As a part of the Scientific Committee on Oceanographic Research (SCOR) Working Group #160 “Analyzing ocean turbulence observations to quantify mixing” (ATOMIX), we have developed recommendations on best practices for estimating the rate of dissipation of kinetic energy,
Turbulent mixing in the ocean, lakes and reservoirs facilitates the transport of momentum, heat, nutrients, and other passive tracers. Turbulent fluxes are proportional to the rate of turbulent kinetic energy dissipation per unit mass,
- Award ID(s):
- 2140395
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10508612
- Publisher / Repository:
- Nature Publishing Group
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Scientific Data
- Volume:
- 11
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2052-4463
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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ε , from measurements of turbulence shear using shear probes. The recommendations provided here are platform-independent and cover the conceivable range of dissipation rates in the ocean, seas, and other natural waters. They are applicable to commonly deployed platforms that include vertical profilers, fixed and moored instruments, towed profilers, submarines, self-propelled ocean gliders, and other autonomous underwater vehicles. The procedure for preparing the shear data for spectral estimation is discussed in detail, as are the quality control metrics that should accompany each estimate ofε . The methods are illustrated using a high-quality ‘benchmark’ dataset, while potential pitfalls are demonstrated with a second dataset containing common faults. -
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Abstract Deep cycle turbulence (DCT) is a diurnally oscillating turbulence that penetrates into a stratified shear layer below the surface mixed layer, which is often observed in the eastern Pacific and Atlantic above the Equatorial Undercurrent (EUC). Here we present the simulation of DCT by a global ocean general circulation model (OGCM) for the first time. As the
k ‐ε vertical mixing scheme is used in the OGCM, the simulation of observed DCT structure based on in situ microstructure measurements can be explicitly demonstrated. The simulated DCT is found in all equatorial ocean basins, and its characteristics agree very well with observations. Zonal and meridional variations of DCT in the entire equatorial Pacific and Atlantic are described through constructing the composite diurnal cycle. In the central Pacific where the maximum shear associated with EUC is deep, the separation of DCT from the surface mixed layer is much more prominent than other areas. -
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Abstract On the night of 18–19 October 2018, sodium resonance lidar measurements show the presence of overturning in the mesospheric sodium layer. Two independent tracers, sodium mixing ratio and potential temperature, derived from resonance and Rayleigh lidar measurements, reveal that vertical spreading of the sodium mixing ratio contours and a layer of convective instability coincide with this overturning. Analysis of lidar measurements also reveals the presence of gravity waves that propagate upward, are saturated, and dissipate at the height of the convective instability. The vertical spreading is analyzed in terms of turbulent diffusive transport using a model based on material continuity of sodium. Estimates of the turbulent eddy diffusion coefficient, K, and energy dissipation rate,
ε are derived from the transport model. The energy dissipated by the gravity waves is also calculated and found to be sufficient to generate the turbulence. We consider three other examples of overturning, instability and spreading on the nights of: 17–18 February 2009, 25–26 January 2015, and 8–9 October 2018. For all four events we find that the values of K (∼1,000 m2/s) are larger and the values ofε (∼10–100 mW/kg) are of similar magnitude to those values typically reported by ionization gauge measurements. These examples also reveal that higher levels of turbulent mixing are consistently found in regions of lower stability. -
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ε ), was similar to buoyancy flux computed from the surface energy budget, indicating convection dominated turbulence production. Under heating, turbulence was suppressed unless winds in the adjacent open water exceeded 1 m/s. Gas transfer velocities obtained from chamber measurements ranged from 1 to 5 cm/hr and were similar to or slightly less than predicted using a turbulence‐based surface renewal model computed with measuredε andε predicted from wind and cooling. -
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Abstract Generating mechanisms and parameterizations for enhanced turbulence in the wake of a seamount in the path of the Kuroshio are investigated. Full-depth profiles of finescale temperature, salinity, horizontal velocity, and microscale thermal-variance dissipation rate up- and downstream of the ∼10-km-wide seamount were measured with EM-APEX profiling floats and ADCP moorings. Energetic turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rates
and diapycnal diffusivities above the seamount flanks extend at least 20 km downstream. This extended turbulent wake length is inconsistent with isotropic turbulence, which is expected to decay in less than 100 m based on turbulence decay time of N −1∼ 100 s and the 0.5 m s−1Kuroshio flow speed. Thus, the turbulent wake must be maintained by continuous replenishment which might arise from (i) nonlinear instability of a marginally unstable vortex wake, (ii) anisotropic stratified turbulence with expected downstream decay scales of 10–100 km, and/or (iii) lee-wave critical-layer trapping at the base of the Kuroshio. Three turbulence parameterizations operating on different scales, (i) finescale, (ii) large-eddy, and (iii) reduced-shear, are tested. Averageε vertical profiles are well reproduced by all three parameterizations. Vertical wavenumber spectra for shear and strain are saturated over 10–100 m vertical wavelengths comparable to water depth with spectral levels independent ofε and spectral slopes of −1, indicating that the wake flows are strongly nonlinear. In contrast, vertical divergence spectral levels increase withε .
