Barotropic Jet Research Articles

Spatio‐Temporal Super‐Resolution Data Assimilation (SRDA) Utilizing Deep Neural Networks With Domain Generalization

AbstractDeep learning has recently gained attention in the atmospheric and oceanic sciences for its potential to improve the accuracy of numerical simulations or to reduce computational costs. Super‐resolution is one such technique for high‐resolution inference from low‐resolution data. This paper proposes a new scheme, called four‐dimensional super‐resolution data assimilation (4D‐SRDA). This framework calculates the time evolution of a system from low‐resolution simulations using a physics‐based model, while a trained neural network simultaneously performs data assimilation and spatio‐temporal super‐resolution. The use of low‐resolution simulations without ensemble members reduces the computational cost of obtaining inferences at high spatio‐temporal resolution. In 4D‐SRDA, physics‐based simulations and neural‐network inferences are performed alternately, possibly causing a domain shift, that is, a statistical difference between the training and test data, especially in offline training. Domain shifts can reduce the accuracy of inference. To mitigate this risk, we developed super‐resolution mixup (SR‐mixup)–a data augmentation method for domain generalization. SR‐mixup creates a linear combination of randomly sampled inputs, resulting in synthetic data with a different distribution from the original data. The proposed methods were validated using an idealized barotropic ocean jet with supervised learning. The results suggest that the combination of 4D‐SRDA and SR‐mixup is effective for robust inference cycles. This study highlights the potential of super‐resolution and domain‐generalization techniques, in the field of data assimilation, especially for the integration of physics‐based and data‐driven models.

Chaotic Advection of a Passive Admixture in a Circular Barotropic Jet Flow

Chaotic Advection of a Passive Admixture in a Circular Barotropic Jet Flow

Inertial instabilities of stratified jets: Linear stability theory

This paper uses a linear stability analysis to investigate instabilities of barotropic and baroclinic jets that satisfy the necessary condition for inerital instabilities within the context of a rotating, stratified Boussinesq model. First, we review the different types of instabilities that can occur in these jets and the conditions that make the jet subject to inertial instability but stable to Rayleigh–Taylor instability. Second, we numerically solve one-dimensional and two-dimensional eigenvalue problems for the linear stability problems and examine the dependence of the growth rates on the Rossby number, Burger number, the aspect ratio, and the Reynolds number. We find that there are two critical Reynolds numbers where there is a transition between what type of instability has the largest growth rate. Finally, we examine the characteristics of inertial instabilities in more detail for three selected parameter sets: a low Reynolds number regime, a high Reynolds number regime, and a regime with low Reynolds number and larger aspect ratio. The most unstable mode in the low Reynolds number regime is a barotropic–baroclinic instability and has a barotropic spatial structure. In contrast, the most unstable mode in the high Reynolds number regime is an inertial instability and its spatial structure is independent of the along-flow direction. Modes with this property are commonly referred to as symmetric instabilities. In the intermediate regime, the flow can be unstable to both barotropic–baroclinic and inertial instabilities, possibly with comparable growth rates.

A Geometric Perspective on the Modulation of Potential Energy Release by a Lateral Potential Vorticity Gradient

The release of available potential energy by growing baroclinic instability requires the slope of the eddy fluxes to be shallower than that of mean density surfaces, where the amount of energy released depends on both the flux angle and the distance of fluid parcel excursions against the background density gradient. The presence of a lateral potential vorticity (PV) gradient is known to affect the growth rate and energy release by baroclinic instability, but often makes the mathematics of formal linear stability analysis intractable. Here the effects of a lateral PV gradient on baroclinic growth are examined by considering its effects on the slope of the eddy fluxes. It is shown that the PV gradient systematically shifts the unstable modes toward higher wavenumbers and creates a cutoff to the instability at large scales, both of which steepen the eddy flux angle and limit the amount of energy released. This effect may contribute to the severe inhibition of baroclinic turbulence in systems dominated by barotropic jets, making them less likely to transition to turbulence-dominated flow regimes.

2D turbulence closures for the barotropic jet instability simulation

AbstractIn the present work the possibility of turbulence closure applying to improve barotropic jet instability simulation at coarse grid resolutions is considered. This problem is analogous to situations occurring in eddy-permitting ocean models when Rossby radius of deformation is partly resolved on a computational grid. We show that the instability is slowed down at coarse resolutions. As follows from the spectral analysis of linearized equations, the slowdown is caused by the small-scale normal modes damping arising due to numerical approximation errors and nonzero eddy viscosity. In order to accelerate instability growth, stochastic and deterministic kinetic energy backscatter (KEBs) parameterizations and scale-similarity model were applied. Their utilization led to increase of the growth rates of normal modes and thus improve characteristic time and spatial structure of the instability.

Unsteady chains of wave structures and anomalous transport of а passive scalar in a barotropic jet flow

The onset of anomalous transport of a passive scalar at the excitation of unsteady chains of wave structures with closed streamlines in a barotropic jet flow modeling zonal flows in the Earths atmosphere and ocean and in laboratory experiments is investigated. The analysis is performed within a dynamical model describing saturation of the barotropic instability in a plane-parallel channel flow with allowance for the beta-effect and external friction. The equations of a quasi-two-dimensional flow are solved numerically with the aid of a pseudospectral method. It is found that the generation of high modes in a jet with a two-hump velocity profile leads to accelerated transition to the complex dynamics, at which an increase in supercriticality first gives rise to а multiharmonic regime with a discrete spectrum. The exponents of the power dependence on the time of the averaged (over the ensemble) tracer particle displacement and its variance are computed for the basic generation regimes, which confirms the occurrence of anomalous diffusion of the scalar. A self-similar probability density function of tracer displacements is obtained and the dependence of the transition to complex dynamics on the number of vortices in the chain and on the strength of the beta-effect is elucidated. Numerical estimates are presented, which confirm the possibility of generation of unsteady vortex chains and the related anomalous transport of the scalar.barotropic flow; chains of wave structures; dynamical chaos; anomalous advection and diffusion

Unsteady Chains of Wave Structures and Anomalous Transport of Passive Admixture in a Barotropic Jet Flow

The onset of anomalous transport of a passive scalar at the excitation of unsteady chains of wave structures with closed streamlines in a barotropic jet flow modeling zonal flows in the Earth’s atmosphere and ocean and in laboratory experiments is investigated. The analysis is performed within a dynamical model describing saturation of the barotropic instability in a plane-parallel channel flow with allowance for the beta-effect and external friction. The equations of a quasi-two-dimensional flow are solved numerically with the aid of a pseudospectral method. It is found that the generation of high modes in a jet with a “two-hump” velocity profile leads to accelerated transition to the complex dynamics, at which an increase in supercriticality first gives rise to а multiharmonic regime with a discrete spectrum. The exponents of the power dependence on the time of the averaged (over the ensemble) tracer particle displacement and its variance are computed for the basic generation regimes, which confirms the occurrence of anomalous diffusion of the scalar. A self-similar probability density function of tracer displacements is obtained and the dependence of the transition to complex dynamics on the number of vortices in the chain and on the strength of the beta-effect is elucidated. Numerical estimates are presented, which confirm the possibility of generation of unsteady vortex chains and the related anomalous transport of the scalar.barotropic flow; chains of wave structures; dynamical chaos; anomalous advection and diffusion

Radiative instability of a barotropic jet flow in a stratified rotating atmosphere

The problem of the stability of a jet flow with a piecewise linear velocity profile in a stratified rotating atmosphere is considered. The linearized system of equations for perturbations is reduced to a single equation with respect to the amplitude of the longitudinal velocity component containing the turning points. In terms of Airy functions, an asymptotic solution of the equation is constructed that is valid for small values of the Rossby number. It is shown that the flow becomes unstable due to radiation of inertial-gravitational waves. An analytical expression is obtained for the growth rate of perturbations.

Radiative Instability of a Barotropic Jet Flow in a Rotating Stratified Atmosphere

This paper investigates the stability of a jet flow with a piecewise linear velocity profile in a rotating stratified atmosphere. The linearized set of perturbation equations is reduced to one longitudinal-velocity amplitude equation with turning points. An asymptotic solution of the equation, valid at small Rossby numbers, is derived in terms of the Airy functions. A flow that is stable in a quasi-geostrophic approximation is shown to become unstable due to the emission of inertia–gravity waves. An analytic expression for the growth increment of the perturbations is derived.

Dynamical Model for the Anomalous Transport of a Passive Scalar in a Reverse Barotropic Jet Flow

Dynamical Model for the Anomalous Transport of a Passive Scalar in a Reverse Barotropic Jet Flow

Barotropic theory for the velocity profile of Jupiter’s turbulent jets: an example for an exact turbulent closure

We model the dynamics of Jupiter’s jets by the stochastic barotropic $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}$-plane model. In this simple framework, by analytic computation of the averaged effect of eddies, we obtain three new explicit results about the equilibrium structure of jets. First we obtain a very simple explicit relation between the Reynolds stresses, the energy injection rate and the averaged velocity shear. This predicts the averaged velocity profile far from the jet edges (extrema of zonal velocity). Our approach takes advantage of a time-scale separation between the inertial dynamics on one hand, and the spin-up (or spin-down) time on the other. Second, a specific asymptotic expansion close to the eastward jet extremum explains the formation of a cusp at the scale of energy injection, characterized by a curvature that is independent of the forcing spectrum. Finally, we derive equations that describe the evolution of the westward tip of the jets. The analysis of these equations is consistent with the previously discussed picture of barotropic adjustment, explaining the relation between the westward jet curvature and the $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}$-effect. Our results give a consistent overall theory of the stationary velocity profile of inertial barotropic zonal jets, in the limit of small-scale forcing.

The Growth and Saturation of Submesoscale Instabilities in the Presence of a Barotropic Jet

AbstractMotivated by recent observations of submesoscales in the Southern Ocean, we use nonlinear numerical simulations and a linear stability analysis to examine the influence of a barotropic jet on submesoscale instabilities at an isolated front. Simulations of the nonhydrostatic Boussinesq equations with a strong barotropic jet (approximately matching the observed conditions) show that submesoscale disturbances and strong vertical velocities are confined to a small region near the initial frontal location. In contrast, without a barotropic jet, submesoscale eddies propagate to the edges of the computational domain and smear the mean frontal structure. Several intermediate jet strengths are also considered. A linear stability analysis reveals that the barotropic jet has a modest influence on the growth rate of linear disturbances to the initial conditions, with at most a ~20% reduction in the growth rate of the most unstable mode. On the other hand, a basic state formed by averaging the flow at the end of the simulation with a strong barotropic jet is linearly stable, suggesting that nonlinear processes modify the mean flow and stabilize the front.

Shelf Flows Forced by Deep-Ocean Anticyclonic Eddies at the Shelf Break

AbstractIsolated monopolar eddies in the ocean tend to move westward. Those shed by western boundary currents may then interact with the continental margin. This simple picture is complicated by the presence of other flow features, but satellite observations show that many western boundary continental shelves experience cross-shelfbreak exchange flows forced by mesoscale eddies translating near the shelf break. Here we extend our previous study of eddy interaction with a flat shelf to that with a sloping shelf. Using a set of primitive equation numerical simulations, we address the vertical structure of the onshore and offshore flows forced by the eddy, the origin of the exported shelf water, and the extent to which eddy water can penetrate onto the shelf. The simulations reveal an asymmetry in the vertical structure of cross-shelfbreak flows: the offshore flow is generally barotropic, whereas the onshore flow is always baroclinic. The exported shelf water is sourced from downstream of the eddy in the coastal-trapped wave direction and is supplied by a barotropic alongshore jet. This “supply jet” has a Rhines-like cross-shore length scale proportional to (eddy velocity scale/shelf topographic beta)1/2 measured from the shelf break. Eddy water is forced onto the shelf and is present up to a distance of one internal Rossby deformation radius, defined using shelf properties, from the shelf break. We rationalize these horizontal and vertical scales, connect them to existing observations, and extend our previous parameterization of eddy-forced offshore shelf-water flux to account for nonzero shelf slopes.

A Gaussian Mixture Model Smoother for Continuous Nonlinear Stochastic Dynamical Systems: Applications

The nonlinear Gaussian Mixture Model Dynamically Orthogonal (GMM–DO) smoother for high-dimensional stochastic fields is exemplified and contrasted with other smoothers by applications to three dynamical systems, all of which admit far-from-Gaussian distributions. The capabilities of the smoother are first illustrated using a double-well stochastic diffusion experiment. Comparisons with the original and improved versions of the ensemble Kalman smoother explain the detailed mechanics of GMM–DO smoothing and show that its accuracy arises from the joint GMM distributions across successive observation times. Next, the smoother is validated using the advection of a passive stochastic tracer by a reversible shear flow. This example admits an exact smoothed solution, whose derivation is also provided. Results show that the GMM–DO smoother accurately captures the full smoothed distributions and not just the mean states. The final example showcases the smoother in more complex nonlinear fluid dynamics caused by a barotropic jet flowing through a sudden expansion and leading to variable jets and eddies. The accuracy of the GMM–DO smoother is compared to that of the Error Subspace Statistical Estimation smoother. It is shown that even when the dynamics result in only slightly multimodal joint distributions, Gaussian smoothing can lead to a severe loss of information. The three examples show that the backward inferences of the GMM–DO smoother are skillful and efficient. Accurate evaluation of Bayesian smoothers for nonlinear high-dimensional dynamical systems is challenging in itself. The present three examples—stochastic low dimension, reversible high dimension, and irreversible high dimension—provide complementary and effective benchmarks for such evaluation.

Theoretical prediction of Reynolds stresses and velocity profiles for barotropic turbulent jets

It is extremely uncommon to be able to predict the velocity profile of a turbulent flow. In two-dimensional flows, atmosphere dynamics, and plasma physics, large-scale coherent jets are created through inverse energy transfers from small scales to the largest scales of the flow. We prove that in the limits of vanishing energy injection, vanishing friction, and small-scale forcing, the velocity profile of a jet obeys an equation independently of the details of the forcing. We find another general relation for the maximal curvature of a jet and we give strong arguments to support the existence of a hydrodynamic instability at the point with minimal jet velocity. Those results are the first computations of Reynolds stresses and self-consistent velocity profiles from the turbulent dynamics, and the first consistent analytic theory of zonal jets in barotropic turbulence.

The statistical nature of turbulent barotropic ocean jets

Jets are an important element of the global ocean circulation. Since these jets are turbulent, it is important that they are characterized using a statistical framework. A high resolution barotropic channel ocean model is used to study jet statistics over a wide range of forcing and dissipation parameters. The first four moments of the potential vorticity distribution on contours of time-averaged streamfunction are considered: mean, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis. A self-similar response to forcing is found in the mean and standard deviation for eastward barotropic jets which exhibit strong mixing barriers; this self-similarity is related to the global potential enstrophy of the flow. The skewness and kurtosis give a behaviour which is characteristic of mixing barriers, revealing a bi/trimodal statistical distribution of potential vorticity with homogenized potential vorticity on each side of the barrier. The mixing barrier can be described by a simple statistical model. This behaviour is shown to be lost in westward jets due to an asymmetry in the formation of zonal mixing barriers. Moreover, when the statistical analysis is performed on eastward jets in a streamfunction following frame of reference, the distribution becomes monomodal. In this way we can distinguish between the statistics due to wave-like meandering of the jet and the statistics due to the more diffusive eddies. The statistical signature of mixing barriers can be seen in more realistic representations of the Southern Ocean and is shown to be an useful diagnostic tool for identifying strong jets on isopycnal surfaces. The statistical consequences of the presence, and absence, of mixing barriers are likely to be valuable for the development of stochastic representations of eddies and their dynamics in ocean models.

Short-term flow fluctuations in Onagawa Bay, Japan, as revealed by long-term mooring observation

Short-term flow fluctuations in the southern central part of Onagawa Bay were examined using long-term mooring and hydrographic data observed during the period from May 2013 to April 2014. The short-term flow fluctuations were dominant in the periodic bands of 15–27 days and shorter than 10 days. The principal and minor components of these flow fluctuations were respectively along and across the local isobaths, which are almost parallel in the north direction. The northward flow fluctuations along the local isobaths were correlated with the northeastward wind fluctuations in both periodic bands, and these correlations were more evident from fall to winter. On the basis of these results, the northward flows are regarded as wind-induced barotropic coastal jets. On other hand, the eastward flow fluctuations across the local isobaths were related to inflow and outflow via the bay mouth or the Izushima Channel. Inflow and outflow with reverse flow at lower depths formed in summer, but those with vertically uniform flow tended to form in winter. The main summertime inflow and outflow were driven by horizontal gradients in density. These permit us to regard the main summertime inflow and outflow as gravitational circulation. Also, the summertime inflow can be intermittently caused by internal waves.

Symmetric and asymmetric inertial instability of zonal jets on the -plane with complete Coriolis force

Symmetric and asymmetric inertial instability of the westerly mid-latitude barotropic Bickley jet is analysed without the traditional approximation which neglects the vertical component of the Coriolis force, as well as the contribution of the vertical velocity to the latter. A detailed linear stability analysis of the jet at large Rossby numbers on the non-traditional $f$-plane is performed for long waves in both the two-layer rotating shallow-water and continuously stratified Boussinesq models. The dependence of the instability on both the Rossby and Burger numbers of the jet is investigated and compared to the traditional case. It is shown that non-traditional effects significantly increase the growth rate of the instability at small enough Burger numbers (weak stratifications) for realistic aspect ratios of the jet. The main results are as follows. (i) Two-layer shallow-water model. In the parameter regimes where the jet is inertially stable on the traditional $f$-plane, the symmetric inertial instability with respect to perturbations with zero along-jet wavenumber arises on the non-traditional $f$-plane. Both non-traditional symmetric and asymmetric (small but non-zero wavenumbers) inertial instabilities have higher growth rates than their traditional counterparts. (ii) Continuously stratified model. It is shown that by a proper change of variables the linear stability problem for the barotropic jet, on the non-traditional $f$-plane, can be rendered separable and analysed along the same lines as in the traditional approximation. Neutral, weak and strong background stratifications are considered. For the neutral stratification the jet is inertially unstable if the traditional approximation is relaxed, while its traditional counterpart is not. For a sufficiently weak stratification, both symmetric and asymmetric inertial instabilities have substantially higher growth rates than in the traditional approximation. The across-jet structure of non-traditional unstable modes is strikingly different, as compared to those under the traditional approximation. No discernible differences between the two approximations are observed for strong enough stratifications. The influence of dissipation and non-hydrostatic effects upon the instability is quantified.

A generalised-Lagrangian-mean model of the interactions between near-inertial waves and mean flow

Wind forcing of the ocean generates a spectrum of inertia–gravity waves that is sharply peaked near the local inertial (or Coriolis) frequency. The corresponding near-inertial waves (NIWs) are highly energetic and play a significant role in the slow, large-scale dynamics of the ocean. To analyse this role, we develop a new model of the non-dissipative interactions between NIWs and balanced motion. The model is derived using the generalised-Lagrangian-mean (GLM) framework (specifically, the ‘glm’ variant of Soward & Roberts, J. Fluid Mech., vol. 661, 2010, pp. 45–72), taking advantage of the time-scale separation between the two types of motion to average over the short NIW period. We combine Salmon’s (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 719, 2013, pp. 165–182) variational formulation of GLM with Whitham averaging to obtain a system of equations governing the joint evolution of NIWs and mean flow. Assuming that the mean flow is geostrophically balanced reduces this system to a simple model coupling Young & Ben Jelloul’s (J. Mar. Res., vol. 55, 1997, pp. 735–766) equation for NIWs with a modified quasi-geostrophic (QG) equation. In this coupled model, the mean flow affects the NIWs through advection and refraction; conversely, the NIWs affect the mean flow by modifying the potential-vorticity (PV) inversion – the relation between advected PV and advecting mean velocity – through a quadratic wave term, consistent with the GLM results of Bühler & McIntyre (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 354, 1998, pp. 301–343). The coupled model is Hamiltonian and its conservation laws, for wave action and energy in particular, prove illuminating: on their basis, we identify a new interaction mechanism whereby NIWs forced at large scales extract energy from the balanced flow as their horizontal scale is reduced by differential advection and refraction so that their potential energy increases. A rough estimate suggests that this mechanism could provide a significant sink of energy for mesoscale motion and play a part in the global energetics of the ocean. Idealised two-dimensional models are derived and simulated numerically to gain insight into NIW–mean-flow interaction processes. A simulation of a one-dimensional barotropic jet demonstrates how NIWs forced by wind slow down the jet as they propagate into the ocean interior. A simulation assuming plane travelling NIWs in the vertical shows how a vortex dipole is deflected by NIWs, illustrating the irreversible nature of the interactions. In both simulations energy is transferred from the mean flow to the NIWs.

The Dynamics of Baroclinic Zonal Jets*

Abstract Multiple alternating zonal jets are a ubiquitous feature of planetary atmospheres and oceans. However, most studies to date have focused on the special case of barotropic jets. Here, the dynamics of freely evolving baroclinic jets are investigated using a two-layer quasigeostrophic annulus model with sloping topography. In a suite of 15 numerical simulations, the baroclinic Rossby radius and baroclinic Rhines scale are sampled by varying the stratification and root-mean-square eddy velocity, respectively. Small-scale eddies in the initial state evolve through geostrophic turbulence and accelerate zonally as they grow in horizontal scale, first isotropically and then anisotropically. This process leads ultimately to the formation of jets, which take about 2500 rotation periods to equilibrate. The kinetic energy spectrum of the equilibrated baroclinic zonal flow steepens from a −3 power law at small scales to a −5 power law near the jet scale. The conditions most favorable for producing multiple alternating baroclinic jets are large baroclinic Rossby radius (i.e., strong stratification) and small baroclinic Rhines scale (i.e., weak root-mean-square eddy velocity). The baroclinic jet width is diagnosed objectively and found to be 2.2–2.8 times larger than the baroclinic Rhines scale, with a best estimate of 2.5 times larger. This finding suggests that Rossby wave motions must be moving at speeds of approximately 6 times the turbulent eddy velocity in order to be capable of arresting the isotropic inverse energy cascade.