Diagnosing ocean‐wave‐turbulence interactions from space
- Torres, H.s.
- Klein, Patrice
- Siegelman, L.
- Qiu, B.
- Chen, S.
- Ubelman, C.
- Wang, J.
- Menemenlis, D.
- Fu, L.‐l.
DOIAbstract
Numerical studies indicate that interactions between ocean internal gravity waves (especially those <100 km) and geostrophic (or balanced) motions associated with mesoscale eddy turbulence (involving eddies of 100–300 km) impact the ocean's kinetic energy budget and therefore its circulation. Results from these studies have never been confirmed by observations in regional or basin‐scale domains. Here we show that internal gravity waves have a spectral signature on sea‐surface height (SSH) during summer that significantly differs from that of balanced motions. These spectral differences lead us to propose a new dynamical framework that quantifies the interactions between internal gravity waves and balanced motions in physical space from SSH ...
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