Search

We investigated the connectivity properties of an idealized western boundary current system separating two ocean gyres, where the flow is characterized by a well-defined mean circulation as well as energetic fine-scale features (i.e., mesoscale and submesoscale currents). We used a time-evolving 3D flow field from a high-resolution (HR-3D) ocean model of this system. In order to evaluate the role of the fine scales in connectivity estimates, we computed Lagrangian trajectories in three different ways: using the HR-3D flow, using the same flow but filtered on a coarse-resolution grid (CR-3D), and using the surface layer flow only (HR-SL). We examined connectivity between the two gyres along the western boundary current and across it by using and comparing different metrics, such as minimum and averaged values of transit time between 16 key sites, arrival depths, and probability density functions of transit times. We find that when the fine-scale flow is resolved, the numerical particles connect pairs of sites faster (between 100 to 300 d) than when it is absent. This is particularly true for sites that are along and near the jets separating the two gyres. Moreover, the connectivity is facilitated when 3D instead of surface currents are resolved. Finally, our results emphasize that ocean connectivity is 3D and not 2D and that assessing connectivity properties using climatologies or low-resolution velocity fields yields strongly biased estimates.

In the open ocean, floating surface debris such as plastics concentrate in five main accumulation zones centered around 30° latitude, far from highly turbulent areas. Using Lagrangian advection of numerical particles by surface currents from ocean model reanalysis, previous studies have shown long-distance connection from the accumulation zones of the South Indian to the South Pacific oceans. An important physical process affecting surface particles but missing in such analyses is wave-induced Stokes drift. Taking into account surface Stokes drift from a wave model reanalysis radically changes the fate of South Indian particles. The convergence region moves from the east to the west of the basin, so particles leak to the South Atlantic rather than the South Pacific. Stokes drift changes the South Indian sensitive balance between Ekman convergence and turbulent diffusion processes, inducing either westward entrainment in the north of the accumulation zone, or eastward entrainment in the south.

We study the dispersion and convergence of marine floating material by surface currents from a model reanalysis that represents explicitly mesoscale eddy variability. Lagrangian experiments about the long-term evolution (29 years) of an initially homogeneous concentration of particles are performed at global scale with horizontal current at ¼° resolution and refreshed daily over the 1985-2013 period. Results confirm and document the five known sites of surface convergence at the scale of individual oceanic basins, but also reveal a convergent pathway connecting the South Indian subtropical region with the convergence zone of the South Pacific through the Great Australian Bight, the Tasman Sea and the southwest Pacific Ocean. This “super-convergent” pathway at the ocean surface is robust and permanent over a distance longer than 8000 km. The currents variability is crucial to sustain this pathway.

The patterns of the large-scale, meso- and submesoscale surface circulation on biogeochemical and biological distributions are examined in the Western Tropical South Pacific (WTSP) in the context of the OUTPACE cruise (Feb–April 2015). Multi-disciplinary original in situ observations were achieved along a zonal transect through the WTSP and their analysis was coupled with satellite data. The use of Lagrangian diagnostics allows for the identification of water mass pathways, mesoscale structures, and submesoscale features such as fronts. In particular, we confirmed the existence of a global wind-driven southward circulation of surface waters in the entire WTSP, using a new high-resolution altimetry-derived product, validated by in situ drifters, that includes cyclogeostrophy and Ekman components with geostrophy. Two subregions show counter-intuitive water mass trajectories due to mesoscale circulation: i) the Coral Sea with surface exchanges between the North Vanuatu Jet and the North Caledonian Jet; and ii) the zonal band between 180° W and 170° W with an eastward propagation whereas a westward general direction dominates. Fronts and small-scale features, detected with Finite-Size Lyapunov Exponents (FSLE), are correlated with 25 % of surface tracer gradients which reveals the significance of such structures in the generation of submesoscale surface gradients. Additionally, two high-frequency sampling transects of biogeochemical parameters and micro-organism abundances demonstrate the influence of fronts in controlling the spatial distribution of bacteria and phytoplankton, and as a consequence the microbial community structure. All circulation scales play an important role that has to be taken into account when analysing the data from OUTPACE but also, more generally, to understand the global distribution of biogeochemical components.

The turbulent processes in the Cape Basin, the southeasternmost gate of the Atlantic Ocean, play a key role in the transport and mixing of upper to intermediate water masses entering the area from the Indian Ocean, making them especially relevant for the Indo-Atlantic transfer of heat and salt. In this paper, two numerical simulations at different horizontal resolutions are used to study mesoscale and submesoscale dynamics, their phenomenology, their evolution, and their impact on the local water masses. Submesoscale processes seasonally affect both, the upper and intermediate layers, but there are clear dynamical differences between the two layers. Several types of instabilities underline this spatial and temporal variability. Near the surface, mixed layer instabilities occur during winter, while mesoscale-driven instabilities, as the symmetric type, prevail in summer. The connection between these two seasonal regimes is ensured, in anticyclonic eddies and within the mixed layers, by Charney baroclinic instabilities, involved in the local formation and subduction of mode water, that we have dubbed as Agulhas Rings mode water. Intermediate depths are instead characterized by mesoscale mechanisms of density compensation and lateral stirring of the tracer variance, triggering a significant filamentogenesis whose vertical scales are comparable to those mentioned in previous studies. This leads to a particularly efficient mixing of Antarctic Intermediate Waters of Indian and Atlantic origins. Lagrangian estimates highlight the new and significant role of fine scale structures in setting the water masses properties of upper and lower thermocline waters materializing the Indo-Atlantic exchange and therefore potentially affecting the global ocean circulation.

The Indo‐Atlantic interocean exchanges achieved by Agulhas Rings are tightly linked to global ocean circulation and climate. Yet, they are still poorly understood because they are difficult to identify and follow. We propose here an original assessment on Agulhas Rings, achieved by TOEddies, a new eddy identification and tracking algorithm that we applied over 24 years of satellite altimetry. Its main novelty lies in the detection of eddy splitting and merging events. These are particularly abundant and significantly impact the concept of a trajectory associated with a single eddy, which becomes less obvious than previously admitted. To overcome this complication, we have defined a network of segments that group together in relatively complex trajectories. Such a network provides an original assessment of the routes and history of Agulhas Rings. It links 730 481 eddies into 6 363 segments that cluster into Agulhas Ring trajectories of different orders. Such an order depends on the affiliation of the eddies and segments, in a similar way as a tree of life. Among them, we have identified 122 “order 0” trajectories that can be considered as the major trajectories associated to a single eddy, albeit it has undergone itself splitting and merging events. Despite the disappearance of many eddies in the altimeter signal in the Cape Basin, a significant fraction can be followed from the Indian Ocean to the South Brazil Current with, on average, 3.5 years to cross the entire South Atlantic. Plain Language Summary Mesoscale eddies are ubiquitous structures in the ocean and are one of the major sources of ocean variability. They play a crucial role in physically shaping the ocean general circulation, in transporting and mixing energy, chemicals and other materials within and among ocean basins. This should be true, in particular, south of Africa where the largest mesoscale eddies, the so‐called Agulhas Rings, are shed from the Agulhas Current into the Cape Basin conveying India

Lagrangian analysis is a powerful way to analyse the output of ocean circulation models and other ocean velocity data such as from altimetry. In the Lagrangian approach, large sets of virtual particles are integrated within the three-dimensional, time-evolving velocity fields. Over several decades, a variety of tools and methods for this purpose have emerged. Here, we review the state of the art in the field of Lagrangian analysis of ocean velocity data, starting from a fundamental kinematic framework and with a focus on large-scale open ocean applications. Beyond the use of explicit velocity fields, we consider the influence of unresolved physics and dynamics on particle trajectories. We comprehensively list and discuss the tools currently available for tracking virtual particles. We then showcase some of the innovative applications of trajectory data, and conclude with some open questions and an outlook. The overall goal of this review paper is to reconcile some of the different techniques and methods in Lagrangian ocean analysis, while recognising the rich diversity of codes that have and continue to emerge, and the challenges of the coming age of petascale computing., Accepted Author Manuscript, Mathematical Physics

Highlights: • Lagrangian ocean analysis is a powerful way to analyse the output of ocean circulation models • We present a review of the Kinematic framework, available tools, and applications of Lagrangian ocean analysis • While there are unresolved questions, the framework is robust enough to be used widely in ocean modelling Abstract: Lagrangian analysis is a powerful way to analyse the output of ocean circulation models and other ocean velocity data such as from altimetry. In the Lagrangian approach, large sets of virtual particles are integrated within the three-dimensional, time-evolving velocity fields. Over several decades, a variety of tools and methods for this purpose have emerged. Here, we review the state of the art in the field of Lagrangian analysis of ocean velocity data, starting from a fundamental kinematic framework and with a focus on large-scale open ocean applications. Beyond the use of explicit velocity fields, we consider the influence of unresolved physics and dynamics on particle trajectories. We comprehensively list and discuss the tools currently available for tracking virtual particles. We then showcase some of the innovative applications of trajectory data, and conclude with some open questions and an outlook. The overall goal of this review paper is to reconcile some of the different techniques and methods in Lagrangian ocean analysis, while recognising the rich diversity of codes that have and continue to emerge, and the challenges of the coming age of petascale computing.

We evaluate the output from a widely used ocean carbon cycle model to identify the subduction and obduction (re-emergence) rates of anthropogenic carbon (Cant) for climatological conditions during the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) era in 1995 using a new set of Lagrangian diagnostic tools. The principal scientific value of the Lagrangian diagnostics is in providing a new means to connect Cant re-emergence pathways to the relatively rapid renewal timescales of mode waters through the overturning circulation. Our main finding is that for this model with 2.04 PgC/yr of uptake of Cant via gas exchange, the subduction and obduction rates across the base of the mixed layer (MLbase) are 4.96 PgC/yr and 4.50 PgC/yr, respectively, which are twice as large as the gas exchange at the surface. Given that there is net accumulation of 0.17 PgC/yr in the mixed layer itself, this implies the residual downward Cant transport of 1.40 PgC/yr across the MLbase is associated with diffusion. Importantly, the net patterns for subduction and obduction transports of Cant mirror the large-scale patterns for transport of water volume, thereby illustrating the processes controlling Cant uptake. Although the net transfer across the MLbase by compensating subduction and obduction is relatively smaller than the diffusion, localized pattern of Cant subduction and obduction implies significant regional impacts. The median timescale for re-emergence of obducting particles is short (less than 10 years), indicating that re-emergence should contribute to limiting future carbon uptake through its contribution to perturbing the Revelle factor for surface waters.

Surface winds (equivalent neutral wind velocities at 10 m) from scatterometer missions since 1992 have been used to build up a 20-year climate series. Optimal interpolation and kriging methods have been applied to continuously provide surface wind speed and direction estimates over the global ocean on a regular grid in space and time. The use of other data sources such as radiometer data (SSM/I) and atmospheric wind reanalyses (ERA-Interim) has allowed building a blended product available at 1/4° spatial resolution and every 6 hours from 1992 to 2012. Sampling issues throughout the different missions (ERS-1, ERS-2, QuikSCAT, and ASCAT) and their possible impact on the homogeneity of the gridded product are discussed. In addition, we assess carefully the quality of the blended product in the absence of scatterometer data (1992 to 1999). Data selection experiments show that the description of the surface wind is significantly improved by including the scatterometer winds. The blended winds compare well with buoy winds (1992-2012) and they resolve finer spatial scales than atmospheric reanalyses, which make them suitable for studying air-sea interactions at mesoscale. The seasonal cycle and interannual variability of the product compare well with other long-term wind analyses. The product is used to calculate 20-year trends in wind speed, as well as in zonal and meridional wind components. These trends show an important asymmetry between the southern and northern hemispheres, which may be an important issue for climate studies.

The climatological vision of the circulation within the Coral Sea is today well established with the westward circulation of two main jets, the North Caledonian Jet (NCJ) and the North Vanuatu Jet (NVJ) as a consequence of the separation of the South Equatorial Current (SEC) on the islands of New Caledonia, Vanuatu, and Fiji. Each jet has its own dynamic and transports different water masses across the Coral Sea. The influence of mesoscale activity on mean flow and on water mass exchanges is not yet fully explored in this region of intense activity. Our study relies on the analysis of in situ, satellite, and numerical data. Indeed, we first use in situ data from the Bifurcation cruise and from an Argo float, jointly with satellite-derived velocities, to study the eddy influence on the Coral Sea dynamics. We identify an anticyclonic eddy as participating in the transport of NVJ-like water masses into the theoretical pathway of NCJ waters. This transfer from the NVJ to the NCJ is confirmed over the long term by a Lagrangian analysis. In particular, this numerical analysis shows that anticyclonic eddies can contribute up to 70–90% of the overall eddy transfer between those seemingly independent jets. Finally, transports calculated using S-ADCP measurements (0–500 m) show an eddy-induced sensitivity that can reach up to 15 Sv, i.e., the order of the transport of the jets.

This study investigates the structure and intensity of the surface pathways connecting to and from the central areas of the large-scale convergence regions of the eastern Pacific Ocean. Surface waters are traced with numerical Lagrangian particles transported in the velocity field of three different ocean models with horizontal resolutions that range from ¼° to 1/32°. The connections resulting from the large-scale convergent Ekman dynamics agree qualitatively but are strongly modulated by eddy variability that introduces meridional asymmetry in the amplitude of transport. Lagrangian forward-in-time integrations are used to analyze the fate of particles originating from the central regions of the convergence zones and highlight specific outflows not yet reported for the southeastern Pacific when using the currents at the highest resolutions (1/12° and 1/32°). The meridional scales of these outflows are comparable to the characteristic width of the fine-scale striation of mean currents.