The influence of high-resolution wind stress field on the power input to near-inertial motions in the ocean

Abstract

The wind power input to near-inertial (NI) motions is studied using a global eddy-permitting ocean general circulation model. The model is forced by high- (1-hourly, at 0.35° resolution) and low-resolution (6-hourly, at 1.875° resolution) wind data. A change from low- to high-resolution forcing results in an increase in NI kinetic energy by a factor three and raises the wind-generated power input to NI motions from 0.3 TW to 1.1 TW. Time and space filtering of the wind fields yield less kinetic energy, with a larger drop from time filtering. This strong sensitivity to wind forcing points to a possible underestimation of the wind-generated energy available for deep ocean mixing in previous studies based on low-resolution winds. © 2013. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.