OS030-0005
Large eddy simulations of upper-ocean turbulence across the equatorial Pacific Cold Tongue
Friday, 11 December 2020
Poster
Daniel B Whitt, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory, Boulder, CO, United States, Scott D Bachman, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Climate and Global Dynamics, Boulder, CO, United States, Deepak Cherian, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Boulder, CO, United States, Ryan Holmes, University of New South Wales, Climate Change Research Centre and School of Mathematics and Statistics, Sydney, Australia, William Large, NCAR, Boulder, CO, United States and Ren-Chieh Lien, Applied Physics Laboratory, Seattle, WA, United States
Abstract:
Turbulent mixing below the ocean mixed layer in the equatorial Pacific Cold Tongue (ECT) is a crucial process that influences both the mean and variability of the sea-surface temperature and surface heat flux with far-reaching impacts on global climate dynamics. However, the dynamics of turbulent mixing in the ECT remain to be fully understood and are plausibly a cause of bias in climate models.
Here, we will present preliminary results from new large eddy simulations (LES) of upper-ocean turbulence in the ECT. First, we will compare results from several simulations of a single site (0N,140W) forced by the same surface fluxes from bulk algorithms but using several different methods for applying interior tendencies to the horizontally-averaged temperature, salinity and momentum profiles. Second, we will compare with previous (0N,140W) LES that were conducted with either constant interior tendencies or without interior tendencies. Finally, we will compare different times/sites with three objectives: 1) to elucidate the fundamental physics, 2) to compare and contrast with existing parameterizations, and 3) to inform potential future field experiments to study turbulent mixing across the ECT.
