ISSN 2070-7401 (Print), ISSN 2411-0280 (Online)
Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa
CURRENT PROBLEMS IN REMOTE SENSING OF THE EARTH FROM SPACE

  

Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2020, Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 231-237

Dynamics of the seasonal thermocline upper boundary depth in dependence on the Rim Current velocity (from satellite altimetry and drifter experiment data)

A.A. Sizov 1 , T.M. Bayankina 1 , N.E. Lebedev 1 
1 Marine Hydrophysical Institute RAS, Sevastopol, Russia
Accepted: 02.06.2020
DOI: 10.21046/2070-7401-2020-17-4-231-237
Reaction of the seasonal thermocline upper boundary to the changing velocity of the Rim Current is under consideration. The analysis was carried out using the sea upper layer temperature data from the distributed temperature sensor systems of drifting buoys (drifters) and data on the Rim Current geostrophic velocity. An estimation of the latter was made by means of satellite altimetry in January – March when convection and turbulent mixing formed the main features of the seasonal thermocline. The performed analysis revealed that the upper boundary of the seasonal thermocline (which is also the lower boundary of the upper quasi-isothermal layer) deepens as the Rim Current velocity increases, and with its weakening, this boundary rises to shallower depths. This process is observed in the Rim Current zone both in the western and eastern parts of the Black Sea. An explanation of the mechanism of the Rim Current velocity influence on the change in the depth of the seasonal thermocline upper boundary is proposed. For this, we use the known data that the region of maximal Rim Current velocities (the jet of current) is located above the seasonal thermocline, while in the jet boundary layer there appear wave oscillations which propagate into the thermocline, causing changes in its characteristics. Qualitatively, the relevance of this assumption is confirmed by experimental data.
Keywords: upper quasi-isothermal layer, geostrophic velocity, seasonal thermocline, Rim Current
Full text

References:

  1. Bulgakov N. P., Konvektsiya v okeane (The ocean convection), Moscow: Nauka, 1975, 272 p.
  2. Gritsenko V. A., Chubarenko I. P., Ob osobennostyakh struktury frontal’noi zony pridonnykh gravitatsionnykh techenii (On features of structure of bottom gravity current frontal zone), Okeanologiya, 2010, Vol. 50, No. 1, pp. 32–39.
  3. Ivanov V. A., Belokopytov V. N., Okeanografiya Chernogo morya (The Black Sea oceanography), Sevastopol, 2011, 212 p.
  4. Konvektivnoe peremeshivanie v more (Convective mixing at the sea), A. D. Dobrovolskiy (ed.), Moscow: Izd. Moskovskogo universiteta, 1977, 239 p.
  5. Kubryakov A. A., Stanichny S. V., Vosstanovlenie srednei dinamicheskoi topografii Chernogo morya dlya al’timetricheskikh izmerenii (Reconstruction of mean dynamic topography of the Black sea for altimetry measurements), Issledovanie Zemli iz kosmosa, 2011, No. 5, pp. 24–30.
  6. Morozov A. N., Lemeshko E. M., Otsenka koeffitsientov vertikal’noi turbulentnoi diffuzii po dannym CTD/LADCP-izmerenii v severo-zapadnoi chasti Chernogo morya v mae 2004 goda (Evaluation of vertical turbulent diffusion coefficients from CTD/LADCP measurements in the Northwestern part of the Black sea in May 2004), Morskoi gidrofizicheskii zhurnal, 2014, No. 1, pp. 58–66.
  7. Podymov O. I., Zatsepin A. G., Ostrovskiy A. G., Vertikal’nyi turbulentnyi obmen v chernomorskom piknokline i ego svyaz’ s dinamikoi vod (Vertical turbulent exchange in the Black sea pycnocline and its relation to water dynamics), Okeanologiya, 2017, Vol. 57, No. 4, pp. 546–559.
  8. Samodurov A. S., Chukharev A. M., Otsenka skorosti vertikal’nogo turbulentnogo obmena v Chernom more po eksperimental’nym dannym (Estimation of the vertical turbulent exchange rate in the Black sea based on experimental data), Ekologicheskaya bezopasnost, 2006, Vol. 14, pp. 524–529.
  9. Tolstosheev A. P., Lunev E. G., Motyzhev S. V., Analiz rezul’tatov naturnykh eksperimentov s termoprofiliruyushchimi dreifuyushchimi buyami v Chernom more i drugikh raionakh Mirovogo okeana (Analysis of the field experiments results with temperature-profiling drifters in the Black Sea and other World Ocean regions), Morskoi gidrofizicheskii zhurnal, 2014, No. 5, pp. 9–32.
  10. Ginsburg A. I., Zatsepin A. G., Kostianoy A. G., Sheremet N. A., Mesoscale Water Dynamics, Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, 2008, Vol. 5, pp. 195–215.
  11. Kubryakov A. A., Stanichny S. V., Reconstruction of mean dynamic topography of the Black Sea for altimetry measurements, Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Ocean Physics, 2012, Vol. 48(9), pp. 973–979.
  12. Kubryakov A. A., Stanichny S. V., Seasonal and interannual variability of the Black Sea eddies and its dependence on characteristics of the Large-Scale circulation, Deep Sea Research, 2015, Vol. 97, pp. 80–97.
  13. Maxworthy T., Leilich J., Simpson J. E., Meiburg E. H., The propagation of a gravity current into a linearly stratified fluid, J. Fluid Mechanics, 2002, Vol. 453, pp. 371–394.
  14. Ogus T., Besiktepe S., Observations on the Rim Current structure, CIW formation and transport in the western Black Sea, Deep Sea Research, 1999, Part 1, Vol. 46, pp. 1733–1753.
  15. Sizov A. A. , Bayankina T. M., Yurovsky A. V., Study of the Process of the Black Sea Upper Layer Mixing in the Zone of the Rim Current Activity in Winter Based on the Drifters Data, Physical Oceanography, 2019, Vol. 26, Issue 3, pp. 260–270.