Reflection of intrathermocline eddies on the ocean surface

In the northeastern portion of the Atlantic Ocean, at depths of 500–1500 m, there are regular intrathermocline eddies that are characterized by high temperature and salinity. As these eddies interact with the ambient medium, they can transmit a dynamic signal to the ocean surface. These eddies are clearly identifiable on altimetric maps showing variations in the ocean’s surface level obtained by satellites. Such observations allow recording not only the complex interaction pattern of surface cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies, but also the processes of merging and separation of intrathermocline eddies.     

Review of the Atmospheric Response to the Ocean Mesoscale Eddies

As one of the most important mesoscale ocean features, the mesoscale eddies are omnipresent and have significant impact on the overlying atmosphere. Based on the comprehensive review of the influence of mesoscale eddies on the atmospheric boundary layer and the local circulation, the corresponding physical mechanisms and their impacts on weather systems were presented systematically. ①Eddy-induced SST anomalies may modify the surface wind speed, horizontal divergence, cloud and precipitation through turbulence heat flux anomalies. Meanwhile, additional secondary circulations arise over the eddies. What is more, there are obvious regional and seasonal differences for atmospheric responses. ② Studies in the South China Sea, the Kuroshio Extension region and the Southern Ocean indicate that atmospheric responses to mesoscale eddies can be explained by the changes of sea level pressure or the vertical momentum transport. These two mechanisms can be distinguished by the phase relationship between the atmospheric anomaly center and the eddy core. Diagnosis on the inner dynamical processes may draw better conclusions. ③The energy conversions are affected by mesoscale eddies, which may affect storm tracks and jet streams, and finally result in distant influences on weather patterns. Moreover, sea temperature anomalies from sea surface to the thermocline associated with mesoscale eddies have significant impacts on the intensification and the maintenance of tropical cyclones.     

Temporal and Spatial Characteristics of Mesoscale Eddies in the Northern South China Sea: Statistics Analysis Based on Altimeter Data

Mesoscale eddies are active and energetic in the South China Sea (SCS), and play an important role in regulating the multi-scale circulation and mass transportation in the region, especially for those long-lived strong eddies. Using AVISO altimeter data and outermost closed contour sea level anomaly method, this study identified and tracked mesoscale eddies in the northern SCS during 2011-2018, and focused on the temporal and spatial characteristics of mesoscale eddies in recent years. Similarly to previous results in this region, statistical results show that about 8.6 anticyclonic eddies and 4.5 cyclonic eddies (lifetime > 28 days) were born per year. Among them, about 1/3 of the total number are strong eddies (lifetime > 45 days), showing relatively strong dynamic characteristics, such as strong Eddy Kinetic Energy (EKE) and highly nonlinear feature. Statistics also show significant seasonal variability in mesoscale eddies’ birth places, trajectories and distribution of frequency of occurrence. Specifically, anticyclonic eddies mainly form at the north part of Luzon Strait between autumn and winter, and then move southwestward along isobaths. During this period, the largest value of the frequency of occurrence is over 30%. In summer, most of them form in the west off Luzon Island, and then move westward paralleling to latitude lines. In contrast, cyclonic mainly form in the west off Luzon Strait, and then move westward in winter and spring. During this period, the largest value is about 26%. In addition, observation finds that the strong mesoscale eddy pair could generate off the southwest of Taiwan Island. Analysis of the Kuroshio SCS Index (KSI) implies that loop current caused by Kuroshio intrusion is the most important mechanism for the formation of eddy pair.     

Study About Ocean Eddy Effect on Strong Convection in Local Atmosphere over the Kuroshio Extension Region

The Kuroshio Extension （KE） is the key area where the water heats the atmosphere in the northwestern Pacific Ocean in winter. Previous studies show that the active eddies in the KE area can affect sea surface temperature and thus sea surface winds. The present study reviewed the progress about the influences of the eddies on local atmosphere in recent years. Analysis and comparison were made especially for the achievements from shipboard sounding data, satellite observations and numerical experiments. Based on the geostrophic adaptation theory involved in atmospheric anomalies induced by the eddies, the following new scientific deductions were suggested: Air pressure adjustment mechanism dominated in the atmospheric response to eddies under the conditions of weaker wind speed over the eddies. The influence of eddies was often limited in the atmospheric boundary layer. On the other hand, vertical mixing mechanism played a major role in the response of the atmosphere to warm (cold) eddies when air moved faster over the eddies. Surface wind speed increased (decreased) over the warm (cold) water. Significant wind convergence took place downwind the warm water, and large amount of water vapor was transported also downwind from the warm water surface. The positive feedback between water vapor condensation and rising air forced by the surface convergence provided necessary conditions for the development of strong convection in atmosphere. These deductions will be conducive to further depicting the impact of oceanic eddies on the atmosphere quantitatively.     

The Surface and Three-dimensional Characteristics of Mesoscale Eddies: A Review

Mesoscale eddies, which are widely found in the oceans, play a vital role in momentum, energy, heat and mass transport. The Euler method for identifying mesoscale eddies using satellite altimeter data was presented in detail, including closed SLA contours, OW numbers, Winding-Angle and flow vector methods. The results show that mesoscale eddies are almost nonlinear and solid-body rotation. The long-lived eddies with lifetimes ≥16 weeks have an average lifetime of 32 weeks and an average propagation distance of 550 km. Their mean amplitude and a speed-based radius scale as defined by the automated procedure are 8 cm and 90 km, respectively. The method combining with SLA and Argo profiles to composite the three-dimensional structure were addressed. Due to the different temperature and salt structure in the various oceans of the world, the eddies in different oceans show different three-dimensional structures, which are influenced by both the generation and local temperature and salinity. Two special types of eddies were introduced from the perspective of generation, evolution and dissipation processes, namely the Loop Current Ring in the Gulf of Mexico and Mediterranean eddy in the Atlantic Ocean. Finally, issues including submesoscale processes, dissipation of eddies and subthermocline eddies were discussed, and some future research directions were proposed.     

Oceanic eddies in synthetic aperture radar images

Continuous observations since 1991 by using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) on board the Almaz1, ERS-1/2, JERS-1, and RADARSAT satellites support the well-known fact that oceanic eddies are distributed worldwide in the ocean. The paper is devoted to an evaluation of the potential of SAR for detection of eddies and vortical motions in the ocean. The classification of typical vortical features in the ocean detected in remote sensing images (visible, infrared, and SAR) is presented as well as available information on their spatial and temporal scales. Examples of the Almaz-1 and ERS-1/2 SAR images showing different eddy types, such as rings, spiral eddies of the open ocean, eddies behind islands and in bays, spin-off eddies and mushroom-like structures (vortex dipoles) are given and discussed. It is shown that a common feature for most of the eddies detected in the SAR images is a broad spectrum of spatial scales, spiral shape and shear nature. It is concluded that the spaceborne SARs give valuable information on ocean eddies, especially in combination with visible and infrared satellite data.     

南海东北部剪切流场对内波影响的研究进展

南海东北部受黑潮入侵、季风等动力因素的影响,背景剪切流场复杂,涡旋众多,水体垂向层结季节性变化明显,同时又因吕宋海峡的复杂底地形和强潮流的影响,内潮、内孤立波现象显著。但是,以往关于内潮、内孤立波的研究很少考虑到背景剪切流场和涡旋对其影响,因而难以揭示内波的生成、传播和演变规律。主要概述了南海东北部的剪切流、涡旋和内波等多种中尺度物理现象及其之间的相互作用的研究进展,进而提出未来关于南海东北部剪切流场对内波生成、传播和演变影响研究中的一些问题和研究思路。     

On the velocity field structure of jet streams and eddies in the ocean

The new velocity-based feature model, called streamlets model, is proposed for objective analysis of the three-dimensional velocity structure of jets and eddies. Streamlets comprise stream-coordinates, based on streamlines of maximum velocity as an axis, and vertical velocity cross sections, defined as an inclined velocity cone with elliptical base. Assimilation of velocity measurements is converted to fitting this cone to the available data. The proposed model is justified using the concept of coherent structures. We corroborate streamlets with observations of real oceanic jets and eddies using the Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler.     

Evolution of intrathermocline eddies moving over a submarine hill

Anticyclonic and cyclonic mediterranean eddies are formed on continental slopes of the Iberian Peninsula. Cyclonic eddies commonly live for 0.5–1 year at most. Anticyclonic eddies (meddies) live for 4–5 years, on average, but there are eddies of 7–8 years in age drifting at the distance of up to 6000 km from the region of its formation. According to the results of observations, in some regions of the Atlantic Ocean, the meddies are destructed partially or completely after contact with submarine mountains. However, it is impossible to trace evolution of the lens moving over the submarine obstacle by the field data. We studied the modeled influence of variable-height submarine hills on movement of cyclonic and anticyclonic intrathermocline eddies by the contour dynamics method. The evolution of lenses appeared to be quite sensitive to variations in hill height. Cyclonic and anticyclonic lenses interact with the hill in different ways. The data of unique field observations of Mediterranean lenses in the North Atlantic are confirmed by the results of our model experiments. Hence, it is possible to predict basic, similar to real, scenarios of interaction of intrathermocline eddies under conditions of complex bottom relief in the context of the three-layered ocean model.     

南海中尺度涡研究进展

近20年以来,南海环流及中尺度涡的研究得到了国内外海洋学家相当的重视,取得了许多研究成果。随着高度计资料的广泛应用以及涡分辨率数值模式的发展,南海中尺度涡的研究越趋活跃。简要介绍南海大尺度环流的主要工作,并着重分析南海多涡结构观测以及形成机理研究方面的主要进展。     

Residual eddies in a tidal channel

Persistent residual eddies in a tidal channel in Wassaw Sound, Georgia, were resolved through shipboard observations. The residual eddies appear to be linked to bathymetry and coastlines. The semidiurnal tidal constituent, which explains about 90% of the variability of the data, was found to be a standing wave and the tidal wave propagation induced residual flow was minimal, so the advective nonlinearity was one of the major contributors to the residual eddies. From the vorticity point of view, if the lateral friction is neglected, three terms contribute to the generation of the relative vorticity in the depth-averaged vorticity equation. An important fact is that all these terms include the depth function: the interaction between the advection and bathymetry gradient, the interaction between advection and bathymetry, and the interaction between mean pressure gradient and the bathymetry gradient.     

Upper and lower tropospheric energetics of standing and transient eddies in wave number domain during summer monsoon of 1991

Kinetic energy exchange equations (Saltzman 1957) in wave number domain are partitioned into standing, transient and standing-transient components following Murakami (1978, 1981). These components are computed for the 1991 summer monsoon using dailyu andv grid point data at 2.5° latitude-longitude interval between the equator and 40°N at 200 hPa and 850 hPa levels for the period June through August. The data are obtained from NCMRWF, New Delhi. The study shows that at 200 hPa wave number 1 over Region 3 (30°N to 40°N), wave number 2 over Region 2 (15°N to 30°N) and wave number 3 over Region 1 (equator to 15°N) dominate the spectrum of transport of momentum and wave to zonal mean flow interaction. Wave number 1 over Region 1 and Region 3 and wave number 2 over Region 2 are the major sources of kinetic energy to other waves via wave-to-wave interaction. At 850 hPa wave number 1 over Region 3 has maximum contribution in the spectrum of transport of momentum and kinetic energy and more than 90% of its contribution is from the standing component. This indicates that standing wave number 1 over Region 3 plays a very important role in the dynamics of monsoon circulation of the lower troposphere. The study further shows that although the circulation patterns at 200 hPa and 850 hPa levels are opposite in character, a number of energy processes exhibit a similar character at these levels. For example, (i) transport of momentum by most of the waves is northward, (ii) small scale eddies intensify northward, (iii) eddies are sources of kinetic energy to zonal mean flow over Region 1 and (iv) standing eddies are sources of kinetic energy to transient eddies. Besides the above similarities some contrasting energy processes are also observed. Over Region 2 and Region 3 standing and transient eddies are sources of kinetic energy to zonal mean flow at 200 hPa, while at 850 hPa the direction of exchange of kinetic energy is opposite i.e. zonal mean flow is a source of kinetic energy to standing as well as transient eddies. L(n) interaction indicates that at 200 hPa waves over R2 maintain waves over R1, while at 850 hPa waves over R1 maintain waves over R2. It has been found that the north-south gradient of zonal mean of zonal wind is the deciding factor of wave to zonal mean flow interaction.     

利用回归模型模拟卫星跟踪海洋漂流浮标轨迹

分析浮标漂流速度和表层地转流、风海流结果表明：浮标漂流速度和表层地转流具有良好相关性。针对卫星跟踪漂流浮标运动的准地转性,建立了以海表地转流为主要回归自变量的几种回归模型,用以模拟浮标漂流轨迹,以期对浮标运动特性有进一步的认识。对南海中伴随涡旋运动的2个浮标模拟试验显示,诸多模型中以海表地转流、风海流及背景流为自变量的回归模型模拟浮标漂流轨迹效果较好。利用该回归模型,模拟出南海2个漂流浮标轨迹和真实轨迹距离偏差较小且二者运动趋势基本一致。通过分析回归模拟所得风海流、海表地转流及背景流发现：涡旋中心附近浮标漂移主要受地转流的控制,而涡旋边缘处风海流起到关键性作用,正是这部分贡献使得浮标能够进入（脱离）涡旋。背景流的空间分布决定着浮标漂移的最终去向,特别是背景流方向改变的区域,背景流的存在使得模拟浮标轨迹能够像真实轨迹一样运移。     

Understanding the turbulent structure of the atmospheric boundary layer: A diagnostic approach

In this paper, we have attempted a diagnostic study of the turbulence characteristics of the ABL by means of two one-dimensional models. The first model uses a first order non-local closure, based on the Transilient Turbulence Theory, for parameterizing turbulent fluxes. while the second model uses second order local closure for parameterizing these. The models have been applied to conduct case studies using the Kytoon data taken at Kharagpur, during 17th–21st June, 1990, as part of the MONTBLEX programme. Our findings bring out various interesting features regarding the non-local and local turbulent statistics such as kinematic fluxes, turbulence kinetic energy, vertical velocity variance, the contribution of the eddies of various sizes to the fluxes at different level and the mixing lengths. The one-dimensional anisotropy of the turbulent eddies has been revealed by the findings from the transilient model. The vertical variation of the turbulence kinetic energy, as computed directly by the second order model, is found to be strongly correlated with the vertical velocity variance. In particular, for stably stratified boundary layers, identification of two distinct zones of the turbulence kinetic energy and corresponding vertical velocity maxima is possible, which has been interpreted as positive evidence of patchy turbulence in the boundary layer.     

The Role of Eddies in Global Oceanic Meridional Heat Transport

Doklady Earth Sciences - Eddy meridional heat transport (EMHT) in the World Ocean is calculated using the eddy-resolving model. Its distribution is related to intense eddies and forms several...     

Eddy generation in the tidal Potomac River

This paper deals with eddies generated by a shear flow instability in the tidal Potomac River, Maryland-Virginia, USA. An evolution sequence of this robust phenomenon is synthesized using ASTER and Landsat visible imagery, and its growth from small-amplitude waves into mature eddies is shown. Using feature tracking between two nearly contemporaneous ASTER and Landsat images, an, along-river surface velocity profile is computed. Archived velocity and density profiles, taken during accelerating ebb at locations up-river and down-river of the study area indicate the water column is relatively homogenous up-river, but resembles a two-layer fluid down-river where estuarine stratification is present in the lower water column. Velocity variation with depth in the upper water column is relatively small, deviating at mid depth from the near-surface value by only 9–15% at both sites. We examined the horizontal stability properties of this flow by modeling it as inviscid and barotropic., and predicted rapidly growing unstable waves with wavelengths close to the observed ones. Their proximity to the coast, as well as the precise details of the coastline configuration, are shown to have a negligible effect in determining the observed unstable wavelengths.     

Movement of seasonal eddies and its relation with cyclonic heat potential and cyclogenesis points in the Bay of Bengal

Movement of seasonal eddies in the Bay of Bengal (BOB) and its relation with cyclonic heat potential (CHP) and cyclogenesis points have been investigated in this study using 6 years (2002–2007) of global ocean monthly analysis datasets based on the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) package (SODA v2.0.4) of Carton et al. (2005) and Indian Meteorological Department cyclogenesis points. The region dominated by anticyclonic eddies with CHP greater than 70 × 10⁷ J/m² as well as good correlations (>0.9) with sea surface height (SSH) and 26°C isothermal depth (D ₂₆) can be a potential region of cyclogenesis. The region dominated by cyclonic eddies with CHP greater than 50 × 10⁷ J/m² and good correlation (>0.9) with both SSH and D ₂₆ can serve as a potential region of high-level depression. Potential cyclogenesis regions are the southern BOB (5°N–12°N) for the post-monsoon season and the head of BOB (north of 15°N) during southwest monsoon. Seven potential regions are identified for the eddy formation for different seasons, which are consistent with the cyclogenesis points. The CHP distributions alone are able to explain the cyclone tracks for the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons but not for the monsoon season.     

Is the state of the Vesuvio Volcano turbulent?

Summary  The catalogue of eruptions occurring at Vesuvio during the period 1631–1944 is shown to be complete for the range Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) between 1.5 and 4.0. The time clustering of eruptive events, as indicated by the catalogue, shows a fractal dimension and a scaling region largely dependent on VEI. This might reflect the turbulence of the magma flowing under the volcano which is responsible for cascading of energy from large to small eddies. Received November 9, 1999; accepted March 3, 2000     

Progress in the Energy Closure of Eddy Covariance Systems

The sum of turbulent fluxes measured by the eddy-covariance method is often 10%~30% lower than available energy (i.e., the net radiation minus the ground heat flux). This systematic bias in the EC method is called the "EC energy closure problem" and has been one of the biggest challenges in micrometeorology. In the past decades, lots of studies have focused on this problem and have found extensive knowledge about it. In this paper, we introduced the reasons to the EC energy closure problem and systematically summarized the understandings on this problem with a discussion regarding the merits and limitations of possible correction methods. Compared with previous overview studies, our study focused on the methods and progresses on the EC energy closure problem using the Large Eddy Simulation (LES). The existing problem, e.g., the lack of high quality and high spatial density of "surface true fluxes" observations (e.g., matric observations), the failure of fully emulating the EC using the LES and how to mechanistically understand that large eddies affect turbulence structures and lead to non-closure problem, hinder the further understanding of the EC energy closure problem. Thus, in the future, focus should be put on the mechanistic understanding of how large eddies affect the non-closure problem and some dense field observations to obtain the high quality "surface true fluxes".     

沉积分异作用与河口海洋沉积

沉积分异作用在解释表层沉积现象时具有重要意义。在水流辐聚或辐散区域,表层沉积物将因辐聚和辐散运移而分别呈细化和粗化状态。河口区细颗粒沉积区的形成,是因为河口区存在底层余流辐聚的滞流区现象;东中国海涡旋区泥质沉积现象的形成,是因为涡旋区存在指向涡旋中心的底层辐聚流;浙闽沿岸泥质沉积现象是近岸的浙闽沿岸流和远岸的台湾暖流之间存在余流辐聚带;英吉利海峡宽度最窄处的沉积物粗化现象,是因该处沉积物在水流作用下呈分离运移趋势所引起。