Hurricane‐induced ocean waves and stokes drift and their impacts on surface transport and dispersion in the Gulf of Mexico

Curcic, Milan; Chen, Shuyi S.; Özgökmen, Tamay M.

doi:10.1002/2015gl067619

Cited by 73 publications

(87 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Curcic et al . [] detail the significant changes due to Isaac in the upper ocean flow and wave fields, including increasing relative diffusivity by a factor of six.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Statistical properties of the surface velocity field in the northern Gulf of Mexico sampled by GLAD drifters

et al. 2016

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The Grand LAgrangian Deployment (GLAD) used multiscale sampling and GPS technology to observe time series of drifter positions with initial drifter separation of O(100 m) to O(10 km), and nominal 5 min sampling, during the summer and fall of 2012 in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Histograms of the velocity field and its statistical parameters are non‐Gaussian; most are multimodal. The dominant periods for the surface velocity field are 1–2 days due to inertial oscillations, tides, and the sea breeze; 5–6 days due to wind forcing and submesoscale eddies; 9–10 days and two weeks or longer periods due to wind forcing and mesoscale variability, including the period of eddy rotation. The temporal e‐folding scales of a fitted drifter velocity autocorrelation function are bimodal with time scales, 0.25–0.50 days and 0.9–1.4 days, and are the same order as the temporal e‐folding scales of observed winds from nearby moored National Data Buoy Center stations. The Lagrangian integral time scales increase from coastal values of 8 h to offshore values of approximately 2 days with peak values of 3–4 days. The velocity variance is large, O(1) m2/normals2, the surface velocity statistics are more anisotropic, and increased dispersion is observed at flow bifurcations. Horizontal diffusivity estimates are O(103) m2/s in coastal regions with weaker flow to O(105) m2/s in flow bifurcations, a strong jet, and during the passage of Hurricane Isaac. The Gulf of Mexico surface velocity statistics sampled by the GLAD drifters are a strong function of the feature sampled, topography, and wind forcing.

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“…Curcic et al . [] detail the significant changes due to Isaac in the upper ocean flow and wave fields, including increasing relative diffusivity by a factor of six.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Statistical properties of the surface velocity field in the northern Gulf of Mexico sampled by GLAD drifters

et al. 2016

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“…It is designed as a multimodel system with the flexibility of exchanging individual model components for the atmosphere, waves, ocean, land, and sea ice. The model has been used to study the role of Stokes drift in surface transport (Curcic et al, ), the impacts of coupling on boundary layer structure (Zhu et al, ) and storm surge prediction (Dietrich et al, ) in Hurricane Isaac in 2012, and the influence of atmospheric forcing on the transport in the GoM on diurnal and seasonal scales (Judt et al, ). Here, the system consists of fully coupled atmosphere, surface wave, and ocean circulation models.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wind‐Based Estimations of Ocean Surface Currents From Massive Clusters of Drifters in the Gulf of Mexico

et al. 2019

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During the Lagrangian submesoscale experiment (LASER), 1,000 drifters were launched to sample the surface ocean flow in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Due to half a dozen strong winter storms, about 40% of the drifters lost their drogue. This unintended situation facilitated documentation of both near‐surface (5 cm) and deeper (60 cm) flows. These depths are relevant to transport of oil spills, as well as marine debris, such as microplastics, a rapidly growing environmental problem. Here, we improve the surface Lagrangian current prediction by combining a state‐of‐the‐art ocean forecast model with wind and wave data. The ocean surface velocities are obtained from the Navy Coordinate Ocean Model at 1‐km horizontal resolution, while the wind and wave fields are from the Unified Wave INterface Coupled Model coupled atmosphere‐wave‐ocean model. Two Lagrangian parameterizations are tested: one is based on Ekman dynamics, and the other directly on the surface winds. LASER data set is then used to assess the performance of these formulations, as a function of wind/wave conditions, as well as geographic region. It is found that incorporation of wind and wave data into the ocean circulation model can lead to major prediction improvement, by reducing the average 2‐day separation from the modeled and real LASER trajectories by a factor ranging from 1.4 to 4.9. This is a significant improvement for applications, where a rapid deployment of assets is needed, such as oil spill response, or other tracking problems.

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“…These processes modulate the momentum and energy deposited into the ocean as well as near-surface dissipation rates. For example, the analysis of a coupled atmosphere-wave-ocean model simulating hurricane conditions suggests that the Stokes drift below the storm can contribute up to 20 % to the Lagrangian flow magnitude and change its orientation (Curcic et al, 2016). These processes certainly impact the near-inertial wind energy input and distribution of its dissipation, and would deserve further attention, perhaps using a more realistic (regional) setup.…”

Section: Energy Pathwaysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dissipation of the energy imparted by mid-latitude storms in the Southern Ocean

et al. 2016

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Abstract. The aim of this study is to clarify the role of the Southern Ocean storms on interior mixing and meridional overturning circulation. A periodic and idealized numerical model has been designed to represent the key physical processes of a zonal portion of the Southern Ocean located between 70 and 40 • S. It incorporates physical ingredients deemed essential for Southern Ocean functioning: rough topography, seasonally varying air-sea fluxes, and highlatitude storms with analytical form. The forcing strategy ensures that the time mean wind stress is the same between the different simulations, so the effect of the storms on the mean wind stress and resulting impacts on the Southern Ocean dynamics are not considered in this study. Level and distribution of mixing attributable to high-frequency winds are quantified and compared to those generated by eddy-topography interactions and dissipation of the balanced flow. Results suggest that (1) the synoptic atmospheric variability alone can generate the levels of mid-depth dissipation frequently observed in the Southern Ocean (10 −10 -10 −9 W kg −1 ) and (2) the storms strengthen the overturning, primarily through enhanced mixing in the upper 300 m, whereas deeper mixing has a minor effect. The sensitivity of the results to horizontal resolution (20, 5, 2 and 1 km), vertical resolution and numerical choices is evaluated. Challenging issues concerning how numerical models are able to represent interior mixing forced by high-frequency winds are exposed and discussed, particularly in the context of the overturning circulation. Overall, submesoscale-permitting ocean modeling exhibits important delicacies owing to a lack of convergence of key components of its energetics even when reaching x = 1 km.

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Hurricane‐induced ocean waves and stokes drift and their impacts on surface transport and dispersion in the Gulf of Mexico

Cited by 73 publications

References 40 publications

Statistical properties of the surface velocity field in the northern Gulf of Mexico sampled by GLAD drifters

Statistical properties of the surface velocity field in the northern Gulf of Mexico sampled by GLAD drifters

Wind‐Based Estimations of Ocean Surface Currents From Massive Clusters of Drifters in the Gulf of Mexico

Dissipation of the energy imparted by mid-latitude storms in the Southern Ocean

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