Print Email Facebook Twitter Scaling laws for the upper ocean temperature dissipation rate Title Scaling laws for the upper ocean temperature dissipation rate Author Bogucki, D.J. Huguenard, K. Haus, B.K. Özgökmen, T.M. Reniers, A.J.H.M. Laxague, N.J.M. Faculty Civil Engineering and Geosciences Department Hydraulic Engineering Date 2015-02-10 Abstract Our understanding of temperature dissipation rate ? within the upper ocean boundary layer, which is critical for climate forecasts, is very limited. Near-surface turbulence also affects dispersion of contaminants and biogeochemical tracers. Using high-resolution optical turbulence measurements, scaling laws for ? are investigated under forcing states where either the daytime heat flux or the wind stress forcing is dominant. We find that ? remains constant over 1.5 times the significant wave height, while over a layer below, ? decays based on the local surface forcing. When the heat flux is dominant, traditional scaling based on the Monin-Obukhov similarity theory remains valid; ? ? z?1. When the wind stress dominates, we observe the emergence of a new scaling, ? ? z?1/2, which is explained by invoking the effect of small-scale coherent structures on vertical heat transport. These results have implications for improved modeling of the ocean's heat and CO2 intake. To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:6f5a59bd-250a-432f-964b-4cdcc3b95e38 Publisher American Geophysical Union Embargo date 2015-08-10 ISSN 0094-8276 Source https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL062235 Source Geophysical Research Letters, 42 (3), 2015 Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type journal article Rights © 2015 American Geophysical Union Files PDF Reniers_2015.pdf 1.07 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:6f5a59bd-250a-432f-964b-4cdcc3b95e38/datastream/OBJ/view