Oliver M. T. Sun

Energy Flux and Dissipation in Luzon Strait: Two Tales of Two Ridges

AbstractInternal tide generation, propagation, and dissipation are investigated in Luzon Strait, a system of two quasi-parallel ridges situated between Taiwan and the Philippines. Two profiling moorings deployed for about 20 days and a set of nineteen 36-h lowered ADCP–CTD time series stations allowed separate measurement of diurnal and semidiurnal internal tide signals. Measurements were concentrated on a northern line, where the ridge spacing was approximately equal to the mode-1 wavelength for semidiurnal motions, and a southern line, where the spacing was approximately two-thirds that. The authors contrast the two sites to emphasize the potential importance of resonance between generation sites. Throughout Luzon Strait, baroclinic energy, energy fluxes, and turbulent dissipation were some of the strongest ever measured. Peak-to-peak baroclinic velocity and vertical displacements often exceeded 2 m s−1 and 300 m, respectively. Energy fluxes exceeding 60 kW m−1 were measured at spring tide at the wester...

Global Patterns of Diapycnal Mixing from Measurements of the Turbulent Dissipation Rate

The authors present inferences of diapycnal diffusivity from a compilation of over 5200 microstructure profiles. As microstructure observations are sparse, these are supplemented with indirect measurements of mixingobtainedfrom(i)Thorpe-scaleoverturnsfrommooredprofilers,afinescaleparameterizationappliedto (ii) shipboard observations of upper-ocean shear, (iii) strain as measured by profiling floats, and (iv) shear and strainfromfull-depthloweredacousticDoppler currentprofilers (LADCP)andCTDprofiles. Verticalprofiles of the turbulent dissipation rate are bottom enhanced over rough topography and abrupt, isolated ridges. The geography of depth-integrated dissipation rate shows spatial variability related to internal wave generation, suggesting one direct energy pathway to turbulence. The global-averaged diapycnal diffusivity below 1000-m depth is O(10 24 )m 2 s 21 and above 1000-m depth is O(10 25 )m 2 s 21 . The compiled microstructure observations sample a wide range of internal wave power inputs and topographic roughness, providing a dataset with which to estimate a representative global-averaged dissipation rate and diffusivity. However, there is strong regional variabilityin theratiobetweenlocal internalwavegeneration and local dissipation.Insomeregions,the depthintegrateddissipationrateiscomparabletotheestimatedpowerinputintothelocalinternalwavefield.Inafew cases, more internal wave power is dissipated than locally generated, suggesting remote internal wave sources. However,atmostlocationsthetotalpowerlostthroughturbulentdissipationislessthantheinputintothelocal internal wave field. This suggests dissipation elsewhere, such as continental margins.

Parametric Subharmonic Instability of the Internal Tide at 29°N

Observational evidence is presented for transfer of energy from the internal tide to near-inertial motions near 298N in the Pacific Ocean. The transfer is accomplished via parametric subharmonic instability (PSI), which involvesinteractionbetweena primarywave (the internaltide in this case) andtwo smaller-scale waves of nearly half the frequency. The internal tide at this location is a complex superposition of a low-mode waves propagating north from Hawaii and higher-mode waves generated at local seamounts, making application of PSI theory challenging. Nevertheless, a statistically significant phase locking is documented between the internal tide and upward- and downward-propagating near-inertial waves. The phase between those three waves is consistent with that expected from PSI theory. Calculated energy transfer rates from the tide to nearinertial motions are modest, consistent with local dissipation rate estimates. The conclusion is that while PSI does befall the tide near a critical latitude of 298N, it does not do so catastrophically.

The Wirewalker: A Vertically Profiling Instrument Carrier Powered by Ocean Waves

Abstract Ocean wave energy is used to drive a buoyant instrument platform down a wire suspended from a surface float. At the lower terminus of the profiling range, the cam that rectifies wave vertical motion is released and the package, termed the Wirewalker, free ascends. No electronic components are used in the profiler, and only a few moving parts are involved. The Wirewalker is tolerant of a broad range of payloads: the ballast is adjusted by adding discrete foam blocks. The Wirewalker profiles 1000–3000 km month−1, vertically, with typical missions lasting from days to months. A description of the profiler is presented along with a discussion of basic profiling dynamics.

Subharmonic Energy Transfer from the Semidiurnal Internal Tide to Near-Diurnal Motions over Kaena Ridge, Hawaii

AbstractNonlinear energy transfers from the semidiurnal internal tide to high-mode, near-diurnal motions are documented near Kaena Ridge, Hawaii, an energetic generation site for the baroclinic tide. Data were collected aboard the Research Floating Instrument Platform (FLIP) over a 35-day period during the fall of 2002, as part of the Hawaii Ocean Mixing Experiment (HOME) Nearfield program.Energy transfer terms for a PSI resonant interaction at midlatitude are identified and compared to those for near-inertial PSI close to the M2 critical latitude. Bispectral techniques are used to demonstrate significant energy transfers in the Nearfield, between the low-mode M2 internal tide and subharmonic waves with frequencies near M2/2 and vertical wavelengths of O(120 m). A novel prefilter is used to test the PSI wavenumber resonance condition, which requires the subharmonic waves to propagate in opposite vertical directions. Depth–time maps of the interactions, formed by directly estimating the energy transfer ter...

Scaling Turbulent Dissipation in the Transition Layer

AbstractData from three midlatitude, month-long surveys are examined for evidence of enhanced vertical mixing associated with the transition layer (TL), here defined as the strongly stratified layer that exists between the well mixed layer and the thermocline below. In each survey, microstructure estimates of turbulent dissipation were collected concurrently with fine-structure stratification and shear. Survey-wide averages are formed in a “TL coordinate” zTL, which is referenced around the depth of maximum stratification for each profile. Averaged profiles show characteristic TL structures such as peaks in stratification N2 and shear variance S2, which fall off steeply above zTL = 0 and more gradually below. Turbulent dissipation rates ɛ are 5–10 times larger than those found in the upper thermocline (TC). The gradient Richardson number Ri = N2/S2 becomes unstable (Ri 0. Ri is stable for zTL ≤ 0...

Climate Process Team on Internal Wave-Driven Ocean Mixing

Diapycnal mixing plays a primary role in the thermodynamic balance of the ocean and, consequently, in oceanic heat and carbon uptake and storage. Though observed mixing rates are on average consistent with values required by inverse models, recent attention has focused on the dramatic spatial variability, spanning several orders of magnitude, of mixing rates in both the upper and deep ocean. Away from ocean boundaries, the spatio-temporal patterns of mixing are largely driven by the geography of generation, propagation and dissipation of internal waves, which supply much of the power for turbulent mixing. Over the last five years and under the auspices of US CLIVAR, a NSF- and NOAA-supported Climate Process Team has been engaged in developing, implementing and testing dynamics-based parameterizations for internal-wave driven turbulent mixing in global ocean models. The work has primarily focused on turbulence 1) near sites of internal tide generation, 2) in the upper ocean related to wind-generated near inertial motions, 3) due to internal lee waves generated by low-frequency mesoscale flows over topography, and 4) at ocean margins. Here we review recent progress, describe the tools developed, and discuss future directions.

Energy Transfer from High-Shear, Low-Frequency Internal Waves to High-Frequency Waves near Kaena Ridge, Hawaii

AbstractEvidence is presented for the transfer of energy from low-frequency inertial–diurnal internal waves to high-frequency waves in the band between 6 cpd and the buoyancy frequency. This transfer links the most energetic waves in the spectrum, those receiving energy directly from the winds, barotropic tides, and parametric subharmonic instability, with those most directly involved in the breaking process. Transfer estimates are based on month-long records of ocean velocity and temperature obtained continuously over 80–800 m from the research platform (R/P) Floating Instrument Platform (FLIP) in the Hawaii Ocean Mixing Experiment (HOME) Nearfield (2002) and Farfield (2001) experiments, in Hawaiian waters. Triple correlations between low-frequency vertical shears and high-frequency Reynolds stresses, 〈uiw∂Ui/∂z〉, are used to estimate energy transfers. These are supported by bispectral analysis, which show significant energy transfers to pairs of waves with nearly identical frequency. Wavenumber bispectr...

Bernoulli equation and flow over a mountain

The Bernoulli equation is applied to an air parcel which originates at a low level at the inflow region, climbs adiabatically over a mountain with an increase in velocity, then descends on the lee side and forms a strong downslope wind. The parcel departs from hydrostatic equilibrium during its vertical motion. The air parcel can be noticeably cooler than the temperature calculated from adiabatic lapse rate, which allows part of enthalpy to be converted to kinetic energy and produces a stronger wind at mountain peak and a severe downslope wind on the lee side. It was found that the hydrostatic assumption tends to suppress the conversion from enthalpy to kinetic energy. It is also shown that the Froude number defined in the atmosphere is equal to the ratio of kinetic energy to the potential energy, same as in Boussinesq fluid. But in the atmosphere, the Froude number cannot be used to determine whether a parcel can move over a mountain or not, unless the vertical motion is weak and the system is near hydrostatic equilibrium. Numerical simulations confirm that except in highly turbulent areas, the potential temperature and Bernoulli function are almost conserved along the streamline, as well as the change of kinetic energy comes from the change of enthalpy instead of potential energy.

A modified atmospheric non-hydrostatic model on low aspect ratio grids

Abstract It is popular to use a horizontal explicit and a vertical implicit (HE-VI) scheme in the compressible non-hydrostatic (NH) model. However, when the aspect ratio becomes small, a small time-interval is required in HE-VI, because the Courant-Fredrich-Lewy (CFL) criterion is determined by the horizontal grid spacing. Furthermore, simulations from HE-VI can depart from the forward–backward (FB) scheme in NH even when the time interval is less than the CFL criterion allowed. Hence, a modified non-hydrostatic (MNH) model is proposed, in which the left-hand side of the continuity equation is multiplied by a parameter δ (4≤δ≤16, in this study). When the linearized MNH is solved by FB (can be other schemes), the eigenvalue shows that MNH can suppress the frequency of acoustic waves very effectively but does not have a significant impact on the gravity waves. Hence, MNH enables to use a longer time step than that allowed in the original NH. When the aspect ratio is small, MNH solved by FB can be more accurate and efficient than the NH solved by HE-VI. Therefore, MNH can be very useful to study cloud, Large Eddy Simulation (LES), turbulence, flow over complex terrains, etc., which require fine resolution in both horizontal and vertical directions.