A study of MODE dynamics

Leetmaa, Ants

doi:10.1016/0146-6291(77)90496-9

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 6 publications

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“…However, qualitative estimates were possible and indicated that if potential vortiCity is conserved, then relative vorticity changes can be as large as 30~o of the Coriolis parameter in the near surface layers and 10~ of the Coriolis parameter in the main thermocline and the deep water (LEETMAA, 1977a). These values are somewhat larger than would be expected from scale analysis but are comparable to independent estimates of vortex stretching in MODE-1 (McWILLIAMS, 1976c).…”

Section: Balance Of Terms: Geostrophy and Divergencementioning

confidence: 58%

The Mid-Ocean Dynamics Experiment

1978

Deep Sea Research

151

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Abstract--The Mid-Ocean Dynamics Experiment (MODE-1) was designed to investigate mid-ocean mesoscale eddies. An intensive and extensive program of measurements in three spatial dimensions and time was undertaken in an area southwest of Bermuda from March through mid-July 1973. Principal components of the experiment were an array of moored current meters and temperature-pressure recorders, hydrographic stations, drifting neutrally buoyant floats at 1500 m tracked by SOFAR, and acoustic and electromagnetic profilers. During MODE-1 a smaller scale survey relying on ship-tracked neutrally buoyant floats, a conductivity-temperature (CTD) survey, and a moored current meter array, MINIMODE, was carried out. The experiment was preceded by MODE-0, consisting of measurements by a series of moored current meters and other instruments in the general area selected for MODE-1.MODE-I observations were generally within a 300-km radius circle centered at 26°N, 69°40'W, with a greater concentration of observations in the interior ofthe circle. The region covers varied topography, wit h a flat abyssal plain sloping upward to t he continental rise in t he western half and rough topography in the eastern half.Descriptive, dynamical, numerical results of the experiment are presented. It is concluded that midocean eddies are part of an energetic and structured variability field superimposed on the weaker gyrescale mean circulation. In the western North Atlantic there is a band of eddy variability of around 100-day period and 70-km scale in which currents are horizontally nearly isotropic; vertical scales are of the order of the depth. The experiment provided conclusive evidence of the existence of mid-ocean eddies and serves as the basis for future experiments, such as POLYMODE, to extend our knowledge of these systems.DURING the past decade, physical oceanographers have directed a considerable effort to exploring and modeling mid-ocean mesoscale 'eddies', which are fluctuating current cells extending throughout the water column. Eddies occur irregularly throughout the World's oceans. They have swirl speeds of 5 to 50 cm s-1, and space-time scales of tens to hundreds of kilometers and weeks to months. Associated with the horizontal currents are fluctuating vertical displacements of up to several hundred meters in the main thermocline. Eddies, where they exist, usually dominate the mid-ocean flow.Understanding the eddies and their role in the general circulation has emerged as a central problem in ocean circulation dynamics. Moreover, understanding eddy dynamics is a prerequisite for both valid modeling of large-scale exchanges of momentum and energy, heat and salt, geochemicals, nutrients and other passive solutes, and for realistic coupled ocean-atmospheric models necessary for longer range weather prediction and climate modeling.

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Section: Balance Of Terms: Geostrophy and Divergencementioning

confidence: 58%

The Mid-Ocean Dynamics Experiment

1978

Deep Sea Research

151

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A review of research on mesoscale ocean currents

McWilliams¹

1979

Reviews of Geophysics

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Mesoscale ocean currents, for the purposes of this review, are defined as currents in the middle and high latitudes, in the mid‐ocean, of low frequency (i.e., with time scales* greater than or comparable to 105s, which is long compared to the inverse of the Coriolis frequency), and of intermediate spatial scale* (i.e., horizontal scales from tens to hundreds of km). They are geostrophic currents of type 1 in the nomenclature of Phillips (1963). Excluded, therefore, from this review are the following topics: equatorial currents, coastal currents, surface, bottom, and lateral turbulent boundary layers, ageostrophic flow, gyre‐scale transience, seasonal cycles, and the general circulation of the ocean. This review is intended primarily as a record of published contributions on this subject since the last such review written in 1974 (Robinson, 1975), with a broad topical catagorization.

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A study of MODE dynamics

Cited by 2 publications

References 6 publications

The Mid-Ocean Dynamics Experiment

The Mid-Ocean Dynamics Experiment

A review of research on mesoscale ocean currents

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