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Evidence for a mid-latitude, mesoscale downscale energy cascade from the marine boundary layer
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Kerr, Robert M. (Robert McDougall) and King, G. P. (2009) Evidence for a mid-latitude, mesoscale downscale energy cascade from the marine boundary layer. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences . pp. 1-33. ISSN 0022-4928.
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Official URL: http://www.eng.warwick.ac.uk/staff/rmk/kerr/KK_20m...
Abstract
The third-order longitudinal velocity structure function SLLL and the longitudinal and transverse second order structure functions SLL (r) and ST T (r) are determined for the marine boundary layer over the Pacific Ocean. The velocities are the 10 meter equivalent neutral winds
inferred from measurements of radar backscatter by the scatterometer on the QuikSCAT satellite. The sign of SLLL is used to infer the direction of the energy cascade, with SLLL < 0 indicating a down-scale energy cascade and SLLL > 0 indicating an upscale energy cascade. This is analogous to how SLLL would behave in three- and two-
dimensional turbulence respectively, but does not imply that either of these dynamical systems is completely applicable. In order to distinguish different geophysical effects, the analysis of structure functions is divided into latitudinal and longitudinal boxes. In this paper we concentrate on mid-latitude and mid-longitudes over the North Pacific Ocean, because these boxes were found to be least influenced by the equatorial waveguide and large
sea surface temperature gradients. The overall conclusion is that for scales r less than 1000 km SLLL < 0 is favored, while for r greater than 1000 km, SLLL > 0 is favored. In this sense the results are consistent with upper tropospheric aircraft measurements and recent numerical results for the developing theory of stratified, rotating tur-
bulence.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
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Subjects: | T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) T Technology > TC Hydraulic engineering. Ocean engineering |
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Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Engineering > Engineering | ||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences | ||||
Publisher: | American Meteorological Society | ||||
ISSN: | 0022-4928 | ||||
Official Date: | 2009 | ||||
Dates: |
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Number of Pages: | 33 | ||||
Page Range: | pp. 1-33 | ||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||
Access rights to Published version: | Open Access (Creative Commons) |
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