Surface waves affect frontogenesis

Suzuki, Nobuhiro; Fox-Kemper, Baylor; Hamlington, Peter E.; Van Roekel, Luke P.

doi:10.1002/2015JC011563

Surface waves affect frontogenesis

Journal Article · Thu May 05 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of Geophysical Research. Oceans

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JC011563· OSTI ID:1484630

Suzuki, Nobuhiro ^[1]; Fox-Kemper, Baylor ^[1]; Hamlington, Peter E. ^[2]; ^[3]

Brown Univ., Providence, RI (United States)
Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Here, this paper provides a detailed analysis of momentum, angular momentum, vorticity, and energy budgets of a submesoscale front undergoing frontogenesis driven by an upper–ocean, submesoscale eddy field in a Large Eddy Simulation (LES). The LES solves the wave–averaged, or Craik–Leibovich, equations in order to account for the Stokes forces that result from interactions between nonbreaking surface waves and currents, and resolves both submesoscale eddies and boundary layer turbulence down to 4.9 m × 4.9 m × 1.25 m grid scales. It is found that submesoscale frontogenesis differs from traditional frontogenesis theory due to four effects: Stokes forces, momentum and kinetic energy transfer from submesoscale eddies to frontal secondary circulations, resolved turbulent stresses, and unbalanced torque. In the energy, momentum, angular momentum, and vorticity budgets for the frontal overturning circulation, the Stokes shear force is a leading–order contributor, typically either the second or third largest source of frontal overturning. These effects violate hydrostatic and thermal wind balances during submesoscale frontogenesis. The effect of the Stokes shear force becomes stronger with increasing alignment of the front and Stokes shear and with a nondimensional scaling. The Stokes shear force and momentum transfer from submesoscale eddies significantly energize the frontal secondary circulation along with the buoyancy.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: 89233218CNA000001

OSTI ID:: 1484630

Report Number(s):: LA-UR--15-29048

Journal Information:: Journal of Geophysical Research. Oceans, Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research. Oceans Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 121; ISSN 2169-9275

Publisher:: American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (63)

In situ estimates of submesoscale horizontal eddy diffusivity across an ocean front: IN SITU HORIZONTAL EDDY DIFFUSIVITY Nencioli, F.; d'Ovidio, F.; Doglioli, A. M. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, Vol. 118, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JC009252	journal	December 2013
Surface wave effects in the NEMO ocean model: Forced and coupled experiments: Waves in NEMO Breivik, Øyvind; Mogensen, Kristian; Bidlot, Jean-Raymond Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, Vol. 120, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JC010565	journal	April 2015
Effects of submesoscale turbulence on ocean tracers Smith, Katherine M.; Hamlington, Peter E.; Fox‐Kemper, Baylor Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, Vol. 121, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JC011089	journal	January 2016
Statistics of vertical vorticity, divergence, and strain in a developed submesoscale turbulence field: SUBMESOSCALE TURBULENCE STATISTICS Shcherbina, Andrey Y.; D'Asaro, Eric A.; Lee, Craig M. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 40, Issue 17 https://doi.org/10.1002/grl.50919	journal	September 2013
A subgrid-scale model for large-eddy simulation of planetary boundary-layer flows Sullivan, Peter P.; McWilliams, James C.; Moeng, Chin-Hoh Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Vol. 71, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00713741	journal	November 1994
Radiation stresses in water waves; a physical discussion, with applications Longuet-Higgins, M. S.; Stewart, R. w. Deep Sea Research and Oceanographic Abstracts, Vol. 11, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1016/0011-7471(64)90001-4	journal	August 1964
Radiation stresses in water waves; a physical discussion, with applications : Longuet-Higgins M. S. and R. W. Stewart, 1964. Deep-Sea Res., 11 (4): 529–562 No authors listed Deep Sea Research and Oceanographic Abstracts, Vol. 12, Issue 6, p. 1058 https://doi.org/10.1016/0011-7471(65)90982-4	journal	December 1965
The ideal Craik-Leibovich equations Holm, Darryl D. Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena, Vol. 98, Issue 2-4 https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-2789(96)00105-4	journal	November 1996
An analysis of mechanisms for submesoscale vertical motion at ocean fronts Mahadevan, Amala; Tandon, Amit Ocean Modelling, Vol. 14, Issue 3-4 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocemod.2006.05.006	journal	January 2006
On the structure of Langmuir turbulence Teixeira, M. A. C.; Belcher, S. E. Ocean Modelling, Vol. 31, Issue 3-4 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocemod.2009.10.007	journal	January 2010
Langmuir mixing effects on global climate: WAVEWATCH III in CESM Li, Qing; Webb, Adrean; Fox-Kemper, Baylor Ocean Modelling, Vol. 103 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocemod.2015.07.020	journal	July 2016
An asymptotic theory for the interaction of waves and currents in coastal waters McWILLIAMS, James C.; Restrepo, Juan M.; Lane, Emily M. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 511 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022112004009358	journal	January 1999
Laboratory observations of mean flows under surface gravity waves Monismith, S. G.; Cowen, E. A.; Nepf, H. M. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 573 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022112006003594	journal	February 2007
Surface gravity wave effects in the oceanic boundary layer: large-eddy simulation with vortex force and stochastic breakers Sullivan, Peter P.; McWILLIAMS, James C.; Melville, W. Kendall Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 593 https://doi.org/10.1017/S002211200700897X	journal	November 2007
Surface kinetic energy transfer in surface quasi-geostrophic flows Capet, Xavier; Klein, Patrice; Hua, Bach Lien Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 604 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022112008001110	journal	May 2008
On the equilibration of a symmetrically unstable front via a secondary shear instability Taylor, John R.; Ferrari, Raffaele Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 622 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022112008005272	journal	March 2009
Local balance and cross-scale flux of available potential energy Molemaker, M. Jeroen; McWILLIAMS, James C. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 645 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022112009992643	journal	February 2010
A rational model for Langmuir circulations Craik, A. D. D.; Leibovich, S. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 73, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022112076001420	journal	February 1976
The spectral energy transfer from surface waves to internal waves Olbers, Dirk J.; Herterich, Klaus Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 92, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022112079000653	journal	May 1979
Langmuir turbulence in the ocean McWILLIAMS, James C.; Sullivan, Peter P.; Moeng, Chin-Hoh Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 334 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022112096004375	journal	March 1997
Oceanic wave-balanced surface fronts and filaments McWilliams, James C.; Fox-Kemper, Baylor Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 730 https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2013.348	journal	August 2013
Modeling the impact of fronts and mesoscale circulation on the nutrient supply and biogeochemistry of the upper ocean Mahadevan, Amala; Archer, David Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, Vol. 105, Issue C1 https://doi.org/10.1029/1999JC900216	journal	January 2000
Biological response to frontal dynamics and mesoscale variability in oligotrophic environments: Biological production and community structure Lima, Ivan D. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 107, Issue C8 https://doi.org/10.1029/2000JC000393	journal	January 2002
Thermohaline variability in the upper ocean Ferrari, Raffaele; Rudnick, Daniel L. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, Vol. 105, Issue C7 https://doi.org/10.1029/2000JC900057	journal	July 2000
Two-dimensional ageostrophic secondary circulation at ocean fronts due to vertical mixing and large-scale deformation Nagai, T.; Tandon, A.; Rudnick, D. L. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 111, Issue C9 https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JC002964	journal	January 2006
Sub-mesoscale lateral density structure in the oceanic surface mixed layer Hosegood, Phil; Gregg, Michael C.; Alford, Matthew H. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 33, Issue 22 https://doi.org/10.1029/2006GL026797	journal	January 2006
Langmuir turbulence and deeply penetrating jets in an unstratified mixed layer Polton, Jeff A.; Belcher, Stephen E. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 112, Issue C9 https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JC004205	journal	January 2007
Significance of Langmuir circulation in upper ocean mixing: Comparison of observations and simulations Kukulka, T.; Plueddemann, A. J.; Trowbridge, J. H. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 36, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GL037620	journal	January 2009
Evidence of enhanced turbulent dissipation in the frontogenetic Kuroshio Front thermocline Nagai, Takeyoshi; Tandon, Amit; Yamazaki, Hidekatsu Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 36, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GL038832	journal	January 2009
Cold filamentary intensification and oceanic surface convergence lines McWilliams, J. C.; Colas, F.; Molemaker, M. J. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 36, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GL039402	journal	January 2009
Reduction of the usable wind-work on the general circulation by forced symmetric instability: REDUCTION OF THE WIND-WORK BY SYMMETRIC INSTABILITY Thomas, L. N.; Taylor, J. R. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 37, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL044680	journal	September 2010
The form and orientation of Langmuir cells for misaligned winds and waves: LANGMUIR UNDER MISALIGNED WIND AND WAVES Van Roekel, L. P.; Fox-Kemper, B.; Sullivan, P. P. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, Vol. 117, Issue C5 https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JC007516	journal	May 2012
An ocean large-eddy simulation of Langmuir circulations and convection in the surface mixed layer Skyllingstad, Eric D.; Denbo, Donald W. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 100, Issue C5 https://doi.org/10.1029/94JC03202	journal	January 1995
Dynamical Aspects of Shallow Sea Fronts Garrett, C. J. R.; Loder, J. W. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 302, Issue 1472 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.1981.0183	journal	September 1981
Enhanced Turbulence and Energy Dissipation at Ocean Fronts D'Asaro, E.; Lee, C.; Rainville, L. Science, Vol. 332, Issue 6027 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1201515	journal	March 2011
The Wind- and Wave-Driven Inner-Shelf Circulation Lentz, Steven J.; Fewings, Melanie R. Annual Review of Marine Science, Vol. 4, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-120709-142745	journal	January 2012
The Mathematical Theory of Frontogenesis Hoskins, B. J. Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 14, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.fl.14.010182.001023	journal	January 1982
Langmuir Circulation Thorpe, S. A. Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 36, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.fluid.36.052203.071431	journal	January 2004
Atmospheric Frontogenesis Models: Mathematical Formulation and Solution Hoskins, B. J.; Bretherton, F. P. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 29, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1972)029<0011:AFMMFA>2.0.CO;2	journal	January 1972
A Uniformly Valid Model Spanning the Regimes of Geostrophic and Isotropic, Stratified Turbulence: Balanced Turbulence McWilliams, James C. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 42, Issue 16 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1985)042<1773:AUVMST>2.0.CO;2	journal	August 1985
Conditional Convective Heating in a Baroclinic Atmosphere: A Model of Convective Frontogenesis Parker, Douglas J.; Thorpe, Alan J. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 52, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1995)052<1699:CCHIAB>2.0.CO;2	journal	May 1995
Vorticity and Vertical Circulation at an Ocean Front Pollard, R. T.; Regier, L. A. Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 22, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485(1992)022<0609:VAVCAA>2.0.CO;2	journal	June 1992
Baroclinic Jets in Confluent Flow* Spall, Michael A. Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 27, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485(1997)027<1054:BJICF>2.0.CO;2	journal	June 1997
The Wave-Driven Ocean Circulation McWilliams, James C.; Restrepo, Juan M. Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 29, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485(1999)029<2523:TWDOC>2.0.CO;2	journal	October 1999
Mesoscale to Submesoscale Transition in the California Current System. Part II: Frontal Processes Capet, X.; McWilliams, J. C.; Molemaker, M. J. Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 38, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1175/2007JPO3672.1	journal	January 2008
Parameterization of Mixed Layer Eddies. Part I: Theory and Diagnosis Fox-Kemper, Baylor; Ferrari, Raffaele; Hallberg, Robert Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 38, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1175/2007JPO3792.1	journal	June 2008
Large-Eddy Simulation of Langmuir Turbulence in Pure Wind Seas Harcourt, Ramsey R.; D’Asaro, Eric A. Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 38, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1175/2007JPO3842.1	journal	July 2008
Buoyancy and Wind-Driven Convection at Mixed Layer Density Fronts Taylor, John R.; Ferrari, Raffaele Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 40, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1175/2010JPO4365.1	journal	June 2010
Observations of Wave Breaking Kinematics in Fetch-Limited Seas Kleiss, Jessica M.; Melville, W. Kendall Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 40, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1175/2010JPO4383.1	journal	December 2010
The Analysis of Sea Surface Imagery for Whitecap Kinematics Kleiss, Jessica M.; Melville, W. Kendall Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, Vol. 28, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1175/2010JTECHO744.1	journal	February 2011
The LatMix Summer Campaign: Submesoscale Stirring in the Upper Ocean Shcherbina, Andrey Y.; Sundermeyer, Miles A.; Kunze, Eric Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Vol. 96, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-14-00015.1	journal	August 2015
The Effect of Mesh Resolution on Convective Boundary Layer Statistics and Structures Generated by Large-Eddy Simulation Sullivan, Peter P.; Patton, Edward G. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Vol. 68, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-10-05010.1	journal	October 2011
Impacts of Parameterized Langmuir Turbulence and Nonbreaking Wave Mixing in Global Climate Simulations Fan, Yalin; Griffies, Stephen M. Journal of Climate, Vol. 27, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-13-00583.1	journal	June 2014
The Wavy Ekman Layer: Langmuir Circulations, Breaking Waves, and Reynolds Stress McWilliams, James C.; Huckle, Edward; Liang, Jun-Hong Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 42, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-12-07.1	journal	November 2012
Langmuir–Submesoscale Interactions: Descriptive Analysis of Multiscale Frontal Spindown Simulations Hamlington, Peter E.; Van Roekel, Luke P.; Fox-Kemper, Baylor Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 44, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-13-0139.1	journal	September 2014
Filament Frontogenesis by Boundary Layer Turbulence McWilliams, James C.; Gula, Jonathan; Molemaker, M. Jeroen Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 45, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-14-0211.1	journal	August 2015
Symmetric and Geostrophic Instabilities in the Wave-Forced Ocean Mixed Layer Haney, Sean; Fox-Kemper, Baylor; Julien, Keith Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 45, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-15-0044.1	journal	December 2015
Intensification of Ocean Fronts by Down-Front Winds Thomas, Leif N.; Lee, Craig M. Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 35, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO2737.1	journal	June 2005
Destruction of Potential Vorticity by Winds Thomas, Leif N. Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 35, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO2830.1	journal	December 2005
Wave–Current Interaction: A Comparison of Radiation-Stress and Vortex-Force Representations Lane, E. M.; Restrepo, J. M.; McWilliams, J. C. Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 37, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO3043.1	journal	May 2007
Mixed Layer Instabilities and Restratification Boccaletti, Giulio; Ferrari, Raffaele; Fox-Kemper, Baylor Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 37, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO3101.1	journal	September 2007
Air-sea CO ₂ flux variability in frontal regions of the Southern Ocean from CARbon Interface OCean Atmosphere drifters Boutin, J.; Merlivat, L.; HÉnocq, C. Limnology and Oceanography, Vol. 53, Issue 5part2 https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.2008.53.5_part_2.2062	journal	September 2008
Surface Wave Effects in the NEMO Ocean Model: Forced and Coupled Experiments Breivik, Øyvind; Mogensen, Kristian; Bidlot, Jean-Raymond arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1503.07677	text	January 2015

Cited By (9)

Small-scale open ocean currents have large effects on wind wave heights: SMALL-SCALE CURRENTS AND WAVE HEIGHTS Ardhuin, Fabrice; Gille, Sarah T.; Menemenlis, Dimitris Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, Vol. 122, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1002/2016jc012413	journal	June 2017
Submesoscale surface fronts and filaments: secondary circulation, buoyancy flux, and frontogenesis McWilliams, James C. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 823 https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2017.294	journal	June 2017
Frontogenesis and frontal arrest of a dense filament in the oceanic surface boundary layer Sullivan, Peter P.; McWilliams, James C. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 837 https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2017.833	journal	December 2017
Langmuir turbulence and filament frontogenesis in the oceanic surface boundary layer Sullivan, Peter P.; McWilliams, James C. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 879 https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2019.655	journal	October 2019
On the physical mechanisms of the two-way coupling between a surface wave field and a circulation consisting of a roll and streak Suzuki, Nobuhiro Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 881 https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2019.752	journal	October 2019
Ocean‐Wave‐Atmosphere Interaction Processes in a Fully Coupled Modeling System Wu, Lichuan; Breivik, Øyvind; Rutgersson, Anna Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Vol. 11, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019ms001761	journal	November 2019
The Contribution of Surface and Submesoscale Processes to Turbulence in the Open Ocean Surface Boundary Layer Buckingham, Christian E.; Lucas, Natasha S.; Belcher, Stephen E. Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Vol. 11, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019ms001801	journal	December 2019
Comparing Ocean Surface Boundary Vertical Mixing Schemes Including Langmuir Turbulence Li, Qing; Reichl, Brandon G.; Fox‐Kemper, Baylor Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Vol. 11, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019ms001810	journal	November 2019
Integrated Observations of Global Surface Winds, Currents, and Waves: Requirements and Challenges for the Next Decade Villas Bôas, Ana B.; Ardhuin, Fabrice; Ayet, Alex Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol. 6 https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00425	journal	July 2019

Similar Records

Frontogenesis and frontal arrest of a dense filament in the oceanic surface boundary layer

Journal Article · Wed Dec 20 23:00:00 EST 2017 · Journal of Fluid Mechanics · OSTI ID:1538908

Intermittent Frontogenesis in the Alboran Sea

Journal Article · Fri Apr 30 20:00:00 EDT 2021 · Journal of Physical Oceanography · OSTI ID:2375559

Langmuir turbulence and filament frontogenesis in the oceanic surface boundary layer

Journal Article · Tue Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 2019 · Journal of Fluid Mechanics · OSTI ID:1802437

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
Earth Sciences
LES
Planetary Sciences
energy budget
frontogenesis
submesoscale
waves
wave‐averaged equation

Surface waves affect frontogenesis

Citation Formats

References (63)

Cited By (9)

Similar Records

Related Subjects