HR: 14:15h
AN: OS52K-02    [PDF]
TI: Inertial Instability of Equatorial Jets
AU: * Wang, D
EM: dwang@hawaii.edu
AF: International Pacific Research Center, SOEST, University of Hawaii, 1680 East-West Road, #401, Honolulu, HI 96822
AU: Ascani, F
EM: fascani@hawaii.edu
AF: Dept. Oceanography, SOEST, University of hawaii, 1000 Pope Road, Honolulu, HI 96822
AU: Firing, E
EM: efiring@hawaii.edu
AF: Dept. Oceanography, SOEST, University of hawaii, 1000 Pope Road, Honolulu, HI 96822
AU: Miyama, T
EM: tmiyama@jamstec.go.jp
AF: Frontier Research System for Global Change, 3173-25 Showamachi, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama City Kanagawa 236-0001, Japan, Japan
AB: Inertial instability of equatorial jets are studied using a ocean general circulation model. The equatorial jets mimic the observed mean equatorial undercurrent (EUC) or equatorial deep flow. It is found that alternating jets structure appear in the anomalous velocity field as predicted by the linear theory. The growth rates and vertical wavelengths of these jets strongly depend on the characteristics of the background shear and mixing. In the total field, the alternating jet structure does not appear no matter how strong the instability is. The instability of equatorial mean flow is also very weak with a mixing coefficient typical of the ocean interior. The result of the inertial instability is simply the removal of the instability itself. Relaxation towards the background flow maintains the instability but the intensity decreases. The importance or the lack thereof of inertial instability of time varying equatorial flows from observations and eddy resolving models for ocean mixing are also discussed.
DE: 4500 OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2004 Ocean Sciences Meeting