Surface Kinetic Energy Distributions in the Global Oceans From a High-Resolution Numerical Model and Surface Drifter Observations

Xiaolong Yu (1) , Aurélien L. Ponte (1) , Shane Elipot , Dimitris Menemenlis , Edward D. Zaron , Ryan Abernathey

1 LOPS - Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale

The surface kinetic energy of a 1/48° global ocean simulation and its distribution as a function of frequency and location are compared with the one estimated from 15,329 globally distributed surface drifter observations at hourly resolution. These distributions follow similar patterns with a dominant low-frequency component and well-defined tidal and near-inertial peaks globally. Quantitative differences are identified with deficits of low-frequency energy near the equator (factor 2) and at near-inertial frequencies (factor 3) and an excess of energy at semidiurnal frequencies (factor 4) for the model. Owing to its hourly resolution and its near-global spatial coverage, the array of surface drifters is an invaluable tool to evaluate the realism of tide-resolving high-resolution ocean simulations used in observing system simulation experiments. Sources of bias between model and drifter data are discussed, and associated leads for future work highlighted.

Keywords: LLC4320; surface drifter; rotary spectrum; SWOT

Domains: Sciences of the Universe [physics]; Earth Sciences

Xiaolong Yu, Aurélien L. Ponte, Shane Elipot, Dimitris Menemenlis, Edward D. Zaron, et al.. Surface Kinetic Energy Distributions in the Global Oceans From a High-Resolution Numerical Model and Surface Drifter Observations. Geophysical Research Letters, 2019, 46, pp.9757-9766. ⟨10.1029/2019GL083074⟩. ⟨insu-03683190⟩