skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Lagrangian ocean analysis: Fundamentals and practices

Journal Article · · Ocean Modelling
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; more »; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; « less

Lagrangian analysis is a powerful way to analyse the output of ocean circulation models and other ocean velocity data such as from altimetry. In the Lagrangian approach, large sets of virtual particles are integrated within the three-dimensional, time-evolving velocity fields. A variety of tools and methods for this purpose have emerged, over several decades. Here, we review the state of the art in the field of Lagrangian analysis of ocean velocity data, starting from a fundamental kinematic framework and with a focus on large-scale open ocean applications. Beyond the use of explicit velocity fields, we consider the influence of unresolved physics and dynamics on particle trajectories. We comprehensively list and discuss the tools currently available for tracking virtual particles. We then showcase some of the innovative applications of trajectory data, and conclude with some open questions and an outlook. Our overall goal of this review paper is to reconcile some of the different techniques and methods in Lagrangian ocean analysis, while recognising the rich diversity of codes that have and continue to emerge, and the challenges of the coming age of petascale computing.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); USDOE Office of Science (SC). Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012457; AC52-06NA25396
OSTI ID:
1437781
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1411342
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-16-24217; S1463500317301853; PII: S1463500317301853
Journal Information:
Ocean Modelling, Journal Name: Ocean Modelling Vol. 121 Journal Issue: C; ISSN 1463-5003
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United Kingdom
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 219 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (1)

Argo float data and metadata from Global Data Assembly Centre (Argo GDAC) dataset January 2018

Cited By (33)

Argo float data and metadata from Global Data Assembly Centre (Argo GDAC) dataset January 2018
Agulhas Ring Transport Efficiency From Combined Satellite Altimetry and Argo Profiles journal August 2018
Southern Ocean Biogeochemical Float Deployment Strategy, With Example From the Greenwich Meridian Line (GO‐SHIP A12) journal January 2019
Cross-scale operational oceanography in the Adriatic Sea journal February 2019
Integrated Observations of Global Surface Winds, Currents, and Waves: Requirements and Challenges for the Next Decade journal July 2019
The Fate of Marine Litter in Semi-Enclosed Seas: A Case Study of the Black Sea journal October 2019
Lagrangian Timescales of Southern Ocean Upwelling in a Hierarchy of Model Resolutions journal January 2018
Validating Ocean General Circulation Models via Lagrangian Particle Simulation and Data from Drifting Buoys
  • Bedi, Karan; Gómez-Ullate, David; Izquierdo, Alfredo
  • Computational Science – ICCS 2019: 19th International Conference, Faro, Portugal, June 12–14, 2019, Proceedings, Part IV, p. 253-264 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22747-0_20
book June 2019
Partial residence times: determining residence time composition in different subregions journal August 2019
Intensive use of Lagrangian trajectories to quantify coastal area dispersion journal February 2020
Particle transport induced by internal wave beam streaming in lateral boundary layers journal May 2019
The Impact of Agulhas Leakage on the Central Water Masses in the Benguela Upwelling System From A High‐Resolution Ocean Simulation journal December 2018
Shallow Cross‐Equatorial Gyres of the Indian Ocean Driven by Seasonally Reversing Monsoon Winds journal December 2018
A Deep Eastern Boundary Current Carrying Indian Deep Water South of Australia journal March 2019
The Use of a Jet Reference Frame to Analyze Drifter Trajectories in the Agulhas Current journal June 2019
Eulerian Modeling of the Three‐Dimensional Distribution of Seven Popular Microplastic Types in the Global Ocean journal December 2019
Physical Drivers of Phytoplankton Bloom Initiation in the Southern Ocean's Scotia Sea journal August 2019
The Surface Pathways of the South Atlantic: Revisiting the Cold and Warm Water Routes Using Observational Data journal October 2019
Vertical Structure and Seasonal Variability of the Inflow to the Lofoten Basin Inferred From High‐Resolution Lagrangian Simulations journal December 2019
Influence of Barotropic Tidal Currents on Transport and Accumulation of Floating Microplastics in the Global Open Ocean journal January 2020
Transport Bias by Ocean Currents in Sedimentary Microplankton Assemblages: Implications for Paleoceanographic Reconstructions journal July 2019
Environmental versus operational drivers of drifting FAD beaching in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean journal September 2019
Hydrodynamic controls on connectivity of the high commercial value shrimp Parapenaeus longirostris (Lucas, 1846) in the Mediterranean Sea journal November 2019
Global-scale dispersal and connectivity in mangroves journal December 2018
Strategies for simulating the drift of marine debris journal April 2019
Regional connectivity and spatial densities of drifting fish aggregating devices, simulated from fishing events in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean journal June 2019
Spatial patterns and temporal variability of seagrass connectivity in the Mediterranean Sea journal November 2019
Overview of (Sub)mesoscale Ocean Dynamics for the NAAMES Field Program journal July 2019
Circulation in the Gulf of Khambhat—A Lagrangian Perspective journal January 2020
Parcels v0.9: prototyping a Lagrangian ocean analysis framework for the petascale age journal January 2017
Basin-scale sources and pathways of microplastic that ends up in the Galápagos Archipelago journal January 2019
Cold vs. warm water route – sources for the upper limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation revisited in a high-resolution ocean model journal January 2019
Technical note: On the importance of a three-dimensional approach for modelling the transport of neustic microplastics journal January 2019

Similar Records

Lagrangian Timescales of Southern Ocean Upwelling in a Hierarchy of Model Resolutions
Journal Article · Mon Jan 22 00:00:00 EST 2018 · Geophysical Research Letters · OSTI ID:1437781
+3 more
Measuring surface currents with Lagrangian drifters in the eastern Gulf of Mexico
Conference · Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 1997 · OSTI ID:1437781
Modulation of Lateral Transport by Submesoscale Flows and Inertia‐Gravity Waves
Journal Article · Mon Apr 01 00:00:00 EDT 2019 · Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems · OSTI ID:1437781
+1 more

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
Mathematics
Planetary Sciences