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A Simple Model for "Sheddies" – Ocean Eddies Formed from Shed Vorticity

Southwick, OR; Johnson, ER; McDonald, NR; (2016) A Simple Model for "Sheddies" – Ocean Eddies Formed from Shed Vorticity. Journal of Physical Oceanography , 46 (10) pp. 2961-2979. 10.1175/JPO-D-15-0251.1. Green open access

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Abstract

Recent studies show that vertical eddy diffusivity is sufficient on its own to introduce intense horizontal shear layers at sloping ocean margins (Molemaker et al. 2015; Gula et al. 2015; Dewar et al. 2015). These layers influence mesoscale energy and potential vorticity budgets but cannot be fully represented in models without sloping boundaries, no slip boundary conditions and sufficiently high resolution. This paper investigates the detachment of these shear layers and their subsequent rolling up into concentrated eddies. These shed eddies, or “sheddies”, may have significant oceanographic impacts. Their growth is considered using a simple point vortex model that adapts the Brown–Michael model of vortex shedding to quasigeostrophic flow and allows detailed consideration of the vorticity fluxes. The model shows good qualitative agreement with observations and experimental and numerical results. It is applied to a number of examples of well known cases of sheddy formation, including the Agulhas Cyclones, California Undercurrent and Canary Eddy Corridor, and also to investigate the effects of shed vorticity in the growth of the Cook Strait Eddy and the interaction of the North Brazil Current Rings with the islands of the Lesser Antilles.

Type: Article
Title: A Simple Model for "Sheddies" – Ocean Eddies Formed from Shed Vorticity
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1175/JPO-D-15-0251.1
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-15-0251.1
Language: English
Additional information: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.
Keywords: Coastlines; Dynamics; Eddies; Potential vorticity; Mesoscale models; Quasigeostrophic models
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Mathematics
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1496037
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