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The rectification of wind-driven flow due to its instabilities

The rectification of wind-driven flow due to its instabilities
The rectification of wind-driven flow due to its instabilities
Within a quasi-geostrophic two-layer model of the wind-driven ocean circulation, an idealized symmetric double gyre flow is considered. When lateral friction is large enough, this flow is steady and characterized by a motionless lower layer. As friction is decreased, the flow undergoes a transition to time-dependence through a Hopf bifurcation, associated with a mixed barotropic/baroclinic instability. It is shown that the nonlinear self-interaction of this oscillatory unstable mode induces a nonzero time mean response in the lower layer. The origin of this deep flow is clarified through a weakly nonlinear analysis near critical conditions. It is explained how the perturbation is associated with both fluxes of anomalous layer thickness and Reynolds' stresses, due to vertical and horizontal phase lags, respectively. Furthermore, it is explained how the patterns of vorticity input, integrated over a cycle of the perturbation, induce a forcing of the second layer. Results deduced from computed trajectories at supercritical conditions support the conclusions from the weakly nonlinear analysis. This time-dependent view of the origin of the deep circulation is complementary to the classical (steady) picture based on the closure of geostrophic contours and forcing by interfacial friction, and may help to interpret results of eddy-resolving numerical models.
0022-2402
559-587
Katsman, Caroline A.
3b02aa84-550b-4a74-9331-28bc5e2f9601
Dijkstra, Henk A.
9178b06d-9de5-4f02-b9ff-204b20620291
Drijfhout, Sybren S.
a5c76079-179b-490c-93fe-fc0391aacf13
Katsman, Caroline A.
3b02aa84-550b-4a74-9331-28bc5e2f9601
Dijkstra, Henk A.
9178b06d-9de5-4f02-b9ff-204b20620291
Drijfhout, Sybren S.
a5c76079-179b-490c-93fe-fc0391aacf13

Katsman, Caroline A., Dijkstra, Henk A. and Drijfhout, Sybren S. (1998) The rectification of wind-driven flow due to its instabilities. Journal of Marine Research, 56 (3), 559-587. (doi:10.1357/002224098765213586).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Within a quasi-geostrophic two-layer model of the wind-driven ocean circulation, an idealized symmetric double gyre flow is considered. When lateral friction is large enough, this flow is steady and characterized by a motionless lower layer. As friction is decreased, the flow undergoes a transition to time-dependence through a Hopf bifurcation, associated with a mixed barotropic/baroclinic instability. It is shown that the nonlinear self-interaction of this oscillatory unstable mode induces a nonzero time mean response in the lower layer. The origin of this deep flow is clarified through a weakly nonlinear analysis near critical conditions. It is explained how the perturbation is associated with both fluxes of anomalous layer thickness and Reynolds' stresses, due to vertical and horizontal phase lags, respectively. Furthermore, it is explained how the patterns of vorticity input, integrated over a cycle of the perturbation, induce a forcing of the second layer. Results deduced from computed trajectories at supercritical conditions support the conclusions from the weakly nonlinear analysis. This time-dependent view of the origin of the deep circulation is complementary to the classical (steady) picture based on the closure of geostrophic contours and forcing by interfacial friction, and may help to interpret results of eddy-resolving numerical models.

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More information

Published date: 1 May 1998
Organisations: Ocean and Earth Science

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 349202
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/349202
ISSN: 0022-2402
PURE UUID: 79a3091e-80f0-44f1-9d5d-0fefe2d91ad7
ORCID for Sybren S. Drijfhout: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-5325-7350

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Date deposited: 26 Feb 2013 12:20
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:44

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Contributors

Author: Caroline A. Katsman
Author: Henk A. Dijkstra

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