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Impact of oceanic-scale interactions on the seasonal modulation of ocean dynamics by the atmosphere(From: Nature Communicantions)

发布者:系统管理员发布时间:2015-01-24浏览次数:1831

 

Authors: Hideharu Sasaki, Patrice Klein, Bo QiuYoshikazu Sasai

 

Abstract:

Ocean eddies (with a size of 100–300km), ubiquitous in satellite observations, are known to represent about 80% of the total ocean kinetic energy. Recent studies have pointed out the unexpected role of smaller oceanic structures (with 1–50km scales) in generating and sustaining these eddies. The interpretation proposed so far invokes the internal instability resulting from the large-scale interaction between upper and interior oceanic layers. Here we show, using a new high-resolution simulation of the realistic North Pacific Ocean, that ocean eddies are instead sustained by a different process that involves small-scale mixed-layer instabilities set up by large-scale atmospheric forcing in winter. This leads to a seasonal evolution of the eddy kinetic energy in a very large part of this ocean, with an amplitude varying by a factor almost equal to 2. Perspectives in terms of the impacts on climate dynamics and future satellite observational systems are briefly discussed.

Link:http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/141215/ncomms6636/abs/ncomms6636.html

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