On the Accuracy of Ocean Winds and Wind Stress – An Emperical Assesment

2003 ◽  
pp. 34-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.K. Taylor ◽  
M.J. Yelland
Keyword(s):  
Wind Stress ◽  
Ocean Winds

scholarly journals The Energetics of Southern Ocean Upwelling

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew McC. Hogg ◽  
Paul Spence ◽  
Oleg A. Saenko ◽  
Stephanie M. Downes
Keyword(s):  
Potential Energy ◽  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Wind Stress ◽  
Weddell Sea ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Overturning Circulation ◽  
Available Potential Energy ◽  
Ocean Winds ◽  
Global Overturning Circulation

AbstractThe ocean’s meridional overturning circulation is closed by the upwelling of dense, carbon-rich waters to the surface of the Southern Ocean. It has been proposed that upwelling in this region is driven by strong westerly winds, implying that the intensification of Southern Ocean winds in recent decades may have enhanced the rate of upwelling, potentially affecting the global overturning circulation. However, there is no consensus on the sensitivity of upwelling to winds or on the nature of the connection between Southern Ocean processes and the global overturning circulation. In this study, the sensitivity of the overturning circulation to changes in Southern Ocean westerly wind stress is investigated using an eddy-permitting ocean–sea ice model. In addition to a suite of standard circulation metrics, an energy analysis is used to aid dynamical interpretation of the model response. Increased Southern Ocean wind stress enhances the upper cell of the overturning circulation through creation of available potential energy in the Southern Hemisphere, associated with stronger upwelling of deep water. Poleward shifts in the Southern Ocean westerlies lead to a complicated transient response, with the formation of bottom water induced by increased polynya activity in the Weddell Sea and a weakening of the upper overturning cell in the Northern Hemisphere. The energetic consequences of the upper overturning cell response indicate an interhemispheric connection to the input of available potential energy in the Northern Hemisphere.

A Global Climatology of Surface Wind and Wind Stress Fields from Eight Years of QuikSCAT Scatterometer Data

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (11) ◽  
pp. 2379-2413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig M. Risien ◽  
Dudley B. Chelton
Keyword(s):  
Wind Stress ◽  
Surface Wind ◽  
Stress Fields ◽  
Ocean Current ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Seasonal Cycles ◽  
Wind Fields ◽  
Ocean Winds ◽  
Wind Measurements ◽  
Sst Gradient

Abstract Global seasonal cycles of the wind and wind stress fields estimated from the 8-yr record (September 1999–August 2007) of wind measurements by the NASA Quick Scatterometer (QuikSCAT) are presented. While this atlas, referred to here as the Scatterometer Climatology of Ocean Winds (SCOW), consists of 12 variables, the focus here is on the wind stress and wind stress derivative (curl and divergence) fields. SCOW seasonal cycles are compared with seasonal cycles estimated from NCEP–NCAR reanalysis wind fields. These comparisons show that the SCOW atlas is able to capture small-scale features that are dynamically important to both the ocean and the atmosphere but are not resolved in other observationally based wind atlases or in NCEP–NCAR reanalysis fields. This is particularly true of the wind stress derivative fields in which topographic, SST gradient, and ocean current influences on surface winds are plainly visible. Discussions of five example regions are presented to highlight these seasonally recurring small-scale features. It is expected that the SCOW atlas will prove valuable to researchers conducting hydrographic and modeling studies.

On Challenges in Predicting Bottom Water Transport in the Southern Ocean

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 1349-1356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oleg A. Saenko ◽  
Alex Sen Gupta ◽  
Paul Spence
Keyword(s):  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Wind Stress ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Bottom Water ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Ocean Winds ◽  
Projected Changes ◽  
Ocean Wind ◽  
Southward Transport

Abstract Changes in the Southern Ocean lower-limb overturning circulation are analyzed using a set of climate models. In agreement with some recently developed theoretical models, it is found that the overturning can be strongly affected by winds. In particular, the simulated strengthening of large-scale southward transport in the abyss is explicitly driven by zonal wind stress. However, there is a considerable range among the climate models in their projected changes of Southern Ocean wind stress. Furthermore, the strengthening of large-scale southward transport tends to be compensated by eddy-induced northward flows in the abyss, particularly at eddy-permitting resolution. As a result, the net Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) export may only be weakly affected. However, none of the models considered accounts for the possibility that a fraction of the eddy kinetic energy may be converted to diapycnal mixing. If this were the case, the presented energetic arguments suggest that stronger Southern Ocean winds would result in a stronger AABW transport.

FEATURES OF WIND FIELD OVER THE SEA SURFACE IN THE COASTAL AREA BASED ON SAR OBSERVATIONS

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Monzikova ◽  
Anna Monzikova ◽  
Vladimir Kudryavtsev Vladimir ◽  
Vladimir Kudryavtsev Vladimir ◽  
Alexander Myasoedov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wind Stress ◽  
Surface Wind ◽  
Quantitative Description ◽  
Energy Resource ◽  
Resource Assessment ◽  
Internal Boundary Layer ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Internal Boundary ◽  
Sar Images ◽  
Surface Wind Stress

“Wind-shadowing” effects in the Gulf of Finland coastal zone are analyzed using high resolution Envisat Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) measurements and model simulations. These effects are related to the internal boundary layer (IBL) development due to abrupt change the surface roughness at the sea-land boundary. Inside the "shadow" areas the airflow accelerates and the surface wind stress increases with the fetch. Such features can be revealed in SAR images as dark areas adjacent to the coastal line. Quantitative description of these effects is important for offshore wind energy resource assessment. It is found that the surface wind stress scaled by its equilibrium value (far from the coast) is universal functions of the dimensionless fetch Xf/G. Wind stress reaches an equilibrium value at the distance Xf/G of about 0.4.

scholarly journals Using Eulerian and Lagrangian Approaches to Investigate Wind-Driven Changes in the Southern Ocean Abyssal Circulation

2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 662-675 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Spence ◽  
Erik van Sebille ◽  
Oleg A. Saenko ◽  
Matthew H. England
Keyword(s):  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Wind Stress ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
Lagrangian Particle ◽  
Stress Changes ◽  
Abyssal Circulation ◽  
Flow Pathways ◽  
Ocean Wind

Abstract This study uses a global ocean eddy-permitting climate model to explore the export of abyssal water from the Southern Ocean and its sensitivity to projected twenty-first-century poleward-intensifying Southern Ocean wind stress. The abyssal flow pathways and transport are investigated using a combination of Lagrangian and Eulerian techniques. In an Eulerian format, the equator- and poleward flows within similar abyssal density classes are increased by the wind stress changes, making it difficult to explicitly diagnose changes in the abyssal export in a meridional overturning circulation framework. Lagrangian particle analyses are used to identify the major export pathways of Southern Ocean abyssal waters and reveal an increase in the number of particles exported to the subtropics from source regions around Antarctica in response to the wind forcing. Both the Lagrangian particle and Eulerian analyses identify transients as playing a key role in the abyssal export of water from the Southern Ocean. Wind-driven modifications to the potential energy component of the vorticity balance in the abyss are also found to impact the Southern Ocean barotropic circulation.

scholarly journals Seasonal variability of SST fronts and winds on the southeastern continental shelf of Brazil

2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 1387-1399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huan-Huan Chen ◽  
Yiquan Qi ◽  
Yuntao Wang ◽  
Fei Chai
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Wind Stress ◽  
Seasonal Variability ◽  
Detection Algorithm ◽  
Coupling Coefficients ◽  
Seafloor Topography ◽  
Wind Stress Curl ◽  
Large Coupling ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Sst Fronts

Abstract Fourteen years (September 2002 to August 2016) of high-resolution satellite observations of sea surface temperature (SST) data are used to describe the frontal pattern and frontogenesis on the southeastern continental shelf of Brazil. The daily SST fronts are obtained using an edge-detection algorithm, and the monthly frontal probability (FP) is subsequently calculated. High SST FPs are mainly distributed along the coast and decrease with distance from the coastline. The results from empirical orthogonal function (EOF) decompositions reveal strong seasonal variability of the coastal SST FP with maximum (minimum) in the astral summer (winter). Wind plays an important role in driving the frontal activities, and high FPs are accompanied by strong alongshore wind stress and wind stress curl. This is particularly true during the summer, when the total transport induced by the alongshore component of upwelling-favorable winds and the wind stress curl reaches the annual maximum. The fronts are influenced by multiple factors other than wind forcing, such as the orientation of the coastline, the seafloor topography, and the meandering of the Brazil Current. As a result, there is a slight difference between the seasonality of the SST fronts and the wind, and their relationship was varying with spatial locations. The impact of the air-sea interaction is further investigated in the frontal zone, and large coupling coefficients are found between the crosswind (downwind) SST gradients and the wind stress curl (divergence). The analysis of the SST fronts and wind leads to a better understanding of the dynamics and frontogenesis off the southeastern continental shelf of Brazil, and the results can be used to further understand the air-sea coupling process at regional level.

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