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On low-frequency variability of the midlatitude ocean gyres

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2016

I. V. Shevchenko ,
P. S. Berloff ,
D. Guerrero-López  and
J. E. Roman Open the ORCID record for J. E. Roman [Opens in a new window]
I. V. Shevchenko*
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, Imperial College London, Huxley Building, 180 Queen’s Gate, London SW7 2AZ, UK
P. S. Berloff
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, Imperial College London, Huxley Building, 180 Queen’s Gate, London SW7 2AZ, UK
D. Guerrero-López
Affiliation:
Departament de Sistemes Informàtics i Computació, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camí de Vera, s/n 46022, València, Spain
J. E. Roman
Affiliation:
Departament de Sistemes Informàtics i Computació, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camí de Vera, s/n 46022, València, Spain
*
†Email address for correspondence: i.shevchenko@imperial.ac.uk
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Abstract

This paper studies the large-scale low-frequency variability of the wind-driven midlatitude ocean gyres and their western boundary currents, such as the Gulf Stream or Kuroshio, simulated with the eddy-resolving quasi-geostrophic model. We applied empirical orthogonal functions analysis to turbulent flow solutions and statistically extracted robust and significant large-scale decadal variability modes concentrated around the eastward jet extension of the western boundary currents. In order to interpret these statistical modes dynamically, we linearized the governing quasi-geostrophic equations around the time-mean circulation and solved for the corresponding full set of linear eigenmodes with their eigenfrequencies. We then projected the extracted decadal variability on the eigenmodes and found that this variability is a multimodal coherent pattern phenomenon rather than a single mode or a combination of several modes as in the flow regimes preceding developed turbulence.

JFM classification

Geophysical and Geological Flows: Geophysical and Geological Flows Geophysical and Geological Flows: Quasi-geostrophic flows
Type
Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 795 , 25 May 2016 , pp. 423 - 442
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Copyright
© 2016 Cambridge University Press 

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