2011/07/26 by Kayo Ide, Ide, Kayo, Stephen Wiggins +1
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics (physics.ao-ph) #Chaotic Dynamics (nlin.CD) #Climate variability and models #FOS: Physical sciences #Fluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn) #Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations #Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1107.5182
openalex publication_date 2011/07/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
We present a framework for the analysis of transport processes resulting from the mean-eddy interaction in a flow. The framework is based on the \bf Transport \bf Induced by the \bf Mean-\bf Eddy \bf Interaction (TIME) method presented in a companion paper \citeidewigginspd06a. The TIME method estimates the (Lagrangian) transport across stationary (Eulerian) boundaries defined by chosen streamlines of the mean flow. Our framework proceeds after first carrying out a sequence of preparatory steps that link the flow dynamics to the transport processes. This includes the construction of the so-called "instantaneous flux" as the Hovmöller diagram. Transport processes are studied by linking the signals of the instantaneous flux field to the dynamical variability of the flow. This linkage also reveals how the variability of the flow contributes to the transport. The spatio-temporal analysis of the flux diagram can be used to assess the efficiency of the variability in transport processes. We apply the method to the double-gyre ocean circulation model in the situation where the Rossby-wave mode dominates the dynamic variability. The spatio-temporal analysis shows that the inter-gyre transport is controlled by the circulating eddy vortices in the fast eastward jet region, whereas the basin-scale Rossby waves have very little impact.