Reduction of near-inertial energy through the dependence of wind stress on the ocean-surface velocity

Rath, Willi, Greatbatch, Richard J. and Zhai, Xiaoming (2013) Reduction of near-inertial energy through the dependence of wind stress on the ocean-surface velocity. Journal of Geophysical Research - Oceans, 118 (6). pp. 2761-2773. ISSN 2169-9275

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Abstract

A realistic primitive-equation model of the Southern Ocean at eddying spatial resolution is used to examine the effect of ocean-surface-velocity dependence of the wind stress on the strength of near-inertial oscillations. Accounting for the ocean-surface-velocity dependence of the wind stress leads to a large reduction of wind-induced near-inertial energy of approximately 40% and of wind power input into the near-inertial frequency band of approximately 20%. A large part of this reduction can be explained by the leading-order modification to the wind stress if the ocean-surface velocity is included. The strength of the reduction is shown to be modulated by the inverse of the ocean-surface-mixed-layer depth. We conclude that the effect of surface-velocity dependence of the wind stress should be taken into account when estimating the wind-power input into the near-inertial frequency band and when estimating near-inertial energy levels in the ocean due to wind forcing.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	near-inertial oscillations,wind-stress parameterization,southern ocean,ocean-modeling
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences Faculty of Science > School of Natural Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (former - to 2017) Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Meteorology, Oceanography and Climate Dynamics (former - to 2017) Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Climate, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (former - to 2017) Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	23 Oct 2013 21:50
Last Modified:	24 Oct 2022 04:50
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/43798
DOI:	10.1002/jgrc.20198

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