Eddy-Genesis and the Related Heat Transport: A Parameter Study

Abstract

A parameter study is performed to investigate the heat transport related to eddy-genesis. The experiments are carried out with a three-dimensional primitive equations numerical model. The process of eddy detachment from an eastward flowing jet is simulated in a periodic channel. This jet is modeled after the Gulf Stream east of Cape Hatteras. A small sinusoidal disturbance superimposed on the jet grows through the release of available potential energy until it ultimately develops into a Gulf Stream Ring. In this study we investigate how the resulting heat transport depends on model parameters (horizontal and vertical resolution, some of the vertical density structure, jet velocity and viscosity). The results show a wide range of model behavior. We find that a two-layer model with a horizontal resolution of half the Rossby-radius of deformation is sufficient to model the physics involved in eddy-genesis. The most realistic solution displays a time mean heat transport, averaged over the meridional extension of the model (1000 km) of 0.07 petawatt for a zonal section of 320 km length. © 1989, Elsevier B.V.