arXiv subjects

Kurt L. Polzin

Publications and source records attributed to Kurt L. Polzin.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Mesoscale Eddy -- Internal Wave Coupling. III. The End of the Enstrophy Cascade and Maintenance of Gyre Scale Potential Vorticity Gradients

We assess a prognostic formulation of triple coherence relating to energy exchange between mesoscale eddies and the internal wavefield and compare with observations from the Sargasso Sea. This effort involves updates to a theory articulated in Müller (1976) that balances eddy induced wavefield perturbations with nonlinearity using a relaxation time scale approximation. Agreement of the prognostic formulation with data is remarkable and is consistent with eddy-wave coupling dominating the regional internal wave energy budget. The goodness of this effort reinforces a prior hypothesis that the character of the internal wavefield in the Sargasso Sea is set by this interaction, which, in turn, serves as an amplifier of tertiary energy inputs from larger vertical scales that characterize internal swell. Extraction of eddy energy happens at the horizontal and vertical scales that characterize baroclinic instability and potential vorticity fluxes. With this knowledge and confidence, we then speculate on the role that this coupling plays with regards to mesoscale eddy dynamics in the Southern Recirculation Gyre of the Gulf Stream. We argue that this nonlinear relaxation effectively provides a local eddy enstrophy damping consistent with potential vorticity flux observations from the Local Dynamics Experiment. This happens at spatial scales somewhat smaller than the energy extraction scale and locates the end of the potential enstrophy cascade in the spectral domain as the energy containing scale of the internal wavefield. The dynamical consequence is that mesoscale eddy - internal wave coupling is responsible for the maintenance of gyre scale potential vorticity gradients.

physics.ao-ph↗

arXiv2024

Interacting internal waves explain global patterns of interior ocean mixing

Across the stable density stratification of the abyssal ocean, deep dense water is slowly propelled upward by sustained, though irregular, turbulent mixing. The resulting mean upwelling determines large-scale oceanic circulation properties like heat and carbon transport. In the ocean interior, this turbulent mixing is caused mainly by breaking internal waves: generated predominantly by winds and tides, these waves interact nonlinearly, transferring energy downscale, and finally become unstable, break and mix the water column. This paradigm, long parameterized heuristically, still lacks full theoretical explanation. Here, we close this gap using wave-wave interaction theory with input from both localized and global observations. We find near-ubiquitous agreement between first-principle predictions and observed mixing patterns in the global ocean interior. Our findings lay the foundations for a wave-driven mixing parameterization for ocean general circulation models that is entirely physics-based, which is key to reliably represent future climate states that could differ substantially from today's.

physics.ao-ph↗

arXiv2021

On the Origins of the Oceanic Ultraviolet Catastrophe

We provide a first-principles analysis of the energy fluxes in the oceanic internal wavefield. The resulting formula is remarkably similar to the renowned phenomenological formula for the turbulent dissipation rate in the ocean which is known as the Finescale Parameterization. The prediction is based on the wave turbulence theory of internal gravity waves and on a new methodology devised for the computation of the associated energy fluxes. In the standard spectral representation of the wave energy density, in the two-dimensional vertical wavenumber - frequency domain, the energy fluxes associated with the steady state are found to be directed downscale in both coordinates, closely matching the Finescale-Parameterization formula in functional form and in magnitude. These energy transfers are composed of a `local' and a `scale-separated' contributions; while the former is quantified numerically, the latter is dominated by the Induced Diffusion process and is amenable to analytical treatment. Contrary to previous results indicating an inverse energy cascade from high frequency to low, at odds with observations, our analysis of all non-zero coefficients of the diffusion tensor predicts a direct energy cascade. Moreover, by the same analysis fundamental spectra that had been deemed `no-flux' solutions are reinstated to the status of `constant-downscale-flux' solutions. This is consequential for an understanding of energy fluxes, sources and sinks that fits in the observational paradigm of the Finescale Parameterization, solving at once two long-standing paradoxes that had earned the name of `Oceanic Ultraviolet Catastrophe'.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2011

Toward Regional Characterizations of the Oceanic Internal Wavefield

Many major oceanographic internal wave observational programs of the last 4 decades are reanalyzed in order to characterize variability of the deep ocean internal wavefield. The observations are discussed in the context of the universal spectral model proposed by Garrett and Munk. The Garrett and Munk model is a good description of wintertime conditions at Site-D on the continental rise north of the Gulf Stream. Elsewhere and at other times, significant deviations in terms of amplitude, separability of the 2-D vertical wavenumber - frequency spectrum, and departure from the model's functional form are noted. Subtle geographic patterns are apparent in deviations from the high frequency and high vertical wavenumber power laws of the Garrett and Munk spectrum. Moreover, such deviations tend to co-vary: whiter frequency spectra are partnered with redder vertical wavenumber spectra. Attempts are made to interpret the variability in terms of the interplay between generation, propagation and nonlinearity using a statistical radiative balance equation. This process frames major questions for future research with the insight that such integrative studies could constrain both observationally and theoretically based interpretations.

physics.ao-ph↗

arXiv2010

Resonant and Near-Resonant Internal Wave Interactions

We report evaluations of a resonant kinetic equation that suggest the slow time evolution of the Garrett and Munk spectrum is {\em not}, in fact, slow. Instead nonlinear transfers lead to evolution time scales that are smaller than one wave period at high vertical wavenumber. Such values of the transfer rates are inconsistent with conventional wisdom that regards the Garrett and Munk spectrum as an approximate stationary state and puts the self-consistency of a resonant kinetic equation at a serious risk. We explore possible reasons for and resolutions of this paradox. Inclusion of near-resonant interactions decreases the rate at which the spectrum evolves. This leads to improved self-consistency of the kinetic equation.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2010

Oceanic Internal Wave Field: Theory of Scale-invariant Spectra

Steady scale-invariant solutions of a kinetic equation describing the statistics of oceanic internal gravity waves based on wave turbulence theory are investigated. It is shown in the non-rotating scale-invariant limit that the collision integral in the kinetic equation diverges for almost all spectral power-law exponents. These divergences come from resonant interactions with the smallest horizontal wavenumbers and/or the largest horizontal wavenumbers with extreme scale-separations. We identify a small domain in which the scale-invariant collision integral converges and numerically find a convergent power-law solution. This numerical solution is close to the Garrett--Munk spectrum. Power-law exponents which potentially permit a balance between the infra-red and ultra-violet divergences are investigated. The balanced exponents are generalizations of an exact solution of the scale-invariant kinetic equation, the Pelinovsky--Raevsky spectrum. A balance between oppositely signed divergences states that infinity minus infinity may be approximately equal to zero. A small but finite Coriolis parameter representing the effects of rotation is introduced into the kinetic equation to determine solutions over the divergent part of the domain using rigorous asymptotic arguments. This gives rise to the induced diffusion regime. The derivation of the kinetic equation is based on an assumption of weak nonlinearity. Dominance of the nonlocal interactions puts the self-consistency of the kinetic equation at risk. Yet these weakly nonlinear stationary states are consistent with much of the observational evidence.

math-ph↗

arXiv2003

Energy spectra of the ocean's internal wave field: theory and observations

The high-frequency limit of the Garrett and Munk spectrum of internal waves in the ocean and the observed deviations from it are shown to form a pattern consistent with the predictions of wave turbulence theory. In particular, the high frequency limit of the Garrett and Munk spectrum constitutes an {\it exact} steady state solution of the corresponding kinetic equation.

math-ph↗