Lateral stirring of large-scale tracer fields by altimetry

ISI Document Delivery No.: 283LV Times Cited: 0 Cited Reference Count: 35 Cited References: Abraham ER, 1998, NATURE, V391, P577, DOI 10.1038/35361 Abraham ER, 2002, CHAOS, V12, P373, DOI 10.1063/1.1481615 Abraham ER, 2000, NATURE, V407, P727, DOI 10.1038/35037555 Belkin IM, 1996, J GEOPHYS RES-OCEANS, V101, P3675, DOI 10.1029/95JC02750 Chaigneau A, 2002, J GEOPHYS RES OCEANS, V107 Cresswell GR, 2000, PAP P R SOC TASMANIA, V133, P21 Dencausse G, 2011, J GEOPHYS RES OCEANS, V116 Despres A, 2011, OCEAN MODEL, V39, P97, DOI 10.1016/j.ocemod.2010.12.005 Dibarboure G, 2011, MAR GEOD, V34, P214, DOI 10.1080/01490419.2011.584826 d'Ovidio F, 2009, DEEP-SEA RES PT I, V56, P15, DOI 10.1016/j.dsr.2008.07.014 d'Ovidio F, 2004, GEOPHYS RES LETT, V31, DOI 10.1029/2004GL020328 Dussurget R, 2011, MAR GEOD, V34, P447, DOI 10.1080/01490419.2011.584835 Ferrari R, 2008, J CLIMATE, V21, P2770, DOI 10.1175/2007JCLI1510.1 Fox-Kemper B, 2008, J PHYS OCEANOGR, V38, P1145, DOI 10.1175/2007JPO3792.1 Guinehut S, 2004, J MARINE SYST, V46, P85, DOI 10.1016/j.jmarsys.2003.11.022 HOSKINS BJ, 1972, J ATMOS SCI, V29, P11, DOI 10.1175/1520-0469(1972)0292.0.CO;2 Hughes CW, 2001, J GEOPHYS RES-OCEANS, V106, P2713, DOI 10.1029/1999JC900332 Klein P, 2009, ANNU REV MAR SCI, V1, P351, DOI 10.1146/annurev.marine.010908.163704 Lehahn Y, 2007, J GEOPHYS RES OCEANS, V112 Le Sommer J, 2011, OCEAN MODEL, V39, P154, DOI 10.1016/j.ocemod.2011.03.007 Le Traon PY, 2001, J ATMOS OCEAN TECH, V18, P1277, DOI 10.1175/1520-0426(2001)0182.0.CO;2 Levy M, 2005, J GEOPHYS RES OCEANS, V110 Levy M, 2001, J MAR RES, V59, P535, DOI 10.1357/002224001762842181 Morrow R, 2003, DEEP-SEA RES PT I, V50, P339, DOI 10.1016/S0967-0637(03)00015-3 Morrow R, 2008, PROG OCEANOGR, V77, P351, DOI 10.1016/j.pocean.2007.03.002 Mulet S, 2012, DEEP-SEA RES PT II, V77-80, P70, DOI 10.1016/j.dsr2.2012.04.012 ORSI AH, 1995, DEEP-SEA RES PT I, V42, P641, DOI 10.1016/0967-0637(95)00021-W Paci A, 2005, J GEOPHYS RES OCEANS, V110 Rio M. H., 2009, OCEANOBS09 S 21 25 S Sallee JB, 2008, J MAR RES, V66, P441 Sallee JB, 2006, OCEAN DYNAM, V56, P525, DOI 10.1007/s10236-005-0054-x Sokolov S, 2007, J PHYS OCEANOGR, V37, P1394, DOI 10.1175/JPO3111.1 Thomas L, 2008, J PHYS OCEANOGR, V38, P2501, DOI 10.1175/2008JPO3797.1 Turiel A, 2005, PHYS REV LETT, V95 Waugh DW, 2008, GEOPHYS RES LETT, V35, DOI 10.1029/2008GL035526 Dencausse, Guillaume Morrow, Rosemary Roge, Marine Fleury, Sara European Community [283367] The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme FP7/ 2007-2013 under grant agreement no283367 (MyOcean2). We gratefully acknowledge the help from Francesco D'Ovidio for the advection code and early assistance with the project. We are also indebted to Elodie Kestenare for her assistance with the SURVOSTRAL TSG data and matlab support, and to Renaud Dussurget of the CTOH/LEGOS for assistance with the altimeter data and code. Two anonymous reviewers also provided helpful and constructive comments. 0 SPRINGER HEIDELBERG HEIDELBERG OCEAN DYNAMOcean surface fronts and filaments have a strong impact on the global ocean circulation and biogeochemistry. Surface Lagrangian advection with time-evolving altimetric geostrophic velocities can be used to simulate the submesoscale front and filament structures in large-scale tracer fields. We study this technique in the Southern Ocean region south of Tasmania, a domain marked by strong meso- to submesoscale features such as the fronts of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). Starting with large-scale surface tracer fields that we stir with altimetric velocities, we determine 'advected' fields which compare well with high-resolution in situ or satellite tracer data. We find that fine scales are best represented in a statistical sense after an optimal advection time of similar to 2 weeks, with enhanced signatures of the ACC fronts and better spectral energy. The technique works best in moderate to high EKE regions where lateral advection dominates. This technique may be used to infer the distribution of unresolved small scales in any physical or biogeochemical surface tracer that is dominated by lateral advection. Submesoscale dynamics also impact the subsurface of the ocean, and the Lagrangian advection at depth shows promising results. Finally, we show that climatological tracer fields computed from the advected large-scale fields display improved fine-scale mean features, such as the ACC fronts, which can be useful in the context of ocean modelling