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Sub-mesoscale Wind-Front Interactions: the combined impact of thermal and current feedback
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  • Yue Bai,
  • Andrew F. Thompson,
  • Ana Beatriz Villas Bôas,
  • Patrice Klein,
  • Hector S. Torres,
  • Dimitris Menemenlis
Yue Bai
California Institute of Technology

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Andrew F. Thompson
California Institute of Technology
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Ana Beatriz Villas Bôas
Colorado School of Mines
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Patrice Klein
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology - CNRS
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Hector S. Torres
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
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Dimitris Menemenlis
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
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Abstract

Surface ocean temperature and velocity anomalies at meso- and sub-meso-scales induce wind stress anomalies. These wind-front interactions, referred to as thermal (TFB) and current (CFB) feedbacks, respectively, have been studied in isolation at mesoscale, yet they have rarely been considered in tandem. Here, we assess the combined influence of TFB and CFB and their relative impact on surface wind stress derivatives. Analyses are based on output from two regions of the Southern Ocean in a 4-6 km-resolution coupled simulation. Considering both TFB and CFB shows regimes of interference, which remain mostly linear down to the simulation resolution. The jointly-generated wind stress curl anomalies approach 10-5 N-3, ~20 times stronger than at mesoscale. The synergy of both feedbacks improves the ability to reconstruct wind stress curl magnitude and structure from both surface vorticity and SST gradients by 12-37% on average, compared with using either one alone.
08 Jun 2023Submitted to ESS Open Archive
08 Jun 2023Published in ESS Open Archive