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Can Drake Passage Observations Match Ekman's Classic Theory?

Can Drake Passage Observations Match Ekman's Classic Theory? Ekman's theory of the wind-driven ocean surface boundary layer assumes a constant eddy viscosity and predicts that the current rotates with depth at the same rate as it decays in amplitude. Despite its wide acceptance, Ekman current spirals are difficult to observe. This is primarily because the spirals are small signals that are easily masked by ocean variability and cannot readily be separated from the geostrophic component. This study presents a method for estimating ageostrophic currents from shipboard acoustic Doppler current profiler data in Drake Passage and finds that observations are consistent with Ekman's theory. By taking into account the sampling distributions of wind stress and ageostrophic velocity, the authors find eddy viscosity values in the range of 0.08–0.12 m 2 s −1 that reconcile observations with the classic theory in Drake Passage. The eddy viscosity value that most frequently reconciles observations with the classic theory is 0.094 m 2 s −1 , corresponding to an Ekman depth scale of 39 m. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Physical Oceanography American Meteorological Society

Can Drake Passage Observations Match Ekman's Classic Theory?

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Publisher
American Meteorological Society
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 American Meteorological Society
ISSN
0022-3670
eISSN
1520-0485
DOI
10.1175/JPO-D-13-034.1
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Ekman's theory of the wind-driven ocean surface boundary layer assumes a constant eddy viscosity and predicts that the current rotates with depth at the same rate as it decays in amplitude. Despite its wide acceptance, Ekman current spirals are difficult to observe. This is primarily because the spirals are small signals that are easily masked by ocean variability and cannot readily be separated from the geostrophic component. This study presents a method for estimating ageostrophic currents from shipboard acoustic Doppler current profiler data in Drake Passage and finds that observations are consistent with Ekman's theory. By taking into account the sampling distributions of wind stress and ageostrophic velocity, the authors find eddy viscosity values in the range of 0.08–0.12 m 2 s −1 that reconcile observations with the classic theory in Drake Passage. The eddy viscosity value that most frequently reconciles observations with the classic theory is 0.094 m 2 s −1 , corresponding to an Ekman depth scale of 39 m.

Journal

Journal of Physical OceanographyAmerican Meteorological Society

Published: Feb 12, 2013

References