Surface available gravitational potential energy in the world oceans

Ruixin Huang; Bo Qiu; Zhiyou Jing

doi:10.1007/s13131-021-1852-9

Volume 41 Issue 4

Apr. 2022

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Ruixin Huang, Bo Qiu, Zhiyou Jing. Surface available gravitational potential energy in the world oceans[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2022, 41(4): 40-56. doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1852-9

Citation:

Ruixin Huang, Bo Qiu, Zhiyou Jing. Surface available gravitational potential energy in the world oceans[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2022, 41(4): 40-56. doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1852-9

Ruixin Huang, Bo Qiu, Zhiyou Jing. Surface available gravitational potential energy in the world oceans[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2022, 41(4): 40-56. doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1852-9

Citation:

Ruixin Huang, Bo Qiu, Zhiyou Jing. Surface available gravitational potential energy in the world oceans[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2022, 41(4): 40-56. doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1852-9

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Surface available gravitational potential energy in the world oceans

doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1852-9

1.
State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China
2.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA
3.
Department of Oceanography, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA

Funds: The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 92058201 and 41776040; the Chinese Academy of Sciences under contract Nos ZDBS-LY-DQC011, XDA15020901 and ISEE2018PY05.

More Information

Corresponding author: E-mail: jingzhiyou@scsio.ac.cn
Received Date: 2020-12-17
Accepted Date: 2021-05-01

Available Online: 2022-02-12

Publish Date: 2022-04-01

Abstract

Abstract

Satellite altimetry observations, including the upcoming Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission, provide snapshots of the global sea surface high anomaly field. The common practice in analyzing these surface elevation data is to convert them into surface velocity based on the geostrophic approximation. With increasing horizontal resolution in satellite observations, sea surface elevation data will contain many dynamical signals other than the geostrophic velocity. A new physical quantity, the available surface potential energy, is conceptually introduced in this study defined as the density multiplied by half of the squared deviation from the local mean reference surface elevation. This gravitational potential energy is an intrinsic property of the sea surface height field and it is an important component of ocean circulation energetics, especially near the sea surface. In connection with other energetic terms, this new variable may help us better understand the dynamics of oceanic circulation, in particular the processes in connection with the free surface data collected through satellite altimetry. The preliminary application of this concept to the numerically generated monthly mean Global Ocean Data Assimilation System data and Archiving, Validation, and Interpretation of Satellite Oceanographic altimeter data shows that the available surface potential energy is potentially linked to other dynamic variables, such as the total kinetic energy, eddy kinetic energy and available potential energy.
- satellite altimetry,
- surface available potential energy,
- eddy kinetic energy

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References(35)

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