Critical reflection and abyssal trapping of near-inertial waves on a β-plane

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Energy Cascades and Loss of Balance in a Reentrant Channel Forced by Wind Stress and Buoyancy Fluxes

AbstractA large fraction of the kinetic energy in the ocean is stored in the “quasigeostrophic” eddy field. This “balanced” eddy field is expected, according to geostrophic turbulence theory, to transfer energy to larger scales. In order for the general circulation to remain approximately steady, instability mechanisms leading to loss of balance (LOB) have been hypothesized to take place so that the eddy kinetic energy (EKE) may be transferred to small scales where it can be dissipated. This study examines the kinetic energy pathways in fully resolved direct numerical simulations of flow in a flat-bottomed reentrant channel, externally forced by surface buoyancy fluxes and wind stress in a configuration that resembles the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. The flow is allowed to reach a statistical steady state at which point it exhibits both a forward and an inverse energy cascade. Flow interactions with irregular bathymetry are excluded so that bottom drag is the sole mechanism available to dissipate the upscale EKE transfer. The authors show that EKE is dissipated preferentially at small scales near the surface via frontal instabilities associated with LOB and a forward energy cascade rather than by bottom drag after an inverse energy cascade. This is true both with and without forcing by the wind. These results suggest that LOB caused by frontal instabilities near the ocean surface could provide an efficient mechanism, independent of boundary effects, by which EKE is dissipated. Ageostrophic anticyclonic instability is the dominant frontal instability mechanism in these simulations. Symmetric instability is also important in a “deep convection” region, where it can be sustained by buoyancy loss

Particle dispersion and mixing induced by breaking internal gravity

The purpose of this paper is to analyze diapycnal mixing induced by the breaking of an internal gravity wave — the primary wave — either standing or propagating. To achieve this aim we apply two different methods. The first method consists of a direct estimate of vertical eddy diffusion from particle dispersion while the second method relies upon potential energy budgets [Winters, K.B., Lombard, P.N., Riley, J.J., D’Asaro, E.A., 1995. J. Fluid Mech. 289, 115–128; Winters, K.B., D’Asaro, E.A., 1996. J. Fluid Mech. 317, 179–193]. The primary wave we consider is of small amplitude and is statically stable, a case for which the breaking process involves two-dimensional instabilities. The dynamics of the waves have been previously analyzed by means of two-dimensional direct numerical simulations [Bouruet-Aubertot, P., Sommeria, J., Staquet, C., 1995. J. Fluid Mech. 285, 265–301; Bouruet-Aubertot, P., Sommeria, J., Staquet, C., 1996. Dyn. Atmos. Oceans 29, 41–63; Koudella, C., Staquet, C., 1998. In: Davis, P. (Ed.), Proceedings of the IMA Conference on Mixing and Dispersion on Stably-stratified Flows, Dundee, September 1996. IMA Publication]. High resolution three-dimensional calculations of the same wave are also reported here [Koudella, C., 1999].A local estimate of mixing is first inferred from the time evolution of sets of particles released in the flow during the breaking regime. We show that, after an early evolution dominated by shear effects, a diffusion law is reached and the dispersion coefficient is fairly independent of the initial seeding location of the particles in the flow.The eddy diffusion coefficient, K, is then estimated from the diapycnal diffusive flux. A good agreement with the value inferred from particle dispersion is obtained. This finding is of particular interest regarding the interpretation of in situ estimates of K inferred either from tracer dispersion or from microstructure measurements. Computation of the Cox number, equal to the ratio of eddy diffusivity to molecular diffusivity, shows that the Cox number varies within the interval [9, 262], which corresponds to the range of vertical eddy diffusivity measured in the interior of the ocean. The Cox number is found to depend on the turbulent Froude number squared.We show eventually that mixing results in a weak distortion of the initial density profile and we relate this result to observations made at small scale in the ocean.Comparisons between the analysis of the two-dimensional and high resolution (2563) three-dimensional direct numerical simulations of the primary wave were also conducted. We show that the energetics and the amount of mixing are very close when the primary wave is of small amplitude. This results from the fact that, for a statically stable wave, the dynamics of the initially two-dimensional primary wave remains mostly two-dimensional even after the onset of wavebreaking

Energetics of Radiatively Heated Ice-Covered Lakes

We derive the mechanical energy budget for shallow, ice-covered lakes energized by penetrative solar radiation. Radiation increases the available and background components of the potential energy at different rates. Available potential energy drives under-ice motion, including diurnally active turbulence in a near-surface convective mixing layer. Heat loss at the ice-water interface depletes background potential energy at a rate that depends on the available potential energy dynamics. Expressions for relative energy transfer rates show that the pathway for solar energy is sensitive to the convective mixing layer temperature through the nonlinear equation of state. Finally, we show that measurements of light penetration, temperature profiles resolving the diffusive boundary layer, and an estimate of the kinetic energy dissipation rate can be combined to estimate the forcing rate, the rate of heat loss to the ice, and efficiencies of the energy pathways for radiatively driven flows. Plain Language Summary Global observations reveal a pervasive decline in the annual ice cover duration of inland waters. This has stimulated urgent new research into cold and polar aquatic environments. Predicting thermal changes in ice-covered waters requires the extension of current fluid-dynamical theories to incorporate the physics that governs cold water near its temperature of maximum density. In this work, we present new mathematical expressions for the transformation of solar energy that penetrates the ice and show that feasible under-ice measurements can be used to estimate the fraction of this energy that is transferred to the ice as heat, contributing to its rate of melting

Low-mode internal tide generation by topography: an experimental and numerical investigation

We analyse the low-mode structure of internal tides generated in laboratory experiments and numerical simulations by a two-dimensional ridge in a channel of finite depth. The height of the ridge is approximately half of the channel depth and the regimes considered span sub- to supercritical topography. For small tidal excursions, of the order of 1% of the topographic width, our results agree well with linear theory. For larger tidal excursions, up to 15% of the topographic width, we find that the scaled mode 1 conversion rate decreases by less than 15%, in spite of nonlinear phenomena that break down the familiar wave-beam structure and generate harmonics and inter-harmonics. Modes two and three, however, are more strongly affected. For this topographic configuration, most of the linear baroclinic energy flux is associated with the mode 1 tide, so our experiments reveal that nonlinear behaviour does not significantly affect the barotropic to baroclinic energy conversion in this regime, which is relevant to large-scale ocean ridges. This may not be the case, however, for smaller scale ridges that generate a response dominated by higher modes.United States. Office of Naval Research (ONR grant N00014-08-0390)United States. Office of Naval Research (ONR grant N00014-05-1-0573)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant No. OCE 04-25283