Angelo Rubino

Internal Waves in the Strait of Messina Studied by a Numerical Model and Synthetic Aperture Radar Images from the ERS 1/2 Satellites

A new numerical two-layer model is presented, which describes the generation of internal tidal bores and their disintegration into internal solitary waves in the Strait of Messina. This model is used to explain observations made by the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) from the European Remote Sensing satellites ERS 1 and ERS 2. The analysis of available ERS 1/2 SAR data of the Strait of Messina and adjacent sea areas show that 1) northward as well as southward propagating internal waves are generated in the Strait of Messina, 2) southward propagating internal waves are observed more frequently than northward propagating internal waves, 3) sea surface manifestations of southward as well as northward propagating internal waves are stronger during periods where a strong seasonal thermocline is known to be present, 4) southward propagating internal bores are released from the sill between 1 and 5 hours after maximum northward tidal flow and northward propagating internal bores are released between 2 and 6 hours after maximum southward tidal flow, and 5) the spatial separation between the first two internal solitary waves of southward propagating wave trains is smaller in the period from July to September than in the period from October to June. The numerical two-layer model is a composite of two models consisting of 1) a hydrostatic “generation model,” which describes the dynamics of the water masses in the region close to the strait’s sill, where internal bores are generated, and 2) a weakly nonhydrostatic “propagation model,” which describes the dynamics of the water masses outside of the sill region where internal bores may disintegrate into internal solitary waves. Due to a technique for movable lateral boundaries, the generation model is capable of simulating the dynamics of a lower layer that may intersect the bottom topography. The proposed generation–propagation model depends on one space variable only, but it retains several features of a fully three-dimensional model by including a realistic channel depth and a realistic channel width. It is driven by semidiurnal tidal oscillations of the sea level at the two open boundaries of the model domain. Numerical simulations elucidate several observed characteristics of the internal wave field in the Strait of Messina, such as north–south asymmetry, times of release of the internal bores from the strait’s sill, propagation speeds, and spatial separations between the first two solitary waves of internal wave trains.

Multidecadal-to-centennial SST variability in the MPI-ESM simulation ensemble for the last millennium

We assess the responses of North Atlantic, North Pacific, and tropical Indian Ocean Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs) to natural forcing and their linkage to simulated global surface temperature (GST) variability in the MPI-Earth System Model simulation ensemble for the last millennium. In the simulations, North Atlantic and tropical Indian Ocean SSTs show a strong sensitivity to external forcing and a strong connection to GST. The leading mode of extra-tropical North Pacific SSTs is, on the other hand, rather resilient to natural external perturbations. Strong tropical volcanic eruptions and, to a lesser extent, variability in solar activity emerge as potentially relevant sources for multidecadal SST modes’ phase modulations, possibly through induced changes in the atmospheric teleconnection between North Atlantic and North Pacific that can persist over decadal and multidecadal timescales. Linkages among low-frequency regional modes of SST variability, and among them and GST, can remarkably vary over the integration time. No coherent or constant phasing is found between North Pacific and North Atlantic SST modes over time and among the ensemble members. Based on our assessments of how multidecadal transitions in simulated North Atlantic SSTs compare to reconstructions and of how they contribute characterizing simulated multidecadal regional climate anomalies, past regional climate multidecadal fluctuations seem to be reproducible as simulated ensemble-mean responses only for temporal intervals dominated by major external forcings.

Structure of Large-Amplitude Internal Solitary Waves

The horizontal and vertical structure of large-amplitude internal solitary waves propagating in stratified waters on a continental shelf is investigated by analyzing the results of numerical simulations and in situ measurements. Numerical simulations aimed at obtaining stationary, solitary wave solutions of different amplitudes were carried out using a nonstationary model based on the incompressible two-dimensional Euler equations in the frame of the Boussinesq approximation. The numerical solutions, which refer to different density stratifications typical for midlatitude continental shelves, were obtained by letting an initial disturbance evolve according to the numerical model. Several intriguing characteristics of the structure of the simulated large-amplitude internal solitary waves like, for example, wavelength‐amplitude and phase speed‐amplitude relationship as well as form of the locus of zero horizontal velocity emerge, consistent with those obtained previously using stationary Euler models. The authors’ approach, which tends to exclude unstable oceanic internal solitary waves as they are filtered out during the evolution process, was also employed to perform a detailed comparison between model results and characteristics of large-amplitude internal solitary waves found in high-resolution in situ data acquired north and south of the Strait of Messina, in the Mediterranean Sea. From this comparison the importance of using higher-order theoretical models for a detailed description of large-amplitude internal solitary waves observed in the real ocean emerge. Implications of the results showing the complexity related to a possible inversion of sea surface manifestations of oceanic internal solitary waves into characteristics of the interior ocean dynamics are finally discussed.

Modeling the Oceanic Circulation in the Area of the Strait of Sicily: The Remotely Forced Dynamics

In order to describe aspects of the baroclinic dynamics in the region of the Strait of Sicily a high-resolution multilayer numerical model has been implemented in a central Mediterranean region including the Tyrrhenian and the Ionian Seas. Three layers have been considered representing water of Atlantic origin (MAW), the Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW), and deep water of the Mediterranean. Quasi-stationary circulations representing the local manifestation of the large-scale Mediterranean conveyor belt are obtained [after an adjustment time of O(2 months)] by imposing steady fluxes along the remote open boundaries, in the absence of meteorological forcings. These circulations can be interpreted as possible dynamic scenarios of the seasonal variability in the Strait of Sicily. In the numerical simulations an inflow of MAW and an outflow of LIW through the Strait of Sardinia, an outflow of MAW and an inflow of LIW through the Ionian boundary, and an outflow of MAW through the Corsica channel are imposed, resulting in a vanishing total net transport in each layer. For realistic values of these transports the model captures the main features of the observed circulation, such as (i) the separation of the Algerian Current into two branches, one directed toward the Tyrrhenian Sea and the other entering the strait; (ii) a secondary bifurcation of MAW within the strait giving rise to a southward-moving current that follows the Tunisian continental slope and to a current that flows southeastward along the southern Sicilian coast and then northward along the southern Italian coasts (the so-called Atlantic‐Ionian Stream); (iii) a bifurcation of LIW at the strait level leading to a main current directed toward the Strait of Sardinia and to a weaker current that, after having crossed the strait, bends eastward and enters the Tyrrhenian Sea. Sensitivity experiments carried out by imposing different boundary fluxes have shed light on the functioning of the MAW and LIW bifurcations. First of all, for a given net transport of MAW and LIW through the strait (imposed indirectly by the boundary fluxes), the ratio Rmaw between the transport of MAW entering the Tyrrhenian Sea and that entering the strait is found to be virtually independent of the boundary-imposed Algerian Current transport. It is, on the contrary, determined by a local dynamic control, which selects the value Rmaw 0.43 for a net MAW/LIW strait transport of 61 Sv, in excellent agreement with observations. Second, for decreasing baroclinic transports the ratio Rmaw is found to decrease up to the limiting value Rmaw 0.2 (corresponding to the linear regime) for transports ,O(0.1 Sv). Finally, Rmaw is found to be very sensitive to the barotropic transport T through the strait, whereas the corresponding ratio for the LIW, Rliw, is virtually independent of T. For T 5 20.5 Sv, Rmaw 1.1 while for T 51 0.5 Sv, Rmaw decreases by one order of magnitude: Rmaw 0.1. In other words, a weakening of the LIW (or a strengthening of the MAW) net transport through the strait reduces the relative intensity of the Tyrrhenian branch of MAW, and vice versa. On the other hand, for values of T within the same range one always findsRliw 20.3. It thus appears that the local control exerted by the topography through the LIW potential vorticity budget forces the transport of the Tyrrhenian branch of LIW to be always ;1/3 of that directed toward the Strait of Sardinia.

Intraseasonal variability in the southwestern Arabian Sea and its relation to the seasonal circulation

An analysis of TOPEX/POSEIDON altimeter data and in situ current and temperature data obtained between April 1995 and October 1996 from a moored array shows strong intraseasonal fluctuations in the southwestern Arabian Sea, an oceanic region where the Great Whirl (GW), a predominantly wind-generated, very energetic anticyclone, is present during the Southwest Monsoon. Fluctuation periods between 30 and 50 days, up to 100 days during some years, are observed in the 8-year altimetric dataset, mostly during late summer and fall. These fluctuations are largest in a 1000 km-wide region off the Somali, Omani and Yemeni coasts north of 5°N, suggesting a local generation mechanism. The in situ data at different moorings show strong and coherent fluctuations that are characterized by southwestward phase propagation and northward energy propagation. Their periods range from 30 to 60 days and increase steadily from July 1995 to January 1996. In the first stage, these periods are at and below the cut-off period of freely propagating, first baroclinic mode Rossby waves, but approach this theoretical limit later in the year. Instabilities of the flow in the transition region between the Southern Gyre and the GW are likely sources of these fluctuations.

Warm-Core Eddies Studied by Laboratory Experiments and Numerical Modeling

Abstract Aspects of the dynamics of warm-core eddies evolving in a deep ocean are investigated using the results of laboratory experiments and numerical simulations. The vortices, produced experimentally in a system brought to solid body rotation by rapidly lifting a bottomless cylinder containing freshwater immersed in a salty ambient fluid, show clearly the presence of inertial oscillations: deepenings and contractions, shoalings and expansions, alternate during an exact inertial period. These pulsations, though predicted analytically and simulated numerically, had never been measured before for surface eddies having aspect ratios, as well as Rossby and Burger numbers, typical of geophysical warm-core eddies. The spatial structure of the vortex radial and tangential velocity components is analyzed using the experimental results and numerical simulations carried out by means of a layered, nonlinear, reduced-gravity frontal model. It is found that, while the dependence of the vortex radial velocity on the...

Evidence for the Influence of Atlantic–Ionian Stream Fluctuations on the Tidally Induced Internal Dynamics in the Strait of Messina

Abstract On 24 and 25 October 1995, high-resolution oceanographic measurements were carried out in the Strait of Messina by using a towed conductivity-temperature-depth chain and a vessel-mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler. During the period of investigation the surface water of the Tyrrhenian Sea north of the strait sill was heavier than the surface water of the Ionian Sea south of the strait sill. As a consequence, during northward tidal flow surface water of the Ionian Sea spread as a surface jet into the Tyrrhenian Sea, whereas during southward tidal flow heavier surface water of the Tyrrhenian Sea spread, after having sunk to a depth of about 100 m, as a subsurface jet into the Ionian Sea. Both jets had the form of an internal bore, which finally developed into trains of internal solitary waves whose amplitudes were larger north than south of the strait sill. These measurements represent a detailed picture of the tidally induced internal dynamics in the Strait of Messina during the period of i...

On the remote sensing of oceanic and atmospheric convection in the Greenland Sea by synthetic aperture radar

[1] In this paper we discuss characteristic properties of radar signatures of oceanic and atmospheric convection features in the Greenland Sea. If the water surface is clean (no surface films or ice coverage), oceanic and atmospheric features can become visible in radar images via a modulation of the surface roughness, and their radar signatures can be very similar. For an unambiguous interpretation and for the retrieval of quantitative information on current and wind variations from radar imagery with such signatures, theoretical models of current and wind phenomena and their radar imaging mechanisms must be utilized. We demonstrate this approach with the analysis of some synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images acquired by the satellites ERS-2 and RADARSAT-1. In one case, an ERS-2 SAR image and a RADARSAT-1 ScanSAR image exhibit pronounced cell-like signatures with length scales on the order of 10–20 km and modulation depths of about 5–6 dB and 9–10 dB, respectively. Simulations with a numerical SAR imaging model and various input current and wind fields reveal that the signatures in both images can be explained consistently by wind variations on the order of ±2.5 m/s, but not by surface current variations on realistic orders of magnitude. Accordingly, the observed features must be atmospheric convection cells. This is confirmed by visible typical cloud patterns in a NOAA AVHRR image of the test scenario. In another case, the presence of an oceanic convective chimney is obvious from in situ data, but no signatures of it are visible in an ERS-2 SAR image. We show by numerical simulations with an oceanic convection model and our SAR imaging model that this is consistent with theoretical predictions, since the current gradients associated with the observed chimney are not sufficiently strong to give rise to significant signatures in an ERS-2 SAR image under the given conditions. Further model results indicate that it should be generally difficult to observe oceanic convection features in the Greenland Sea with ERS-2 or RADARSAT-1 SAR, since their signatures resulting from pure wave-current interaction will be too weak to become visible in the noisy SAR images in most cases. This situation will improve with the availability of future high-resolution SARs such as RADARSAT-2 SAR in fine resolution mode (2004) and TerraSAR-X (2005), which will offer significantly reduced speckle noise fluctuations at comparable spatial resolutions and thus a much better visibility of small image intensity variations on spatial scales on the order of a few hundred meters. INDEX TERMS: 3314 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Convective processes; 4275 Oceanography: General: Remote sensing and electromagnetic processes (0689); 4279 Oceanography: General: Upwelling and convergences; 4255 Oceanography: General: Numerical modeling;

A model for the spreading and sinking of the Deep Ice Shelf Water in the Ross Sea

Spreading and sinking of the Deep Ice Shelf Water (DISW) in the Ross Sea are analysed using in situ observations and the results of a nonlinear, reduced gravity, layered numerical model, which is able to simulate the motion of a bottom trapped current over realistic topography. The model is forced by prescribing thickness and density of the DISW layer at the southern model boundary as well as ambient density stratification above the DISW layer. This density structure is imposed using hydrographic data acquired by the Italian PNRA-CLIMA project. In the model water of the quiescent ambient ocean is allowed to entrain in the active deep layer due to a simple entrainment parameterization. The importance of forcing the model with a realistic ambient density is demonstrated by carrying out a numerical simulation using an idealized ambient density. In a more realistic simulation the path and the density structure of the DISW vein flowing over the Challenger Basin are obtained and are found to be in good agreement with data. It is found that entrainment, which is particularly active in regions of strong topographic variation, significantly influences the pattern followed by the DISW layer. The evolution of the DISW layer beyond the continental shelf, i.e., in a region where the paucity of experimental data does not allow for a detailed description of the deep ocean dynamics, is also investigated.

Decay of Stable Warm-Core Eddies in a Layered Frontal Model

Aspects of the decay of stable frontal warm-core eddies in the deep ocean are investigated using a new numerical layered “frontal” model that solves the nonlinear, reduced-gravity, shallow-water equations for a horizontally inhomogeneous, viscous fluid on an f plane. After a discussion on aspects of the numerical techniques implemented to allow for the eddy expansions and contractions at the sea surface, for the first time the capability of a numerical model of reproducing the evolution of analytical nonstationary frontal vortices is explored. This step is necessary, as far as different phenomena related to the dynamics of these oceanic features are to be studied numerically. In fact the comparison between numerical and analytical inviscid solutions allows for a quantification of the numerical dissipation affecting the simulated solutions. This dissipation is found to be very small in this numerical model: The simulated lifetimes are larger than those of most of the frontal eddies observed in the World Ocean. On this basis, the eddy decay due to interfacial (linear and quadratic) friction, harmonic horizontal momentum diffusion, as well as linear ambient-water entrainment is investigated. It is found that interfacial friction represents a much more efficient mechanism than horizontal diffusion and water entrainment in inducing the eddy decay as well as in damping the eddy pulsations. It is thus suggested that internal wave radiation due to vortex pulsation can represent a relevant mechanism for the dissipation of the vortex energy in a stratified ambient ocean only episodically. Finally, a critical discussion about the appropriateness of the different approximations assumed in the investigation is presented. In particular, the appropriateness of the reduced-gravity assumption is discussed. Results are consistent with those obtained analytically in the frame of the frontal-geostrophic theory: Although the effect of an active ambient layer on the vortex dynamics is found to be virtually absent only for unrealistically large water depths, it appears that the reduced-gravity model describes warm-core eddies acceptably for values of the ratio between maximum vortex thickness and total water depth typical for Gulf Stream rings.