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

作者：Rimac Antonija^*; von Storch Jin Song; Eden Carsten; Haak Helmuth

来源：Geophysical Research Letters, 2013, 40(18): 4882-4886.

DOI：10.1002/grl.50929

• wind input to near-inertial motions
• high-resolution wind forcing
• global eddy-permitting ocean general circulation model

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 degrees resolution) and low-resolution (6-hourly, at 1.875 degrees 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.

• 出版日期2013-9-28