PS51A:
Facing the Challenges in Interpreting High-Resolution Satellite Observations due to the Coexistence of Internal Gravity Waves and Balanced Motions in the World Oceans III


Session ID#: 37486

Session Description:
Near-inertial waves and internal tides are the dominant modes of high-frequency internal variability in the ocean, and they scatter into a broad-band inertia-gravity wave spectrum. These high-frequency waves are also known to interact with low-frequency motions associated with “balanced” turbulence (including geostrophic mesoscale eddies and sub-mesoscale fronts and vortices with finite Rossby number). Theoretical and numerical studies of the last decade have demonstrated the importance of these interactions for wave dispersion and energy transfer in the 1km-100km scale range, as well as their effects on the spatial variability of mixing and the route to dissipation. Recent studies have further highlighted the potential impacts of these wave-turbulence interactions on not only high-resolution in-situ observations but also high-resolution satellite observations. This concerns SAR images and also observations from future altimetry missions such as the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission. These impacts point to new scientific challenges for the interpretation of these high-resolution observations in terms of distinguishing waves from balanced currents and deciphering their interactions. The purpose of this session is to review what we know about these interactions, to identify the questions that still need to be addressed, and to consider how to meet these new challenges.
Primary Chair:  Patrice Klein, Cnrs/Ifremer/LOPS, Plouzané, France; Caltech/JPL, Pasadena, United States
Co-chairs:  Lee-Lueng Fu, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, James C McWilliams, University of California Los Angeles, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Los Angeles, United States and Rosemary Morrow, CNES French National Center for Space Studies, Toulouse Cedex 09, France
Moderators:  Jinbo Wang, JPL/NASA/Caltech, Pasadena, United States, Bo Qiu, Univ Hawaii Manoa, Honolulu, United States and Shane R Keating, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Student Paper Review Liaison:  Aurelien Ponte, CNRS-IFREMER-IRD-UBO, LOPS, Plouzané, France
Index Terms:

4520 Eddies and mesoscale processes [OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL]
4528 Fronts and jets [OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL]
4544 Internal and inertial waves [OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL]
Cross-Topics:
  • PL - Physical Oceanography: Mesoscale and Larger

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

Bo Qiu, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Oceanography, Honolulu, HI, United States, Shuiming Chen, Univ Hawaii Manoa, Honolulu, HI, United States, Patrice Klein, Cnrs/Ifremer/LOPS, Plouzané, France, Jinbo Wang, JPL/NASA/Caltech, Pasadena, United States, Hector S. Torres, CICESE National Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education of Mexico, Ensenada, Mexico, Lee-Lueng Fu, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States and Dimitris Menemenlis, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, United States
Anna Savage1, Brian K Arbic2, Matthew H Alford3, Joseph K Ansong4, Maarten C Buijsman5, J. Thomas Farrar6, Dimitris Menemenlis7, Amanda O'Rourke1, James G Richman8, Jay F Shriver9, Gunnar Voet10 and Alan J Wallcraft11, (1)University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, MI, United States, (2)University of Michigan, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Ann Arbor, United States, (3)Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA, United States, (4)Univ of MI-Earth & Environ Sci, Ann Arbor, MI, United States, (5)University of Southern Mississippi, Division of Marine Science, Stennis Space Center, MS, United States, (6)WHOI, Physical Oceanography, Woods Hole, MA, United States, (7)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (8)COAPS, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, United States, (9)Naval Research Laboratory, Ocean Sciences Division, Stennis Space Center, MS, United States, (10)Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, United States, (11)Naval Research Laboratory, Stennis Space Center, MS, United States
Michael Dunphy, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Institute of Ocean Sciences, Sidney, BC, Canada, Aurelien Ponte, CNRS-IFREMER-IRD-UBO, LOPS, Plouzané, France, Patrice Klein, Cnrs/Ifremer/LOPS, Plouzané, France and Sylvie Le Gentil, Laboratoire de Physique des Océans, Brest, France
Clement Ubelmann, CLS Collecte Localisation Satellites, Plouzané, France, Lauren Carrere, CLS, France, Yannice Faugere, CLS, Toulouse, France and Dibarboure Gerald, CNES, Toulouse, France
Yi Chao1, David M Fratantoni2, John D Farrara2, Steve Chien3, Andrew Branch3, Evan Clark4, Lee-Lueng Fu5, Jinbo Wang6, Bruce Joseph Haines7, Andrew F Thompson8, Mar M. Flexas9, Oscar Schofield10, David Aragon11, John Kerfoot12, Clinton Haldeman13, Uwe Send14, Christian Meinig15 and Scott Stalin15, (1)Remote Sensing Solutions, Monrovia, CA, United States, (2)Remote Sensing Solutions, Inc., Pasadena, CA, United States, (3)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, United States, (4)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (5)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (6)JPL/NASA/Caltech, Pasadena, United States, (7)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States, (8)CALTECH California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States, (9)California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States, (10)Rutgers University, Center of Ocean Observing Leadership, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, New Brunswick, United States, (11)Rutgers University, Marine and Coastal Sciences, Piscataway, NJ, United States, (12)Rutgers University, Marine and Coastal Sciences, New Brunswick, NJ, United States, (13)Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, United States, (14)Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, United States, (15)NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, United States
Ananda Pascual1, Simon Ruiz2, Amala Mahadevan3, J. Thomas Farrar4, Mara Freilich5, Pierre Chabert2, Dr. Laura Gomez-Navarro, PhD6, John Allen7, Joaquin Tintore7,8 and Francesco d'Ovidio9, (1)IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), Esporles, Spain, (2)IMEDEA(CSIC-UIB), Esporles, Spain, (3)Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, United States, (4)WHOI, Physical Oceanography, Woods Hole, MA, United States, (5)MIT- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Joint Program in Oceanography, Woods Hole, MA, United States, (6)IMEDEA(CSIC-UIB), Illes Balears, Spain, (7)Balearic Islands Coastal Observing and Forecasting System (SOCIB), Palma de Mallorca, Spain, (8)Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies, Esporles, Spain, (9)LOCEAN, Paris, France
Guillaume Serazin1, Frederic Marin2, Sophie E Cravatte3, Lionel Gourdeau1 and Fabien Durand1, (1)LEGOS/IRD, Toulouse, France, (2)LEGOS, Université de Toulouse, (IRD, CNES, CNRS, UPS), Toulouse, France, (3)LEGOS, Université de Toulouse, (IRD, CNES, CNRS, UT), Nouméa, New Caledonia
Shane R Keating, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia