PO31C:
The Ocean's Energy Cascade: Measuring and Modeling of Instabilities, Internal Waves, and Turbulence at the Submesoscale and Smaller IV


Session ID#: 11432

Session Description:
Large scale O(10^5 m) oceanic motions are linked to the turbulent scales O(<1 m) through a variety of mechanisms including internal wave radiation, interaction, and scattering, frontal instabilities, and boundary layer physics. Such mechanisms are essential for the vertical redistribution of energy generated along the ocean’s upper and bottom boundaries and thus are of critical importance in providing mechanical energy to processes in the stratified interior of the ocean. Regions of enhanced mixing are often found where a combination of currents, stratification, and topography act together to increase the potential for nonlinear interactions in the flow, for example through frontal instabilities and strong internal wave generation. Enhanced turbulence leads to mixing of water mass properties and changes to flow dynamics that can feedback on the larger-scale physics.  This session welcomes contributions from observational, theoretical, and numerical studies of the ocean's energy cascade at small scales (i.e. submesoscale and smaller).
Primary Chair:  Subhas Karan Venayagamoorthy, Colorado State University, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Fort Collins, CO, United States
Chairs:  Louis St Laurent, Woods Hole Oceanographic Insti, Woods Hole, MA, United States, Emily Shroyer, Oregon State Univ, Corvallis, OR, United States and Harper L Simmons, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, United States
Moderators:  Harper L Simmons, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, United States and Emily Shroyer, Oregon State Univ, Corvallis, OR, United States
Student Paper Review Liaison:  Subhas Karan Venayagamoorthy, Colorado State University, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Fort Collins, CO, United States
Index Terms:

4524 Fine structure and microstructure [OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL]
4544 Internal and inertial waves [OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL]
4562 Topographic/bathymetric interactions [OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL]
4568 Turbulence, diffusion, and mixing processes [OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL]
Co-Sponsor(s):
  • A - Air-sea Interactions and Upper Ocean Processes
  • EC - Estuarine and Coastal
  • OD - Ocean Observing and Data Management
  • TP - Turbulent Processes

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

PO31C-01
Observations of an internal tide beam in the Tasman Sea (90801)
Amy Frances Waterhouse1, Samuel Maurice Kelly2, Jennifer A MacKinnon3, Jonathan D Nash4, Shaun Johnston3, Zhongxiang Zhao5, Luc Rainville5, Harper L Simmons6, Dmitry Brazhnikov7 and Daniel L Rudnick1, (1)Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA, United States, (2)University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN, United States, (3)University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States, (4)Oregon State Univ, Corvallis, OR, United States, (5)Applied Physics Laboratory University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States, (6)University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, United States, (7)University of Alaska Fairbanks, Anchorage, AK, United States
PO31C-02
Global Internal Tide Energy Flux and Dissipation from Satellite Altimetry (92949)
Zhongxiang Zhao1, Matthew H Alford2, James B Girton3, Luc Rainville1, Harper L Simmons4, Amy Frances Waterhouse2 and Caitlin Beth Whalen2, (1)Applied Physics Laboratory University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States, (2)Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States, (3)University of Washington, Applied Physics Laboratory, Seattle, WA, United States, (4)University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, United States
PO31C-03
Tidally driven mixing and dissipation in the stratified boundary layer above steep submarine topography (88511)
Kraig B Winters, University of California San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA, United States
PO31C-04
Evaluating the role of inertial and tidal internal wave dynamics on a narrow continental shelf: An assessment of the dominant physical dynamics influencing mixing and the energy budget (89304)
Tamara Lillian Schlosser1, Cynthia Bluteau2, Nicole L Jones2, Andrew Lucas3, Jonathan D Nash4 and Gregory N Ivey2, (1)University of Western Australia, School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering and UWA Oceans Institute, Crawley, Australia, (2)University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia, (3)Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA, United States, (4)Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, United States
PO31C-05
Nonlinear Internal Waves on the Inner Shelf: Observations Using a Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) System. (92734)
Kristen A Davis1, Emma Catherine Reid1 and Anne L Cohen2, (1)University of California Irvine, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Irvine, CA, United States, (2)Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole, MA, United States
PO31C-07
Near-Bottom Turbulence in the Deep Hypolimnetic Waters of a Large Stratified Basin (93533)
Cary David Troy, Purdue University, Civil and Environmental Engineering, West Lafayette, IN, United States and David Cannon, Purdue University, Lyles School of Civil Engineering, West Lafayette, IN, United States
PO31C-08
Horizontal distribution of near-inertial waves in the western Gulf of Mexico: Eulerian vs Lagrangian. (92617)
Enric Pallas Sanz1, Paula García-Carrillo1, Beatriz Ixetl Garcia Gomez1, Jonathan M Lilly2 and Paula Perez-Brunius3, (1)CICESE, Ensenada, Mexico, (2)Theiss Research, La Jolla, CA, United States, (3)Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education at Ensenada, Physical Oceanography, Ensenada, Mexico
See more of: Physical Oceanography/Ocean Circulation