Abstract's details

Interactions of Tides and Mesoscales in a High-Resolution Numerical Ocean Model

Edward Zaron (Portland State University, United States)

Event: 2014 Ocean Surface Topography Science Team Meeting

Session: Tides, internal tides and high-frequency processes

Presentation type: Poster

Output from a high-resolution operational ocean model, AMSEAS, is analyzed to identify interactions between internal tides, which are high-frequency internal gravity waves, and mesoscales, the low-frequency balanced motion, in the Caribbean Sea. Tidal amplitudes, while small, are discernable in the SSH at scales smaller than 150km, with contributions from both the coherent (phase-locked) and incoherent internal tides. Dynamical interactions are analyzed by decomposing the velocity field into three components: a low-frequency mesoscale, coherent tides, and a high-frequency residual, and evaluating the Reynolds stresses for each component. A comparison of Reynolds stresses and their relation to the mesoscale suggests where and how tides interact with the low frequency flow in the ocean.

Contribution: Zaron.pdf (pdf, 974 ko)

Corresponding author:

Edward Zaron

Portland State University

United States

ezaron@pdx.edu

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