWilliams JC (2013) Statistics of vertical vorticity, divergence, and strain in a developed submesoscale turbulence field. Geophys Res Lett 40: 4706-4711 | doi: 10.1002/grl.50919
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