Title: ENERGETICS OF THE GLOBAL OCEAN: THE ROLE OF MESOSCALE EDDIES
Abstract: World Scientific Series on Asia-Pacific Weather and ClimateIndo-Pacific Climate Variability and Predictability, pp. 109-134 (2016) No AccessChapter 4: ENERGETICS OF THE GLOBAL OCEAN: THE ROLE OF MESOSCALE EDDIESHIDENORI AIKI, XIAOMING ZHAI, and RICHARD J. GREATBATCHHIDENORI AIKIApplication Laboratory, Japan Agency for Marine–Earth Science and Technology, Yokohama, Japan, XIAOMING ZHAICentre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK, and RICHARD J. GREATBATCHGEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung, Kiel, Germanyhttps://doi.org/10.1142/9789814696623_0004Cited by:7 PreviousNext AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsRecommend to Library ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail Abstract: This article reviews the energy cycle of the global ocean circulation, focusing on the role of baroclinic mesoscale eddies. Two of the important effects of mesoscale eddies are: (i) the flattening of the slope of large-scale isopycnal surfaces by the eddy-induced overturning circulation, the basis for the Gent–McWilliams parametrization; and (ii) the vertical redistribution of the momentum of basic geostrophic currents by the eddy-induced form stress (the residual effect of pressure perturbations), the basis for the Greatbatch–Lamb parametrization. While only point (i) can be explained using the classical Lorenz energy diagram, both (i) and (ii) can be explained using the modified energy diagram of Bleck as in the following energy cycle. Wind forcing provides an input to the mean KE, which is then transferred to the available potential energy (APE) of the large-scale field by the wind-induced Ekman flow. Subsequently, the APE is extracted by the eddy-induced overturning circulation to feed the mean KE, indicating the enhancement of the vertical shear of the basic current. Meanwhile, the vertical shear of the basic current is relaxed by the eddy-induced form stress, taking the mean KE to endow the eddy field with an energy cascade. The above energy cycle is useful for understanding the dynamics of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. On the other hand, while the source of the eddy field energy has become clearer, identifying the sink and flux of the eddy field energy in both physical and spectral space remains major challenges of present-day oceanography. A recent study using a combination of models, satellite altimetry, and climatological hydrographic data shows that the western boundary acts as a "graveyard" for the westward-propagating eddies. FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited By 7Topographic Hotspots of Southern Ocean Eddy UpwellingClaire K. Yung, Adele K. Morrison and Andrew McC. Hogg7 July 2022 | Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol. 9Diagnosing the Thickness‐Weighted Averaged Eddy‐Mean Flow Interaction From an Eddying North Atlantic Ensemble: The Eliassen‐Palm FluxTakaya Uchida, Quentin Jamet, William K. Dewar, Julien Le Sommer and Thierry Penduff et al.7 May 2022 | Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Vol. 14, No. 5Lagrangian eddy kinetic energy of ocean mesoscale eddies and its application to the Northwestern PacificMengrong Ding, Pengfei Lin, Hailong Liu, Aixue Hu and Chuanyu Liu30 July 2020 | Scientific Reports, Vol. 10, No. 1Sill-Influenced Exchange Flows in Ice Shelf CavitiesKen X. Zhao, Andrew L. Stewart and James C. McWilliams1 Jan 2019 | Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 49, No. 1Energy budget-based backscatter in a shallow water model of a double gyre basinMilan Klöwer, Malte F. Jansen, Martin Claus, Richard J. Greatbatch and Sören Thomsen1 Dec 2018 | Ocean Modelling, Vol. 132A New Assessment of Mesoscale Eddies in the South China Sea: Surface Features, Three‐Dimensional Structures, and Thermohaline TransportsQingyou He, Haigang Zhan, Shuqun Cai, Yinghui He and Gaolong Huang et al.20 July 2018 | Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, Vol. 123, No. 7Numerical analysis of the Black Sea energy budget in 2011S G Demyshev and O A Dymova27 September 2017 | Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Vol. 899 Indo-Pacific Climate Variability and PredictabilityMetrics History PDF download