Global Observations of Ocean-Bottom Subinertial Current Dissipation

Corwin J. Wright, Robert B. Scott, Darran Furnival, Pierre Ailliot, Franck Vermet

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

28 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

Quadratic bottom boundary layer drag is a potentially significant source of energy dissipation in the deep ocean. This study presents a new estimate of the energy dissipated by this process, using results from the world’s largest archive of ocean current meter time series and focusing strongly upon the potential uncertainties in this calculation. Two methods are used, one based on a simple division of the World Ocean into a series of regular grids and the other based on a more sophisticated analysis using a hierarchical clustering mechanism assisted by estimates from the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) model. From these analyses, the authors estimate a globally integrated bottom boundary layer dissipation of 0.65 ± 0.15 (statistical uncertainty) ± 0.15 (methodological uncertainty) TW.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)402-417
Number of pages16
JournalJournal of Physical Oceanography
Volume43
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Feb 2013

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