Global Observations of Ocean-Bottom Subinertial Current Dissipation

• Published in: Journal of physical oceanography Vol. 43; no. 2; pp. 402 - 417
• Main Authors: WRIGHT, Corwin J, SCOTT, Robert B, FURNIVAL, Darran, AILLIOT, Pierre, VERMET, Franck
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston, MA American Meteorological Society 01.02.2013
• Subjects: Boundary layers; Budgets; Cluster analysis; Confidence intervals; Dynamics of the ocean (upper and deep oceans); Earth Sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Energy; Energy dissipation; Estimates; Exact sciences and technology; External geophysics; Marine; Methods; Oceanography; Physics of the oceans; Sciences of the Universe; Studies; energy dissipation; Current measurement; boundary layer; Time series; Observation data; digital simulation; Ocean bottom; Ocean model; Eddies; In situ oceanic observations; Bottom currents
• ISSN: 0022-3670; 1520-0485
• DOI: 10.1175/JPO-D-12-082.1

Abstract Quadratic bottom boundary layer drag is a potentially significant source of energy dissipation in the deep ocean. This study presents a new estimate of the energy dissipated by this process, using results from the world’s largest archive of ocean current meter time series and focusing strongly upon the potential uncertainties in this calculation. Two methods are used, one based on a simple division of the World Ocean into a series of regular grids and the other based on a more sophisticated analysis using a hierarchical clustering mechanism assisted by estimates from the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) model. From these analyses, the authors estimate a globally integrated bottom boundary layer dissipation of 0.65 ± 0.15 (statistical uncertainty) ± 0.15 (methodological uncertainty) TW.