FN Archimer Export Format PT J TI The vertical structure of open-ocean submesoscale variability during a full seasonal cycle BT AF Erickson, Zachary K Thompson, Andrew F Callies, Jörn Yu, Xiaolong Naveira Garabato, Alberto Klein, Patrice AS 1:1;2:1;3:1;4:2;5:3;6:; FF 1:;2:;3:;4:;5:;6:; C1 California Institute of Technology, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, Pasadena, CA, USA Ifremer, Université de Brest, CNRS, IRD, Laboratoire d’Océanographie Physique et Spatiale, IUEM, Brest, France Department of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Southampton, UK Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA C2 CALTECH, USA CNRS, FRANCE UNIV SOUTHAMPTON, UK JET PROP LAB, USA UM LOPS IN WOS Cotutelle UMR copubli-europe copubli-int-hors-europe IF 3.373 TC 19 UR https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00592/70388/68470.pdf LA English DT Article DE ;Instability;Mixing;Small scale processes;Buoy observations;Profilers;oceanic AB Submesoscale dynamics are typically intensified at boundaries and assumed to weaken below the mixed layer in the open ocean. Here, we assess both the seasonality and the vertical distribution of submesoscale motions in an open ocean region of the northeast Atlantic. Second-order structure functions, or variance in properties separated by distance, are calculated from submesoscale-resolving ocean glider and mooring observations, as well as a 1/48° numerical ocean model. This data set combines a temporal coverage that extends through a full seasonal cycle, a horizontal resolution that captures spatial scales as small as 1 km, and vertical sampling that provides near-continuous coverage over the upper 1000 m. While kinetic and potential energies undergo a seasonal cycle, being largest during the winter, structure function slopes, influenced by dynamical characteristics, do not exhibit a strong seasonality. Furthermore, structure function slopes show weak vertical variations; there is not a strong change in properties across the base of the mixed layer. Additionally, we compare the observations to output from a high-resolution numerical model. The model does not represent variability associated with superinertial motions and does not capture an observed reduction in submesoscale kinetic energy that occurs throughout the water column in spring. Overall, these results suggest that the transfer of mixed layer submesoscale variability down to depths below the traditionally-defined mixed layer is important throughout the weakly stratified subpolar mode waters. PY 2020 PD JAN SO Journal Of Physical Oceanography SN 0022-3670 PU American Meteorological Society VL 50 IS 1 UT 000506615400002 BP 145 EP 160 DI 10.1175/JPO-D-19-0030.1 ID 70388 ER EF