Drifter Observations Reveal Intense Vertical Velocity in a Surface Ocean Front

Autor: Daniel R. Tarry, Simón Ruiz, T. M. Shaun Johnston, Pierre‐Marie Poulain, Tamay Özgökmen, Luca R. Centurioni, Maristella Berta, Giovanni Esposito, J. Thomas Farrar, Amala Mahadevan, Ananda Pascual
Přispěvatelé: Office of Naval Research (US)
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Geophysical Research Letters. 49
ISSN: 1944-8007
0094-8276
Popis: Measuring vertical motions represent a challenge as they are typically 3–4 orders of magnitude smaller than the horizontal velocities. Here, we show that surface vertical velocities are intensified at submesoscales and are dominated by high frequency variability. We use drifter observations to calculate divergence and vertical velocities in the upper 15 m of the water column at two different horizontal scales. The drifters, deployed at the edge of a mesoscale eddy in the Alboran Sea, show an area of strong convergence ((Formula presented.) (f)) associated with vertical velocities of −100 m day. This study shows that a multilayered-drifter array can be an effective tool for estimating vertical velocity near the ocean surface.
This research was supported by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Departmental Research Initiative CALYPSO under program officers Terri Paluszkiewicz and Scott Harper. The authors' ONR Grant No. are as follows: DT, SR, AM, and AP N000141613130, TMSJ N000146101612470, PP N000141812418, TO N000141812138, LRC N000141712517, and N00014191269, MB and GE N000141812782 and N000141812039, and JTF N000141812431.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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