Multiscale Study of Currents Affected by Topography

Abstract

This work seeks to understand the effects of topography on the ocean general and regional circulation with a focus on the wide range of scales of interactions. The small-scale details of the topography and the waves, eddies, drag, and turbulence it generates (at spatial scales ranging from meters to mesoscale) interact in the boundary layers to influence the ambient larger-scale flow. We have studied these issues through ocean model simulations, adjoint sensitivity experiments, and state estimation using ocean observations in the region surrounding an island in the westward-flowing limb of the subtropical gyre.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 30, 2015
Accession Number
AD1014366

Entities

People

  • Bruce D. Cornuelle

Organizations

  • Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Assimilation
  • Boundaries
  • Boundary Layer
  • Data Analysis
  • High Resolution
  • Measurement
  • Observation
  • Ocean Currents
  • Oceans
  • Pressure Gages
  • Rossby Waves
  • Simulations
  • Steady State
  • Topography
  • Viscosity
  • Water Masses
  • Waves

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Modeling, Data Assimilation, and Flux Boundary Layers