Search NASA⌕ Search

Engineering topics

Fox-Kemper, Baylor

Publications and source records attributed to Fox-Kemper, Baylor.

7 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Topological Signature of Stratospheric Poincaré-Gravity Waves

The rotation of Earth breaks time-reversal and reflection symmetries in an opposite sense north and south of the equator, leading to a topological origin for certain atmospheric and oceanic equatorial waves. Away from the equator, the rotating shallow-water and stably stratified primitive equations exhibit Poincaré inertia–gravity waves that have nontrivial topology as evidenced by their strict superinertial time scale and a phase singularity in frequency–wavevector space. This nontrivial topology then predicts, via the principle of bulk-interface correspondence, the existence of two equatorial waves along the equatorial interface, the Kelvin and Yanai waves. To directly test the nontrivial topology of Poincaré-gravity waves in observations, we examine ERA5 data and study cross correlations between the wind velocity and geopotential height of the midlatitude stratosphere at the 50 hPa height. We find the predicted vortex and antivortex in the relative phase of the geopotential height and velocity at the high frequencies of the waves. By contrast, lower-frequency planetary waves are found to have trivial topology also as expected from theory. These results demonstrate a new way to understand stratospheric waves and provide a new qualitative tool to investigate waves in other components of the climate system.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

A Finite-Time Ensemble Method for Mixed Layer Model Comparison

Here, this work evaluates the fidelity of various upper-ocean turbulence parameterizations subject to realistic monsoon forcing and presents a finite-time ensemble vector (EV) method to better manage the design and numerical principles of these parameterizations. The EV method emphasizes the dynamics of a turbulence closure multimodel ensemble and is applied to evaluate 10 different ocean surface boundary layer (OSBL) parameterizations within a single-column (SC) model against two boundary layer large-eddy simulations (LES). Both LES include realistic surface forcing, but one includes wind-driven shear turbulence only, while the other includes additional Stokes forcing through the wave-average equations that generate Langmuir turbulence. The finite-time EV framework focuses on what constitutes the local behavior of the mixed layer dynamical system and isolates the forcing and ocean state conditions where turbulence parameterizations most disagree. Identifying disagreement provides the potential to evaluate SC models comparatively against the LES. Observations collected during the 2018 monsoon onset in the Bay of Bengal provide a case study to evaluate models under realistic and variable forcing conditions. The case study results highlight two regimes where models disagree 1) during wind-driven deepening of the mixed layer and 2) under strong diurnal forcing.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Ocean Mesoscale and Frontal-Scale Ocean–Atmosphere Interactions and Influence on Large-Scale Climate: A Review

Two decades of high-resolution satellite observations and climate modeling studies have indicated strong ocean–atmosphere coupled feedback mediated by ocean mesoscale processes, including semipermanent and meandrous SST fronts, mesoscale eddies, and filaments. The air–sea exchanges in latent heat, sensible heat, momentum, and carbon dioxide associated with this so-called mesoscale air–sea interaction are robust near the major western boundary currents, Southern Ocean fronts, and equatorial and coastal upwelling zones, but they are also ubiquitous over the global oceans wherever ocean mesoscale processes are active. Current theories, informed by rapidly advancing observational and modeling capabilities, have established the importance of mesoscale and frontal-scale air–sea interaction processes for understanding large-scale ocean circulation, biogeochemistry, and weather and climate variability. However, numerous challenges remain to accurately diagnose, observe, and simulate mesoscale air–sea interaction to quantify its impacts on large-scale processes. This article provides a comprehensive review of key aspects pertinent to mesoscale air–sea interaction, synthesizes current understanding with remaining gaps and uncertainties, and provides recommendations on theoretical, observational, and modeling strategies for future air–sea interaction research.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

The Scale and Activity of Symmetric Instability Estimated from a Global Submesoscale-Permitting Ocean Model

Abstract Symmetric instability (SI) extracts kinetic energy from fronts in the surface mixed layer (SML), potentially affecting the SML structure and dynamics. Here, a global submesoscale-permitting ocean model named MITgcm LLC4320 simulation is used to examine the Stone linear prediction of the maximum SI scale to estimate grid spacings needed to begin resolving SI. Furthermore, potential effects of SI on the usable wind work are estimated roughly: this estimate of SI “activity” is useful for assessing if these modes should be resolved or parameterized. The maximum SI scale varies by latitude with median values from 568 to 23 m. Strong seasonality is observed in the SI scale and activity. The median scale in winter is 188 m globally, 2.5 times of that of summer (75 m). SI is more active in winter: 15% of the time compared with 6% in summer. The strongest SI activity is found in the western Pacific, western Atlantic, and Southern Oceans. The required grid spacings for a global model to begin resolving SI eddies in the SML are 24 m (50% of regions resolved) and 7.9 m (90%) in winter, decreasing to 9.4 m (50%) and 3.6 m (90%) in summer. It is also estimated that SI may reduce usable wind work by an upper bound of 0.83 mW m −2 globally, or 5% of the global magnitude. The sensitivity of these estimates to empirical thresholds is provided in the text.

Dong, Jihai↗
DOE OSTI2016

Surface waves affect frontogenesis

Here, this paper provides a detailed analysis of momentum, angular momentum, vorticity, and energy budgets of a submesoscale front undergoing frontogenesis driven by an upper–ocean, submesoscale eddy field in a Large Eddy Simulation (LES). The LES solves the wave–averaged, or Craik–Leibovich, equations in order to account for the Stokes forces that result from interactions between nonbreaking surface waves and currents, and resolves both submesoscale eddies and boundary layer turbulence down to 4.9 m × 4.9 m × 1.25 m grid scales. It is found that submesoscale frontogenesis differs from traditional frontogenesis theory due to four effects: Stokes forces, momentum and kinetic energy transfer from submesoscale eddies to frontal secondary circulations, resolved turbulent stresses, and unbalanced torque. In the energy, momentum, angular momentum, and vorticity budgets for the frontal overturning circulation, the Stokes shear force is a leading–order contributor, typically either the second or third largest source of frontal overturning. These effects violate hydrostatic and thermal wind balances during submesoscale frontogenesis. The effect of the Stokes shear force becomes stronger with increasing alignment of the front and Stokes shear and with a nondimensional scaling. The Stokes shear force and momentum transfer from submesoscale eddies significantly energize the frontal secondary circulation along with the buoyancy.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2012

Will There Be a Significant Change to El Niño in the Twenty-First Century?

The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) response to anthropogenic climate change is assessed in the following 1° nominal resolution Community Climate System Model, version 4 (CCSM4) Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) simulations: twentieth-century ensemble, preindustrial control, twenty-first-century projections, and stabilized 2100–2300 “extension runs.” ENSO variability weakens slightly with CO 2 ; however, various significance tests reveal that changes are insignificant at all but the highest CO 2 levels. Comparison with the 1850 control simulation suggests that ENSO changes may become significant on centennial time scales; the lack of signal in the twentieth- versus twenty-first-century ensembles is due to their limited duration. Changes to the mean state are consistent with previous studies: a weakening of the subtropical wind stress curl, an eastward shift of the tropical convective cells, a reduction in the zonal SST gradient, and an increase in vertical thermal stratification take place as CO 2 increases. The extratropical thermocline deepens throughout the twenty-first century, with the tropical thermocline changing slowly in response. The adjustment time scale is set by the relevant ocean dynamics, and the delay in its effect on ENSO variability is not diminished by increasing ensemble size. The CCSM4 results imply that twenty-first-century simulations may simply be too short for identification of significant tropical variability response to climate change. An examination of atmospheric teleconnections, in contrast, shows that the remote influences of ENSO do respond rapidly to climate change in some regions, particularly during boreal winter. Finally, this suggests that changes to ENSO impacts may take place well before changes to oceanic tropical variability itself become significant.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗