Dynamical downscaling of the submesoscale cascade of turbulence
Abstract
The currents of the equatorial Western Pacific impinge upon numerous ridges and island arcs. The interaction of the flow with topogr,aphy causes a cascade of motions from planetary to small ageostrophic scales. Vorticity and energy transfer to small scales are in t,urn believed to remove energy from the large scale mean flow of the equatorial current systems. The cascade ultimately feeds energy,to the fine- and microstructure scales, where instability mechanisms lead to turbulence and dissipation. We propose to study these c,ascades using high resolution models nested within nowcast/hindcast models in order to preserve the large scale mesoscale features t,hat are well-represented in existing models but admit submesoscale physics. By tightly linking process oriented submesoscale nowcast,/hindcast models to observational programs we can ensure the relevance of the modeling to the observations and to unambiguously asse,ss the timescales of the submesoscale circulation and the spatial scales represented in a submesoscale model and to construct detail,ed regional budgets of flow parameters such as vorticity.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jul 13, 2022
- Source ID
- N000142212571
Entities
People
- Harper Simmons
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Washington