Effects of high-frequency and balanced motions on Lagrangian pair dispersion at the ocean surface
Fuente:
arXiv
Gespeichert in:
| Hauptverfasser: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Preprint |
| Veröffentlicht: |
2025
|
| Schlagworte: | |
| Online-Zugang: | |
| Tags: |
Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
|
| _version_ | 1866912408713297920 |
|---|---|
| author | Maalouly, Michael Dekens, Apolline Lapeyre, Guillaume Ponte, Aurélien Luigi Serge Berti, Stefano |
| author_facet | Maalouly, Michael Dekens, Apolline Lapeyre, Guillaume Ponte, Aurélien Luigi Serge Berti, Stefano |
| contents | We investigate the properties of relative dispersion of Lagrangian particles in a global-ocean simulation resolving both inertia-gravity waves (IGW) and meso and submesoscale (M/SM) turbulence. More specifically, we test if the dispersion laws depend on the shape of the Eulerian kinetic energy spectrum, as predicted from quasi-geostrophic turbulence theory. To this end, we focus on two areas, in the Kuroshio Extension and in the Gulf Stream, for which the relative importance of IGW compared to M/SM vary in summer and winter. In winter, Lagrangian statistical indicators return a picture in overall agreement with the shape of the kinetic energy spectrum. Conversely, in summer, when submesoscales are less energetic and higher-frequency internal waves gain importance, the expected relations between dispersion properties and spectra do not seem to hold. This apparent discrepancy is explained by decomposing the flow into nearly-balanced motions and internal gravity waves, and showing that the latter dominate the kinetic energy spectrum at small scales. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that high-frequency IGWs do not impact relative dispersion, which is then controlled by the nearly-balanced, mainly rotational, flow component at larger scales. These results highlight that geostrophic velocities derived from wide-swath altimeters, such as SWOT, may present limits when estimating surface dispersion, and that current measuring satellite missions may provide the complementary information to do so. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_01002 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Effects of high-frequency and balanced motions on Lagrangian pair dispersion at the ocean surface Maalouly, Michael Dekens, Apolline Lapeyre, Guillaume Ponte, Aurélien Luigi Serge Berti, Stefano Fluid Dynamics Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics We investigate the properties of relative dispersion of Lagrangian particles in a global-ocean simulation resolving both inertia-gravity waves (IGW) and meso and submesoscale (M/SM) turbulence. More specifically, we test if the dispersion laws depend on the shape of the Eulerian kinetic energy spectrum, as predicted from quasi-geostrophic turbulence theory. To this end, we focus on two areas, in the Kuroshio Extension and in the Gulf Stream, for which the relative importance of IGW compared to M/SM vary in summer and winter. In winter, Lagrangian statistical indicators return a picture in overall agreement with the shape of the kinetic energy spectrum. Conversely, in summer, when submesoscales are less energetic and higher-frequency internal waves gain importance, the expected relations between dispersion properties and spectra do not seem to hold. This apparent discrepancy is explained by decomposing the flow into nearly-balanced motions and internal gravity waves, and showing that the latter dominate the kinetic energy spectrum at small scales. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that high-frequency IGWs do not impact relative dispersion, which is then controlled by the nearly-balanced, mainly rotational, flow component at larger scales. These results highlight that geostrophic velocities derived from wide-swath altimeters, such as SWOT, may present limits when estimating surface dispersion, and that current measuring satellite missions may provide the complementary information to do so. |
| title | Effects of high-frequency and balanced motions on Lagrangian pair dispersion at the ocean surface |
| topic | Fluid Dynamics Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.01002 |