"Regimes of Mesoscale Energy Dissipation at Oceanic Western Boundaries"

Sunny YEH (University of California, Los Angeles)

Understanding the energy balance of oceanic mesoscale variability is essential because the mesoscale is the primary sink of energy from the general circulation, and it pervades the ocean surface KE. However, the dissipation locations and mechanisms remain poorly understood. Previous studies point out that western boundaries are the dissipation key sites for mesoscale eddies that are westward drifting from the open ocean, while some studies indicate that EKE dissipation takes place near its energy generation. In this talk, I will discuss the dissipation at the western boundary shelf, slope, and the open ocean with different nonlinearity parameters. We find that the open-ocean region dissipates most of the energy in the regime that corresponds to typical mid- and high- latitudes, indicating that western boundaries may be the consequence of dissipating the energy generated nearby.

(If you'd like to talk with the speaker, please contact yanwang@ust.hk)