Internal wave-driven mixing: governing processes and consequences for climate

Whalen, Caitlin B.; Lavergne, Casimir de; Garabato, Alberto C. Naveira; Klymak, Jody M.; MacKinnon, Jennifer A.; Sheen, Katy

doi:10.1038/s43017-020-0097-z

Cited by 123 publications

(98 citation statements)

References 234 publications

(372 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Submesoscale idealized simulations by Thomas et al (2016) and Wenegrat et al (2018) The rates presented in Figure 3 show that these model values are consistent with other numerical studies and recent observations, and adequate to characterize submesoscale phenomena. In a region with rough topography such as the VTR, locally excited internal waves likely interact with the submesoscale and topography (Whalen et al, 2020;Whitt et al, 2018), affecting the diagnostic rates. We observe weaker magnitude and substantial intermittency of the submesoscale motions throughout the model timeseries.…”

Section: Evaluation Of the Submesoscale Dynamics In Roms At 2 Km Resomentioning

confidence: 99%

Submesoscale Phenomena Due to the Brazil Current Crossing of the Vitória‐Trindade Ridge

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Section: Evaluation Of the Submesoscale Dynamics In Roms At 2 Km Resomentioning

confidence: 99%

Submesoscale Phenomena Due to the Brazil Current Crossing of the Vitória‐Trindade Ridge

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As an intermediate step in oceanic energy cascade, internal tides (ITs) play a key role in ocean mixing (Garrett, 2003a; Lavergne et al., 2020; Mackinnon et al., 2017; Munk & Wunsch, 1998; Rudnick et al., 2003), and hence significantly contribute to the maintenance of abyssal overturning circulation in the ocean (Garrett, 2003b; Nikurashin & Ferrari, 2013; Whalen et al., 2020). In the stratified ocean, ITs are generated when barotropic tidal currents flow over rough topographies, such as seamounts, mid‐ocean ridges, and continental shelves (Baines, 1982; Bell, 1975; Garrett & Kunze, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reflection of K₁ Internal Tides at the Continental Slope in the Northern South China Sea

Wang

Cao

et al. 2021

JGR Oceans

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Reflection of the K1 internal tides (ITs) in the northern South China Sea (SCS) is investigated using a high‐resolution three‐dimensional numerical model. The simulated results indicate that the westward K1 ITs generated at the Luzon Strait (LS) first impact the continental slope in the northern SCS, and thereafter are reflected. There is a total of 0.31 GW of K1 energy that are reflected, suggesting a weak reflection considering 3.54 GW of westward K1 energy from the LS. Two reflected K1 beams are revealed. The southeast one is the more energetic and can propagate across the deep basin, agreeing with that extracted from satellite altimeter data. The eastward one propagates toward the LS, but it is absent in altimeter results because of its lower intensity. Both the two reflected beams are radiated from the supercritical region in shallow water. Different from the incident waves that are dominated by mode‐1, the reflected waves exhibit a multimodal structure. Contribution of high modes to reflected waves is comparable to that of mode‐1. Moreover, modal content is different for the two reflected beams, with higher proportion of high‐mode energy flux for eastward reflected beam. In contrast to the K1 ITs, no remarkable reflected O1 ITs are detected from either simulated or altimeter results. This is due to the weak generation of O1 ITs at the LS, which leads to less O1 energy reaching the continental slope. The results of this work can provide essential insight on IT dynamics in the SCS.

show abstract

“…These data are infrequently sampled and cover a relatively small portion of the ocean, but are independent observations with which to compare the more recent global mixing data products. While our understanding of the global distribution of κ ρ has been transformed by the use of theories to derive κ ρ from limited observations (MacKinnon et al, 2017;Whalen et al, 2020), none of these observations have been assimilated by existing ocean modeling systems to constrain the κ ρ field because they are not direct measurements. Currently, the only information about κ ρ comes from temperature, salinity, and pressure observations in ocean data assimilation systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tracer and observationally-derived constraints on diapycnal diffusivities in an ocean state estimate

Trossman

Whalen

Haine

et al. 2021

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Use of an ocean parameter and state estimation framework–such as the Estimating the Circulation & Climate of the Ocean (ECCO) framework–could provide an opportunity to learn about the spatial distribution of the diapycnal diffusivity parameter (κρ) that observations alone cannot due to gaps in coverage. However, we show that the assimilation of existing in situ temperature, salinity, and pressure observations is not sufficient to constrain κρ estimated with ECCO, as κρ from ECCO does not agree closely with observations–specifically, κρ inferred from microstructure measurements. We investigate whether there are observations with more global coverage and well-understood measurement uncertainties that can be assimilated by ECCO to improve its representation of κρ. Argo-derived κρ using a strain-based parameterization of finescale hydrographic structure is one potential source of information. Argo-derived κρ agrees well with microstructure. However, because Argo- derived κρ has both measurement and structural uncertainties, we propose dissolved oxygen concentrations as a candidate for future data assimilation with ECCO. We perform sensitivity analyses with ECCO to test whether oxygen concentrations provide information about κρ. We compare two adjoint sensitivity calculations: one that uses misfits to Argo-derived κρ and the other uses misfits to dissolved oxygen concentrations. We show that adjoint sensitivities of dissolved oxygen concentration misfits to the state estimate's control space typically direct κρ to improve relative to the Argo-derived and microstructure-inferred values. However, assimilation of dissolved oxygen concentrations would likely not serve as a substitute for assimilating accurately measured κρ.

show abstract

Internal wave-driven mixing: governing processes and consequences for climate

Cited by 123 publications

References 234 publications

Submesoscale Phenomena Due to the Brazil Current Crossing of the Vitória‐Trindade Ridge

Submesoscale Phenomena Due to the Brazil Current Crossing of the Vitória‐Trindade Ridge

Reflection of K₁ Internal Tides at the Continental Slope in the Northern South China Sea

Tracer and observationally-derived constraints on diapycnal diffusivities in an ocean state estimate

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Internal wave-driven mixing: governing processes and consequences for climate

Cited by 123 publications

References 234 publications

Submesoscale Phenomena Due to the Brazil Current Crossing of the Vitória‐Trindade Ridge

Submesoscale Phenomena Due to the Brazil Current Crossing of the Vitória‐Trindade Ridge

Reflection of K1 Internal Tides at the Continental Slope in the Northern South China Sea

Tracer and observationally-derived constraints on diapycnal diffusivities in an ocean state estimate

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Reflection of K₁ Internal Tides at the Continental Slope in the Northern South China Sea