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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 OSTI2020

Advancing representations of turbulence in Earth System Models [Slides]

We have created a suite of coastally focused Large Eddy Simulation (LES), including a first ever investigation of the influence of the ocean bottom on turbulence. We have added important forcing not previously considered in LES models. We have evaluated a new more physically realistic and advanced closure against our LES database of simulations. Test cases will constrain constants in the new model and help us transition the mixing model from the deep ocean to the coastal ocean for the first time.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2020

Turbulent controls on ice-shelf melting [PowerPoint]

The presentation discusses the fundamental gaps in our understanding of ocean turbulence below ice shelves and how they were addressed via Large-Eddy Simulations (LES) specifically tailored for ice-shelf settings.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS1981

A four-dimensional primitive equation model for coupled coastal-deep ocean studies

A prototype four dimensional continental shelf/deep ocean model is described. In its present form, the model incorporates the effects of finite amplitude topography, advective nonlinearities, and variable stratification and rotation. The model can be forced either directly by imposed atmospheric windstress and surface pressure distributions, and energetic mean currents imposed by the exterior oceanic circulation; or indirectly by initial distributions of shoreward propagation mesoscale waves and eddies. To avoid concerns over the appropriate specification of 'open' boundary conditions on the cross-shelf and seaward model boundaries, a periodic channel geometry (oriented along-coast) is used. The model employs a traditional finite difference expansion in the cross-shelf direction, and a Fourier (periodic) representation in the long-shelf coordinate.

Haidvogel, D. B.↗

NASA NTRS2022

Simulation and Scaling of the Turbulent Vertical Heat Transport and Deep-Cycle Turbulence Across the Equatorial Pacific Cold Tongue

Microstructure observations in the Pacific cold tongue reveal that strong turbulence often penetrates into the thermocline producing hundreds of W/m2 of downward heat transport during nighttime and early morning. However, virtually all observations of this deep-cycle turbulence (DCT) are from 0◦N,140◦W. Here, a hierarchy of ocean process simulations including submesoscale-permitting regional models and turbulence-permitting large eddy simulations (LES) embedded in a regional model provide insight into DCT at and beyond 0◦N,140◦W. A regional hindcast quantifies the spatio-temporal variability of subsurface turbulent heat fluxes throughout the cold tongue from 1999-2016. Climatologically, the mean heat flux is strongest (∼100W/m2) within2◦ of the equator. The heat flux is slightly (∼10 W/m2) stronger in the northern than southern hemisphere throughout the cold tongue. The seasonal cycle of the heat flux, which is not everywhere aligned with the surface flux, ranges from 150 W/m2 near the equator to 30 W/m2 and 10 W/m2 at 4◦N and S respectively. Aseasonal variability of turbulent heat fluxes is logarithmically distributed and temporally uncorrelated with surface heat fluxes. The aseasonal variability of turbulence is highlighted in 34-day LES of Boreal autumn at 0◦N and 3◦N,140◦W. Intense DCT occurs frequently above the undercurrent at 0◦N and intermittently at 3◦N. Daily-mean heat fluxes scale with the bulk vertical shear and the wind stress, which together explain ∼90% of the daily variance across both LES. Observational validation of the scaling at 0◦N,140◦W is encouraging, but observations beyond 0◦N,140◦W can facilitate needed refinement of mixing parameterization in ocean models.

Simulation↗

DOE OSTI2020

Scaling Global Warming Impacts on Ocean Ecosystems: Lessons From a Suite of Earth System Models

An important technique used by climate modelers to isolate the impacts of increasing greenhouse gasses on Earth System processes is to simulate the impact of an abrupt increase in carbon dioxide. The spatial pattern of change provides a “fingerprint” that is generally much larger than natural variability. Insofar as the response to radiative forcing is linear (the impact of quadrupling CO 2 is twice the impact of doubling CO 2 ) this fingerprint can then be used to estimate the impact of historical greenhouse gas forcing. However, the degree to which biogeochemical cycles respond linearly to radiative forcing has rarely been tested. In this paper, we evaluate which ocean biogeochemical fields are likely to respond linearly to changing radiative forcing, which ones do not, and where linearity breaks down. We also demonstrate that the representation of lateral mixing by mesoscale eddies, which varies significantly across climate models, plays an important role in modulating the breakdown of linearity. Globally integrated surface rates of biogeochemical cycling (primary productivity, particulate export) respond in a relatively linear fashion and are only moderately sensitive to mixing. By contrast, the habitability of the interior ocean (as determined by hypoxia and calcite supersaturation) behaves non-linearly and is very sensitive to mixing. This is because the deep ocean, as well as certain regions in the surface ocean, are very sensitive to the magnitude of deep wintertime convection. The cessation of convection under global warming is strongly modulated by the representation of eddy mixing.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS2017

Contribution of Sub-Mesoscales to the Vertical Velocity: The Omega-Equation

The oceans ability to regulate carbon dioxide depends on biogeochemical processes that are influenced strongly by eddies. Eddy-resolving simulations have shown that sub-mesoscales (SM) (110 km) generate the highest magnitude vertical velocity and that mesoscales (M) also enhance their contribution to the vertical velocity but to a lesser extent. In this study, we consider the question: can analogous results be obtained using the less numerically demanding -equation? Previously, this question has not been answered because of two reasons: 1) the canonical Hoskins form of the - equation does not include the buoyancy vertical fluxes caused by M and SM; and 2) Giordani et al. (2016) showed how to include an arbitrary vertical buoyancy flux, but no parameterizations were available for the M and SM vertical fluxes. How- ever, the latter are now available together with their assessments, so we consider SM because they make the largest contribution to the vertical velocity. The resulting vertical velocity depends on the extent of the SM regime, the horizontal buoyancy gradient (representing baroclinic instabilities), and the SM eddy kinetic energy. The vertical velocity depends in a linear manner on the wind stress and it may exhibit seasonal variations. The wind stress has two effects on the -equation: indirectly via its contribution to the sub-mesoscale buoyancy flux and directly through the wind stress itself. The results of our sensitivity analysis highlight the range of SM-induced vertical velocities obtained using different input data.

oceans↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

How strong is ocean mixing in the Pacific Ocean cold tongue, and does it matter?

Microstructure observations within the Pacific Ocean cold tongue reveal that strong surface boundary layer turbulence often penetrates into the thermocline producing hundreds of W/m^2 of downward heat transport during nighttime and early morning. Hence, it has been suggested that ocean turbulent mixing contributes significantly to the sea-surface temperature budget and modulates air-sea interaction on a wide range of timescales with consequences for global climate and weather. However, most observations of ocean microstructure in the cold tongue are from 0 N,140 W. In this presentation, I will attempt to characterize ocean mixing at and beyond 0 N,140 W using models. Questions to be addressed include: 1) can we model ocean mixing at 0 N,140 W? And 2) how does ocean mixing vary in space and time beyond 0 N,140 W? Finally, 3) how does ocean mixing compare to the air-sea heat flux in the sea-surface temperature budget? Results will be derived from existing observations at 0 N, 140 W and a new hierarchy of regional ocean process simulations including a 20-year-long submesoscale-permitting regional model and month-long turbulence-permitting large eddy simulations embedded in a regional model.

Strong↗

NASA NTRS2000

Water Vapor Transport Over the Tropical Oceans During ENSO as Diagnosed from TRMM and SSM/I Data

Traditionally, large-scale water vapor transport [div Q] has been derived directly from circulation statistics in which transport processes are often depicted by mean and eddy motions. Thus detailed and accurate calculations of moisture transport terms over the globe are required. Notably, the lack of systematically spaced conventional measurements of meteorological variables over oceans has hindered understanding of the distribution and transport of water vapor. This motivates the use of indirect calculation methods in which horizontal divergence of water vapor is balanced by the evaporation minus precipitation, assuming the rate of changes of precipitable water and condensates is small over a sufficiently long time period. In order to obtain the water vapor transport, we need evaporation rate minus precipitation (E-P). Focussing on the differences in water vapor transport between El Nino and La Nina periods and their influences on atmospheric circulations, we study January, February, and March of 1998 and 1999 periods which represent El Nino and La Nina respectively. SSM/I-derived precipitation and evaporation rate from SSM/I wind and total precipitable water, in conjunction with NCEP SST and surface air temperature, are used for the calculation of the transport potential function. For the retrieval of evaporation we use a stability-dependent aerodynamic bulk scheme developed by Chou (1993). It was tested against aircraft covariance fluxes measured during cold air outbreaks over the North Atlantic Ocean. Chou et al. (1997) reported that the SSM/I retrieved latent heat flux over the western Pacific warm pool area were found to be comparable with daily mean fluxes of a ship measurements during TOGA/COARE.

Robertson, Franklin R.↗

DOE OSTI2026

Detecting shearless phase-space transport barriers in global gyrokinetic turbulence simulations with test particle map models

In magnetically confined fusion plasmas, the role played by zonal 𝐸 x 𝐵 flow shear layers in the suppression of turbulent transport is relatively well understood. However, less is understood about the role played by the weak shear regions that arise in the non-monotonic radial electric field profiles often associated with these shear layers. In electrostatic simulations from the global total-𝑓 gyrokinetic particle-in-cell code XGC, we demonstrate how shearless regions with non-zero flow curvature form zonal ‘jets’ that, in conjunction with neighbouring regions of shear, can act as robust barriers to particle transport and turbulence spreading. By isolating quasi-coherent fluctuations radially localised to the zonal jets, we construct a map model for the Lagrangian dynamics of gyrokinetic test particles in the presence of drift waves. We identify the presence of shearless invariant tori in this model and verify that these tori act as partial phase-space transport barriers in the simulations. We also demonstrate how avalanches impinging on these shearless tori cause eddy detachment events that form ‘cold/warm core ring’ structures analogous to those found in oceanic jets, facilitating transport across the barriers without destroying them completely. We discuss how shearless tori may generically arise from tertiary instabilities or other types of discrete eigenmodes, suggesting their potential relevance to broader classes of turbulent fluctuations.

fusion plasma↗

NASA NTRS1987

Components of the ice age circulation

The effects of ice age boundary conditions on atmospheric dynamics and regional climate patterns are investigated using four GCM simulations. Particular consideration is given to sea surface temperature-sea ice distribution, the appearance of land ice, and the increased elevation of land ice. It is observed that the ice-age sea surface temperature stabilizes the atmosphere over the oceans, increases the frequency of storm tracking through central North America, and amplifies transient eddy energy without increasing baroclinic generation. It is detected that low-elevation ice generates low pressure over eastern North America and southern Europe in winter, while increasing cloud cover and cooling the land in summer. Elevation of the ice sheets cools the land in winter, further intensifies storms off northeastern North America, induces subsidence warming downstream of the European ice sheets in summer, and increases the transient and stationary eddy energy through increased baroclinicity.

Rind, D.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Predicting and explaining the movement of mesoscale oceanographic features using CLIPS

The Naval Research Laboratory has developed an oceanographic expert system that describes the evolution of mesoscale features in the Gulf Stream region of the northwest Atlantic Ocean. These features include the Gulf Stream current and the warm and cold core eddies associated with the Gulf Stream. An explanation capability was added to the eddy prediction component of the expert system in order to allow the system to justify the reasoning process it uses to make predictions. The eddy prediction and explanation components of the system have recently been redesigned and translated from OPS83 to C and CLIPS and the new system is called WATE (Where Are Those Eddies). The new design has improved the system's readability, understandability and maintainability and will also allow the system to be incorporated into the Semi-Automated Mesoscale Analysis System which will eventually be embedded into the Navy's Tactical Environmental Support System, Third Generation, TESS(3).

Bridges, Susan↗

NASA NTRS2018

High-resolution Wave Propagation Method for Stratified Flows

The implementation of the multidimensional f-waves Riemann solver for the time-dependent, three-dimensional, nonhydrostatic, meso- and microscale atmospheric flows is described in detail. The Riemann solver employs flux-based wave decomposition (f-waves) for the calculation of Godunov fluxes in which the flux differences are written directly as the linear combination of the right eigenvectors of the hyperbolic system. The scheme incorporates the source term due to gravity without introducing discretization errors which is an important property in the context of atmospheric flows. The resulting flow solver is conservative, accurate, stable, and well-balanced. The implementation of the solver is evaluated using benchmark test cases for atmospheric dynamics.

Riemann problem↗

DOE OSTI2024

Langmuir turbulence in suspended kelp farms

This study investigates the influence of suspended kelp farms on ocean mixed layer hydrodynamics in the presence of currents and waves. We use the large eddy simulation method, where the wave effect is incorporated by solving the wave-averaged equations. Distinct Langmuir circulation patterns are generated within various suspended farm configurations, including horizontally uniform kelp blocks and spaced kelp rows. Intensified turbulence arises from the farm-generated Langmuir circulation, as opposed to the standard Langmuir turbulence observed without a farm. The creation of Langmuir circulation within the farm is attributed to two primary factors depending on farm configuration: (i) enhanced vertical shear due to kelp frond area density variability, and (ii) enhanced lateral shear due to canopy discontinuity at lateral edges of spaced rows. Both enhanced vertical and lateral shear of streamwise velocity, representing the lateral and vertical vorticity components, respectively, can be tilted into downstream vorticity to create Langmuir circulation. This vorticity tilting is driven by the Craik–Leibovich vortex force associated with the Stokes drift of surface gravity waves. In addition to the farm-generated Langmuir turbulence, canopy shear layer turbulence is created at the farm bottom edge due to drag discontinuity. The intensity of different types of turbulence depends on both kelp frond area density and the geometric configuration of the farm. The farm-generated turbulence has substantial consequences for nutrient supply and kelp growth. These findings also underscore the significance of the presence of obstacle structures in modifying ocean mixed layer characteristics.

Bo, Tong (ORCID:0000000260300561)↗

NASA NTRS2022

The Impacts of Freshwater Input and Surface Wind Velocity on the Strength and Extent of a Large High Latitude River Plume

Arctic Ocean physical and biogeochemical properties are strongly influenced by freshwater input from land and through the Bering Strait, where the mean currents transport water northward from the Bering Sea. The Yukon River is one of the largest rivers in North America and the Arctic, contributing large quantities of freshwater and terrigenous material to the coastal ocean in the northern Bering Sea. However, a detailed analysis of the coastal hydrodynamics at the outflow of the river has not been conducted in this remote but regionally important river. A three-dimensional hydrodynamic model was built to represent the lower Yukon River and coastal ocean for the ice-free months in 7 years. On average, a large anticyclonic eddy persisted at the main outflow of the Yukon that recirculates water back toward the coast where the currents converge to form a mean northward transport along the delta. Interannual spatial variance in salinity was relatively small, while there was substantial variance in u and v current velocity. u velocity spatial variance was correlated to the volume of freshwater discharge across years, while v velocity spatial variance was correlated to the N–S wind velocity. During strong wind events, plume structure was substantially altered: southerly winds deepened the plume and enhanced northward transport, while northerly winds shoaled and strengthened the pycnocline, and reversed the flow toward the south. The variability in plume dispersion on short time scales due to wind forcing has implications for where terrigenous material is processed in and settles out of the water column.

river plume↗

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

Intensification of Hurricane Sally (2020) over the Mississippi River Plume

Abstract Tropical Cyclone (TC) Sally formed on 11 September 2020, traveled through the Gulf of Mexico (GMX), and intensified rapidly before making landfall on the Alabama coast as a devastating category-2 TC with extensive coastal and inland flooding. In this study, using a combination of observations and idealized numerical model experiments, we demonstrate that the Mississippi River plume played a key role in the intensification of Sally near the northern Gulf Coast. As the storm intensified and its translation slowed before landfall, sea surface cooling was reduced along its track, coincident with a pronounced increase in SSS. Further analysis reveals that TC Sally encountered a warm Loop Current eddy in the northern GMX close to the Mississippi River plume. Besides deepening the thermocline, the eddy advected low-salinity Mississippi River plume water into the storm’s path. This resulted in the development of strong upper-ocean salinity stratification, with a shallow layer of freshwater lying above a deep, warm “barrier layer.” Consequently, TC-induced mixing and the associated sea surface cooling were reduced, aiding Sally’s intensification. These results suggest that the Mississippi River plume and freshwater advection by the Loop Current eddies can play an important role in TC intensification near the U.S. Gulf Coast.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2023

Sensitivity of the Southern Hemisphere Wintertime Teleconnection to the Location of ENSO Heating

The Southern Hemisphere extratropical atmospheric circulation response to anomalous convection in the tropical western and eastern Pacific Ocean is distinctly different. The response to westward-located heating has a meridional dipole in the South Pacific with large zonal scale and appears unable to be interpreted simply as a stationary Rossby wave train that disperses poleward and eastward from a tropical source like the meridionally arched response to eastward-located heating. Here, this study investigates the cause of this asymmetry by examining the daily evolution of the response to suddenly switching on steady diabatic heating over a western and central/eastern equatorial Pacific location using large-ensemble integrations from the Community Atmosphere Model version 5. We focus on the austral winter months when the subtropical jet supports the development of an effective Rossby wave source in the subtropical westerlies and acts as a waveguide. We show that the subtropical jet strongly influences the height response to the western tropical Pacific heating, promoting prominent zonal circumglobal propagation. Development of a transient eddy feedback in the extratropical storm track after approximately 10 days appears to play a primary role in establishing the time-mean response, which we test through comparison with similar experiments conducted using a simplified linear model. Conversely, the height anomalies for eastern tropical Pacific heating, farther away from the subtropical jet core, have larger meridional propagation, dispersing in a typical Hoskins–Karoly manner into the Southern Hemisphere extratropics, while the transient eddy feedback plays a secondary role for the establishment of the steady response.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗