Hobart

Seminar Abstract

Wednesday 24 March 2010, 11.30am (Tas time)
CSIRO Auditorium, Hobart

Stephanie Waterman
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton and the
Grantham Institute for Climate Change, Imperial College London, UK

Eddy-Mean Flow Interactions in Western Boundary Current Jets: An Observationally-Driven Theoretical Study

Eddies can play an important role in determining the large-scale or low-frequency circulation. This is especially true in Western Boundary Current (WBC) jet regions such as the Gulf Stream or Kuroshio Extension regions, where eddy kinetic energies are orders of magnitude larger than most other regions of the world ocean. In this talk, I present a study of the role of eddies and eddy-mean flow interactions in the dynamics of WBC jet systems using both theoretical and observational approaches. New observations in the Kuroshio Extension located at the location of maximum eddy kinetic energy of the jet motivate an idealized study of the role of eddies in the downstream evolution of a WBC jet. The relevance of these theoretical results are in turn tested by comparing model predictions to observations. I will show eddies play a critical role in setting the downstream development of the time-mean jet structure, including fluxing vorticity up the mean gradient and driving time-mean flows which add significantly to the jet transport. This is important to our understanding of what influences mean jet strength, and also to the design of eddy parameterizations which often rely on down-gradient flux closure schemes.

Seminar recording

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Location:
CSIRO = Marine Laboratories Auditorium, Castray Esplanade, Hobart

For further information, or to schedule a seminar, contact:
To schedule a seminar, contact:
Clothilde Langlais, (Oceanographic seminars) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (03) 6232 5399
Natalie Kelly, (Biology/Modelling seminars) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research 0438 452 483
Jillian Enraght-Moony, (seminar administrator) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (03) 6232 5320
Communications Manager, Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC (03) 6226 2265
Margaret Hazelwood, Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies (IASOS) University of Tasmania (03) 6226 2971

Last updated 11/05/10