Journal article
A two-dimensional model for eddy saturation and frictional control in the Southern Ocean
- Abstract:
- The reduced sensitivity of mean Southern Ocean zonal transport with respect to surface wind stress magnitude changes, known as eddy saturation, is studied in an idealized analytical model. The model is based on the assumption of a balance between surface wind stress forcing and bottom dissipation in the planetary geostrophic limit, coupled to the GEOMETRIC form of the Gent–McWilliams eddy parameterization. The assumption of a linear stratification, together with an equation for the parameterized domain integrated total eddy energy, enables the formulation of a two component dynamical system, which reduces to the non-linear oscillator of Ambaum and Novak (2014, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.2352) in a Hamiltonian limit. The model suggests an intrinsic oscillatory time scale for the Southern Ocean, associated with a combination of mean shear erosion by eddies and eddy energy generation by the mean shear. For Southern Ocean parameters the model suggests that perturbing the system via stochastic wind forcing may lead to relatively large excursions in eddy energy.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 1.3MB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1029/2024ms004682
Authors
+ University Grants Committee
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- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/00djwmt25
- Grant:
- 11308021
+ Natural Environment Research Council
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- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/02b5d8509
- Grant:
- NE/R000999/1
- Publisher:
- Wiley
- Journal:
- Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems More from this journal
- Volume:
- 17
- Issue:
- 4
- Article number:
- e2024MS004682
- Publication date:
- 2025-04-21
- Acceptance date:
- 2025-03-11
- DOI:
- EISSN:
-
1942-2466
- ISSN:
-
1942-2466
- Language:
-
English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
-
2121074
- Local pid:
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pubs:2121074
- Deposit date:
-
2025-05-01
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Maddison et al.
- Copyright date:
- 2025
- Rights statement:
- © 2025 The Author(s). Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Geophysical Union. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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