Generation of internal waves by eddies impinging on the western boundary of the North Atlantic
Clément, L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6935-9455; Frajka-Williams, E. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8773-7838; Sheen, K.L.; Brearley, J.A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3700-8017; Naveira-Garabato, A.C.. 2016 Generation of internal waves by eddies impinging on the western boundary of the North Atlantic. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 46 (4). 1067-1079. 10.1175/JPO-D-14-0241.1
Before downloading, please read NORA policies.Preview |
Text
Copyright American Meteorological Society jpo-d-14-0241%2E1.pdf - Published Version Download (2MB) | Preview |
Abstract/Summary
Despite the major role played by mesoscale eddies in redistributing the energy of the large-scale circulation, our understanding of their dissipation is still incomplete. This study investigates the generation of internal waves by decaying eddies in the North Atlantic western boundary. The eddy presence and decay are measured from the altimetric surface relative vorticity associated with an array of full-depth current meters extending ~100 km offshore at 26.5°N. In addition, internal waves are analysed over a topographic rise from 2-year high-frequency measurements of an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP), which is located 13 km offshore in 600 m deep water. Despite an apparent polarity independence of the eddy decay observed from altimetric data, the flow in the deepest 100 m is enhanced for anticyclones (25.2 cm s−1) compared with cyclones (-4.7 cm s−1). Accordingly, the internal wave field is sensitive to this polarity-dependent deep velocity. This is apparent from the eddy-modulated enhanced dissipation rate, which is obtained from a finescale parameterization and exceeds 10−9 W kg−1 for near-bottom flows greater than 8 cm s−1. The present study underlines the importance of oceanic western boundaries for removing the energy of low-mode westward-propagating eddies to higher-mode internal waves.
Item Type: | Publication - Article |
---|---|
Digital Object Identifier (DOI): | 10.1175/JPO-D-14-0241.1 |
Programmes: | BAS Programmes > BAS Programmes 2015 > Polar Oceans |
ISSN: | 0022-3670 |
Date made live: | 16 Feb 2016 14:56 +0 (UTC) |
URI: | https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/508910 |
Actions (login required)
View Item |
Document Downloads
Downloads for past 30 days
Downloads per month over past year