scholarly journals Full vorticity budget of the Arabian Sea from a 0.1° ocean model: Sverdrup dynamics, Rossby waves and nonlinear eddy effects

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
He Wang ◽  
Julie L. McClean ◽  
Lynne D. Talley
Keyword(s):  
General Circulation ◽  
Arabian Sea ◽  
Rossby Waves ◽  
Open Ocean ◽  
Western Boundary Current ◽  
Western Boundary ◽  
Boundary Current ◽  
Basin Scale ◽  
Vorticity Budget ◽  
Vorticity Balance

AbstractThe Arabian Sea, influenced by the Indian monsoon, has many unique features including its basin scale seasonally reversing surface circulation and the Great Whirl, a seasonal anti-cyclonic system appearing during the southwest monsoon close to the western boundary. To establish a comprehensive dynamical picture of the Arabian Sea, we utilize numerical model output and design a full vorticity budget that includes a fully-decomposed nonlinear term. The ocean general circulation model has 0.1° resolution and is mesoscale eddy-resolving in the region. In the western boundary current system, we highlight the role of nonlinear eddies in the life cycle of the Great Whirl. The nonlinear eddy term is of leading order importance in this feature’s vorticity balance. Specifically, it contributes to the Great Whirl’s persistence in boreal fall after the weakening of the southwesterly winds. In the open ocean, Sverdrup dynamics and annual Rossby waves are found to dominate the vorticity balance; the latter is considered as a key factor in the formation of the Great Whirl and the sea-sonal reversal of the western boundary current. In addition, we discuss different forms of vertically-integrated vorticity equations in the model and argue that the bottom pressure torque term can be interpreted analogously as friction in the western boundary and vortex stretching in the open ocean.

scholarly journals Hysteresis and Dynamics of a Western Boundary Current Flowing by a Gap Forced by Impingement of Mesoscale Eddies

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 878-888 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongliang Yuan ◽  
Zheng Wang
Keyword(s):  
Hopf Bifurcation ◽  
Mesoscale Eddies ◽  
Small Deformation ◽  
Ocean Model ◽  
Western Boundary Current ◽  
Western Boundary ◽  
Periodic Regime ◽  
Boundary Current ◽  
Nonlinear Hysteresis ◽  
Vorticity Balance

Abstract Hysteresis of a western boundary current (WBC) flowing by a wide gap of a western boundary and the dynamics of the WBC variations associated with the impingement of mesoscale eddies from the eastern side of the gap are studied using a 1.5-layer reduced-gravity quasigeostrophic ocean model. The study focuses on two issues not covered by existing studies: the effects of finite baroclinic deformation radii and time dependence perturbed by mesoscale eddies. The results of the study show that the hysteresis of the WBC of finite baroclinic deformation radii is not controlled by multiple steady-state balances of the quasigeostrophic vorticity equation. Instead, the hysteresis is controlled by the periodic penetrating and the leaping regimes of the vorticity balance. The regime of the vorticity balance inside the gap is dependent on the history of the WBC evolution, which gives rise to the hysteresis of the WBC path. Numerical experiments have shown that the parameter domain of the hysteresis is not sensitive to the baroclinic deformation radius. However, the domain of the periodic solution, which is determined by the lower Hopf bifurcation of the nonlinear system, is found to be sensitive to the magnitude of the baroclinic deformation radius. The lower Hopf bifurcation from steady penetration to periodic penetration is found to occur at lower Reynolds numbers for larger deformation radii. In general, the lower Hopf bifurcation stays outside the hysteresis domain of the Reynolds number. However, for very small deformation radii, the lower Hopf bifurcation falls inside the hysteresis domain, which results in the transition from the leaping to the penetrating regimes of the WBC to skip the periodic regime and hence the disappearance of the upper Hopf bifurcation. Mesoscale eddies approaching the gap from the eastern basin are found to have significant impact on the WBC path inside the gap when the WBC is at a critical state along the hysteresis loop. Cyclonic (anticyclonic) eddies play the role of reducing (enhancing) the inertial advection of vorticity in the vicinity of the gap so that transitions of the WBC path from the leaping (periodic penetrating) to the periodic penetrating (leaping) regimes are induced. In addition, cyclonic eddies are able to induce transitions of the WBC from the periodic penetrating to the leaping regimes through enhancing the meridional advection by its right fling. The transitions are irreversible because of the nonlinear hysteresis and are found to be sensitive to the strength, size, and approaching path of the eddy.

The ‘sliced-cylinder’ laboratory model of the wind-driven ocean circulation. Part 1. Steady forcing and topographic Rossby wave instability

1975 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Beardsley ◽  
K. Robbins
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Rossby Wave ◽  
Rossby Waves ◽  
Western Boundary Current ◽  
Boundary Layer Transition ◽  
Laboratory Model ◽  
Western Boundary ◽  
Boundary Current ◽  
Topographic Rossby Waves

The nonlinear response of the ‘sliced-cylinder’ laboratory model for the wind-driven ocean circulation is re-examined here in part 1 for the case of strong steady forcing. Introduced by Pedlosky & Greenspan (1967), the model consists of a rapidly rotating right cylinder with a planar sloping bottom. The homogeneous contained fluid is driven by the slow rotation of the flat upper lid relative to the rest of the basin. Except in thin Ekman and Stewartson boundary layers on the solid surfaces of the basin, the horizontal flow in the interior and western boundary layer is constrained by the rapid rotation of the basin to be independent of depth. The model thus effectively simulates geophysical flows through the physical analogy between topographic vortex stretching in the laboratory model and the creation of relative vorticity in planetary flows by the β effect.As the forcing is increased, the flow in both the sliced-cylinder laboratory and numerical models first exhibits downstream intensification in the western boundary layer. At greater forcing, separation of the western boundary current occurs with the development of stationary topographic Rossby waves in the western boundary-layer transition regions. The observed flow ultimately becomes unstable when a critical Ekman-layer Reynolds number is exceeded. We first review and compare the experimental and numerical descriptions of this low-frequency instability, then present a simple theoretical model which successfully explains this observed instability in terms of thelocalbreakdown of the finite-amplitude topographic Rossby waves embedded in the western boundary current transition region. The inviscid stability analysis of Lorenz (1972) is extended to include viscous effects, with the consequence that dissipative processes in the sliced-cylinder problem (i.e. lateral and bottom friction) are shown to inhibit the onset of the instability until the topographic Rossby wave slope exceeds a finite critical value.

scholarly journals Labrador Slope Water Connects the Subarctic with the Gulf Stream

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian New ◽  
David Smeed ◽  
Arnaud Czaja ◽  
Adam Blaker ◽  
Jenny Mecking ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Stream ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Western Boundary Current ◽  
Water Masses ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Western Slope ◽  
Western Boundary ◽  
Boundary Current ◽  
Shelf Slope

<p>Labrador Slope Water (LSLW) is found in the Slope Sea on the US-Canadian eastern shelf-slope as a relatively fresh and cool water mass, lying between the upper layer water masses and those carried by the Deep Western Boundary Current. It originates from the Labrador Current and has previously only been reported in the Eastern Slope Sea (east of 66°W). We here use the EN4 gridded database and the Line W hydrographic observations to show for the first time that the LSLW also penetrates into the Western Slope Sea, bringing it into close contact with the Gulf Stream. We also show that the LSLW spreads across the entire Slope Sea north of the Gulf Stream, and is both fresher and thicker when the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is high at the RAPID array at 26°N. The fresher, thicker LSLW is likely to contribute an additional 1.5 Sv of Gulf Stream transport. The spreading of the LSLW is also investigated in a high-resolution ocean general circulation model (NEMO), and is found to occur both as a western boundary current and through the extrusion of filaments following interaction with Gulf Stream meanders and eddies. The mechanism results in downward vertical motion as the filaments are entrained into the Gulf Stream. We conclude that the LSLW (rather than the deeper Labrador Sea Water) provides the intermediate depth water masses which maintain the density contrast here which partly drives the Gulf Stream, and that the transport of the LSLW from the Labrador shelf-slope offers a potential new mechanism for decadal variability in the Atlantic climate system, through connecting high latitude changes in the Subarctic with subsequent variability in the Gulf Stream and AMOC.</p>

scholarly journals Seasonal variability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at 11° S inferred from bottom pressure measurements

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josefine Herrford ◽  
Peter Brandt ◽  
Torsten Kanzow ◽  
Rebecca Hummels ◽  
Moacyr Araujo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Variability ◽  
Rossby Waves ◽  
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Western Boundary Current ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Western Boundary ◽  
Bottom Pressure ◽  
Boundary Current ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
Meridional Overturning

Abstract. Bottom pressure observations on both sides of the Atlantic basin, combined with satellite measurements of sea level anomalies and wind stress data, are utilized to estimate variations of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) at 11° S. Over the period 2013–2018, the AMOC and its components are dominated by seasonal variability, with peak-to-peak amplitudes of 12 Sv for the upper-ocean geostrophic transport, 7 Sv for the Ekman and 14 Sv for the AMOC transport. The observed seasonal cycles of the AMOC, its components as well as the Western Boundary Current as observed with current meter moorings are in general good agreement with results of an ocean general circulation model. The seasonal variability of zonally integrated geostrophic velocity in the upper 300 m is controlled by pressure variations at the eastern boundary, while at 500 m depth contributions from the western and eastern boundaries are similar. The model tends to underestimate the seasonal pressure variability at 300 and 500 m depth, slightly stronger at the western boundary. In the model, seasonal AMOC variability at 11° S is governed by the variability in the eastern basin. Here, long Rossby waves originating from equatorial forcing are known to be radiated from the Angolan continental slope and propagate westward into the basin interior. The contribution of the western basin to AMOC seasonal variability is instead comparably weak as transport variability due to locally forced Rossby waves is mainly compensated by the Western Boundary Current. Our analyses indicate, that while some of the uncertainties of our estimates result from the technical aspects of the observational strategy or processes being not properly represented in the model, uncertainties in the wind forcing are particularly relevant for AMOC estimates at 11° S.

scholarly journals Glaciers and Paleorecords Tell Us How Atmospheric Circulation Changes and Successive Cooling Periods Occurred in the Fennoscandia during the Holocene

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 832
Author(s):  
Jean-Louis Pinault
Keyword(s):  
Atmospheric Circulation ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Rossby Waves ◽  
Western Boundary Current ◽  
The Other ◽  
Western Boundary ◽  
Boundary Current ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic

Two major climatic phenomena that occurred during the Holocene are interpreted from the resonance in subharmonic modes of long-period Rossby waves winding around the North Atlantic gyre, the so-called gyral Rossby waves (GRWs). These are, on the one hand, the change in atmospheric circulation that occurred in the North Atlantic in the middle Holocene, and, on the other hand, the occurrence of abrupt cooling events more frequently than what is generally accepted. The amplitude of GRWs is deduced by filtering, within bands characteristic of various subharmonic modes, climate records from the Greenland ice sheet, pollen, and tree rings in northern Fennoscandia, and from two Norwegian glaciers in northern Folgefonna and on the Lyngen peninsula. While the subharmonic modes reflect the acceleration/deceleration phases of the western boundary current, an anharmonic mode is evidenced in the 400–450 year band. Abrupt cooling events of the climate are paced by this anharmonic mode while the western boundary current is decelerating, and the northward heat advection of air favors the melting of the pack ice. Then, the current of the northernmost part of the North Atlantic gyre cools before branching off to the north, which alters its buoyancy. On the other hand, according to high subharmonic modes, high-pressure systems prevailed over the North Atlantic in the first half of the Holocene while low-pressure systems resulted from baroclinic instabilities of the atmosphere dominate during the second half, favoring the growth of glaciers in Scandinavia by a better snowfall in winter and cooler summers.

scholarly journals Adjustment of the basin-scale circulation at 26° N to variations in Gulf Stream, deep western boundary current and Ekman transports as observed by the Rapid array

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 871-908 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. L. Bryden ◽  
A. Mujahid ◽  
S. A. Cunningham ◽  
T. Kanzow
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Stream ◽  
Pressure Fluctuations ◽  
Western Boundary Current ◽  
Western Boundary ◽  
Pressure Measurements ◽  
Bottom Pressure ◽  
Boundary Current ◽  
The Bahamas ◽  
Deep Western Boundary Current ◽  
Basin Scale

Abstract. The Rapid instrument array across the Atlantic Ocean along 26° N provides unprecedented monitoring of the basin-scale circulation. A unique feature of the Rapid array is the combination of full-depth moorings with instruments measuring temperature, salinity, pressure time series at many depths with co-located bottom pressure measurements so that dynamic pressure can be measured from surface to bottom. Bottom pressure measurements show a zonally uniform rise (and fall) of bottom pressure of 0.015 dbar on a 5 to 10 day time scale, suggesting that the Atlantic basin is filling and draining on a short time scale. After removing the zonally uniform bottom pressure fluctuations, bottom pressure variations at 4000 m depth against the western boundary compensate instantaneously for baroclinic fluctuations in the strength and structure of the deep western boundary current so there is no basin-scale mass imbalance resulting from variations in the deep western boundary current. After removing the mass compensating bottom pressure, residual bottom pressure fluctuations at the western boundary just east of the Bahamas balance variations in Gulf Stream transport. Again the compensation appears to be especially confined close to the western boundary. Thus, fluctuations in either Gulf Stream or deep western boundary current transports are compensated in a depth independent (barotropic) manner very close to the continental slope off the Bahamas. In contrast, compensation for variations in wind-driven surface Ekman transport appears to involve fluctuations in both western basin and eastern basin bottom pressures, though the bottom pressure difference fluctuations appear to be a factor of 3 too large, perhaps due to an inability to resolve small bottom pressure fluctuations after removal of larger zonal average, baroclinic, and Gulf Stream pressure components. For 4 tall moorings where time series dynamic height (geostrophic pressure) profiles can be estimated from sea surface to ocean bottom and bottom pressure can be added, there is no general correlation between surface dynamic height and bottom pressure.

scholarly journals Adjustment of the basin-scale circulation at 26° N to variations in Gulf Stream, deep western boundary current and Ekman transports as observed by the Rapid array

Ocean Science ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 421-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. L. Bryden ◽  
A. Mujahid ◽  
S. A. Cunningham ◽  
T. Kanzow
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Stream ◽  
Pressure Fluctuations ◽  
Western Boundary Current ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Western Boundary ◽  
Bottom Pressure ◽  
Boundary Current ◽  
Dynamic Height ◽  
Deep Western Boundary Current ◽  
Basin Scale

Abstract. The Rapid instrument array across the Atlantic Ocean along 26° N provides unprecedented monitoring of the basin-scale circulation. A unique feature of the Rapid array is the combination of full-depth moorings with instruments measuring temperature, salinity, pressure time series at many depths with co-located bottom pressure measurements so that dynamic pressure can be measured from surface to bottom. Bottom pressure measurements show a zonally uniform rise (and fall) of bottom pressure of 0.015 dbar on a 5 to 10 day time scale, suggesting that the Atlantic basin is filling and draining on a short time scale. After removing the zonally uniform bottom pressure fluctuations, bottom pressure variations at 4000 m depth against the western boundary compensate instantaneously for baroclinic fluctuations in the strength and structure of the deep western boundary current so there is no basin-scale mass imbalance resulting from variations in the deep western boundary current. After removing the mass compensating bottom pressure, residual bottom pressure fluctuations at the western boundary just east of the Bahamas balance variations in Gulf Stream transport. Again the compensation appears to be especially confined close to the western boundary. Thus, fluctuations in either Gulf Stream or deep western boundary current transports are compensated in a depth independent (barotropic) manner very close to the continental slope off the Bahamas. In contrast, compensation for variations in wind-driven surface Ekman transport appears to involve fluctuations in both western basin and eastern basin bottom pressures, though the bottom pressure difference fluctuations appear to be a factor of 3 too large, perhaps due to an inability to resolve small bottom pressure fluctuations after removal of larger zonal average, baroclinic, and Gulf Stream pressure components. For 4 tall moorings where time series dynamic height (geostrophic pressure) profiles can be estimated from sea surface to ocean bottom and bottom pressure can be added, there is no general correlation between surface dynamic height and bottom pressure. Dynamic height on each mooring is strongly correlated with sea surface height from satellite observations and the variability in both dynamic height and satellite sea surface height decrease sharply as the western boundary is approached.

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