Climate process team on internal wave-driven ocean mixing

Diapycnal mixing plays a primary role in the thermodynamic balance of the ocean and, consequently, in oceanic heat and carbon uptake and storage. Though observed mixing rates are on average consistent with values required by inverse models, recent attention has focused on the dramatic spatial variability, spanning several orders of magnitude, of mixing rates in both the upper and deep ocean. Away from ocean boundaries, the spatiotemporal patterns of mixing are largely driven by the geography of generation, propagation, and dissipation of internal waves, which supply much of the power for turbulent mixing. Over the last 5 years and under the auspices of U.S. Climate Variability and Predictability Program (CLIVAR), a National Science Foundation (NSF)- and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-supported Climate Process Team has been engaged in developing, implementing, and testing dynamics-based parameterizations for internal wave-driven turbulent mixing in global ocean models. The work has primarily focused on turbulence 1) near sites of internal tide generation, 2) in the upper ocean related to wind-generated near inertial motions, 3) due to internal lee waves generated by low-frequency mesoscale flows over topography, and 4) at ocean margins. Here, we review recent progress, describe the tools developed, and discuss future directions.

To Access Resource:

Questions? Email Resource Support Contact:

  • opensky@ucar.edu
    UCAR/NCAR - Library

Resource Type publication
Temporal Range Begin N/A
Temporal Range End N/A
Temporal Resolution N/A
Bounding Box North Lat N/A
Bounding Box South Lat N/A
Bounding Box West Long N/A
Bounding Box East Long N/A
Spatial Representation N/A
Spatial Resolution N/A
Related Links N/A
Additional Information N/A
Resource Format PDF
Standardized Resource Format PDF
Asset Size N/A
Legal Constraints

Copyright 2017 American Meteorological Society (AMS).
Access Constraints None
Software Implementation Language N/A

Resource Support Name N/A
Resource Support Email opensky@ucar.edu
Resource Support Organization UCAR/NCAR - Library
Distributor N/A
Metadata Contact Name N/A
Metadata Contact Email opensky@ucar.edu
Metadata Contact Organization UCAR/NCAR - Library

Author MacKinnon, Jennifer A.
Zhao, Zhongxiang
Whalen, Caitlin B.
Waterhouse, Amy F.
Trossman, David S.
Sun, Oliver M.
St. Laurent, Louis C.
Simmons, Harper L.
Polzin, Kurt
Pinkel, Robert
Pickering, Andrew
Norton, Nancy J.
Nash, Jonathan D.
Musgrave, Ruth
Merchant, Lynne M.
Melet, Angelique V.
Mater, Benjamin
Legg, Sonya
Large, William G.
Kunze, Eric
Klymak, Jody M.
Jochum, Markus
Jayne, Steven R.
Hallberg, Robert W.
Griffies, Stephen M.
Diggs, Steve
Danabasoglu, Gokhan
Chassignet, Eric P.
Buijsman, Maarten C.
Bryan, Frank O.
Briegleb, Bruce P.
Barna, Andrew
Arbic, Brian K.
Ansong, Joseph K.
Alford, Matthew H.
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2017-11-01T00:00:00
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Not Assigned
Alternate Identifier N/A
Resource Version N/A
Topic Category geoscientificInformation
Progress N/A
Metadata Date 2023-08-18T19:15:53.336570
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:21434
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation MacKinnon, Jennifer A., Zhao, Zhongxiang, Whalen, Caitlin B., Waterhouse, Amy F., Trossman, David S., Sun, Oliver M., St. Laurent, Louis C., Simmons, Harper L., Polzin, Kurt, Pinkel, Robert, Pickering, Andrew, Norton, Nancy J., Nash, Jonathan D., Musgrave, Ruth, Merchant, Lynne M., Melet, Angelique V., Mater, Benjamin, Legg, Sonya, Large, William G., Kunze, Eric, Klymak, Jody M., Jochum, Markus, Jayne, Steven R., Hallberg, Robert W., Griffies, Stephen M., Diggs, Steve, Danabasoglu, Gokhan, Chassignet, Eric P., Buijsman, Maarten C., Bryan, Frank O., Briegleb, Bruce P., Barna, Andrew, Arbic, Brian K., Ansong, Joseph K., Alford, Matthew H.. (2017). Climate process team on internal wave-driven ocean mixing. UCAR/NCAR - Library. http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7b27xz9. Accessed 21 March 2025.

Harvest Source