Role of submesoscale instabilities in the lateral transport and mixing of freshwater

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Gualtiero Badin
• Subject Area: Oceanography
• Term: from 2016 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 198122929

The cross-frontal transfer of freshwater will be studied using Lagrangian techniques derived from the study of chaotic dynamical systems, in particular through the identification of three dimensional Finite Time and Finite Separation Lyapunov Exponents (FTLEs and FSLEs respectively). FTLEs and FSLEs can provide a mapping of stirring and the detection of mixing barriers, that can be important for the lateral and vertical transfer of freshwater. FTLEs and FSLEs will be calculated using realistic numerical simulations of the North Atlantic at high resolution. Their distribution will be compared with the distribution of freshwater. Results will be compared with the results of lateral mixing from the observations from other projects within the Forschungsgruppe.

• DFG Programme: Research Units
• Subproject of: FOR 1740: A New Approach toward Improved Estimates of Atlantic Ocean Freshwater Budgets and Transports as Part of the Global Hydrological Cycle