FN Archimer Export Format
PT J
TI Effects of Balanced Motions and Unbalanced Internal Waves on Steric Height in the Mid‐Latitude Ocean
BT 
AF Zhang, Xiujie
   Yu, Xiaolong
   PONTE, Aurelien
   Gong, Wenping
AS 1:1;2:1,2,3;3:4;4:1,2;
FF 1:;2:;3:PDG-ODE-LOPS-OC;4:;
C1 School of Marine Sciences Sun Yat‐sen University Zhuhai, China
   Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai) Zhuhai ,China
   Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Physical and Geological Processes Third Institute of Oceanography Xiamen ,China
   Ifremer Université de Brest CNRS IRD Laboratoire D’Océanographie Physique et Spatiale IUEM Brest ,France
C2 UNIV SUN YAT SEN, CHINA
   SOUTHERN MARINE SCI ENG GUANGDONG LAB (GUANGZHOU), CHINA
   TIO, CHINA
   IFREMER, FRANCE
SI BREST
SE PDG-ODE-LOPS-OC
UM LOPS
IN WOS Ifremer UMR
   copubli-int-hors-europe
   copubli-sud
IF 5.2
TC 0
UR https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00883/99479/109538.pdf
   https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00883/99479/109539.pdf
LA English
DT Article
DE ;steric height;submesoscale motions;internal waves;SWOT
AB The baroclinic component of the sea surface height, referred to as steric height, is governed by geostrophically balanced motions and unbalanced internal waves, and thus is an essential indicator of ocean interior dynamics. Using yearlong measurements from a mooring array, we assess the distribution of upper‐ocean steric height across frequencies and spatial scales of O (1–20 km) in the northeast Atlantic. Temporal decomposition indicates that the two largest contributors to steric height variance are large‐scale atmospheric forcing (32.8%) and mesoscale eddies (34.1%), followed by submesoscale motions (15.2%), semidiurnal internal tides (8%), super‐tidal variability (6.1%) and near‐inertial motions (3.8%). Structure function diagnostics further reveal the seasonality and scale dependence of steric height variance. In winter, steric height is dominated by balanced motions across all resolved scales, whereas in summer, unbalanced internal waves become the leading‐order contributor to steric height at scales of O (1 km). 
PY 2024
PD MAR
SO Geophysical Research Letters
SN 0094-8276
PU American Geophysical Union (AGU)
VL 51
IS 6
UT 001188261900001
DI 10.1029/2023GL106480
ID 99479
ER

EF