Turbulent transport from an arctic lead: A large-eddy simulation

Abstract

The upward transfer of heat from ocean to atmosphere is examined for an Arctic “lead”, a break in the Arctic ice which allows contact between the cold atmosphere and the relatively warm ocean. We employ a large-eddy model to compute explicitly the three-dimensional turbulent response of the atmosphere to a lead of 200 m width. The surface heat flux creates a turbulent “plume” of individual quasi-random eddies, not a continuous updraft, which penetrate into the stable atmosphere and transport heat upward.