Global interior eddy available potential energy diagnosed from Argo floats

Guillaume Roullet (1) , Xavier Capet (2) , Guillaume Maze (1)

1 LPO - Laboratoire de physique des océans
2 PEPS - Processus de couplage à Petite Echelle, Ecosystèmes et Prédateurs Supérieurs

By combining all Argo profiles for the period 2002 to present, a cumulative density function is constructed on a 3-D grid of the global ocean. This function quantifies the statistics of isopycnals: time-averaged density, root-mean square of isopycnal displacement, and eddy available potential energy (EAPE). EAPE is the analogue of the eddy kinetic energy, but for the potential energy reservoir. Because it is essentially tied to the spatial structure and magnitude of mesoscale activity, EAPE is an important quantity that should be useful to evaluate eddy resolving/permitting model turbulence and circulation. Among other striking features are the turbulent behavior of Pacific and southern Atlantic Tsuchiya jets and subsurface EAPE maxima in some parts of the ocean, particularly in the Southern Ocean.

Mots clés: eddy available potential energy; Argo floats; interior turbulence

Domaines: Océanographie; Océan, Atmosphère

Guillaume Roullet, Xavier Capet, Guillaume Maze. Global interior eddy available potential energy diagnosed from Argo floats. Geophysical Research Letters, 2014, 41 (5), pp.1651-1656. ⟨10.1002/2013GL059004⟩. ⟨hal-01128423⟩