Abstract:
Vigorous submesoscale processes are often found in oceanic mesoscale eddies (particularly at their peripheries), as manifested in both high-resolution numerical simulations and satellite observations. However, whether the generation and evolution of submesoscale processes would exhibit asymmetries within different polarities of mesoscale eddies has less been constrained. In this talk, I will show, based primarily on idealized numerical simulations, that the generated submesoscale filaments within anticyclone and cyclone exhibit rather different features in their subsequent evolution. The asymmetry is mainly attributed to changes in the background mesoscale stratification that leads to occurrence of submesoscale instabilities at corresponding locations. In addition, we find an interesting wind-induced suppression of submesoscale activities in mesoscale eddies. Possible mechanisms responsible for this suppression will be discussed.

Biography:
Hongyang Lin is a Professor at the State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University. Prof. Lin's research focuses on: i) coastal sea level variability (e.g., spatiotemporal features, controlling factors, dynamical reconstruction, etc.); ii) oceanic mesoscale-submesoscale processes (e.g., characteristics, energy cascade, etc.); iii) dynamical decomposition and interactions between oceanic balanced and unbalanced motions.