Hausmann Ute

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Hausmann
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Ute
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  • Article
    Observed mesoscale eddy signatures in Southern Ocean surface mixed-layer depth
    (John Wiley & Sons, 2017-01-27) Hausmann, Ute ; McGillicuddy, Dennis J. ; Marshall, John C.
    Combining satellite altimetry with Argo profile data a systematic observational estimate of mesoscale eddy signatures in surface mixed-layer depth (MLD) is provided across the Southern Ocean (SO). Eddy composite MLD anomalies are shallow in cyclones, deep in anticyclones, and increase in magnitude with eddy amplitude. Their magnitudes show a pronounced seasonal modulation roughly following the depth of the climatological mixed layer. Weak eddies of the relatively quiescent SO subtropics feature peak late-winter perturbations of ±10 m. Much larger MLD perturbations occur over the vigorous eddies originating along the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) and SO western boundary current systems, with late-winter peaks of −30 m and +60 m in the average over cyclonic and anticyclonic eddy cores (a difference of ≈ 100 m). The asymmetry between modest shallow cyclonic and pronounced deep anticyclonic anomalies is systematic and not accompanied by corresponding asymmetries in eddy amplitude. Nonetheless, the net deepening of the climatological SO mixed layer by this asymmetry in eddy MLD perturbations is estimated to be small (few meters). Eddies are shown to enhance SO MLD variability with peaks in late winter and eddy-intense regions. Anomalously deep late-winter mixed layers occur disproportionately within the cores of anticyclonic eddies, suggesting the mesoscale heightens the frequency of deep winter surface-mixing events along the eddy-intense regions of the SO. The eddy modulation in MLD reported here provides a pathway via which the oceanic mesoscale can impact air-sea fluxes of heat and carbon, the ventilation of water masses, and biological productivity across the SO.
  • Article
    Mesoscale modulation of air-sea CO2 flux in Drake Passage
    (John Wiley & Sons, 2016-09-10) Song, Hajoon ; Marshall, John C. ; Munro, David R. ; Dutkiewicz, Stephanie ; Sweeney, Colm ; McGillicuddy, Dennis J. ; Hausmann, Ute
    We investigate the role of mesoscale eddies in modulating air-sea CO2 flux and associated biogeochemical fields in Drake Passage using in situ observations and an eddy-resolving numerical model. Both observations and model show a negative correlation between temperature and partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) anomalies at the sea surface in austral summer, indicating that warm/cold anticyclonic/cyclonic eddies take up more/less CO2. In austral winter, in contrast, relationships are reversed: warm/cold anticyclonic/cyclonic eddies are characterized by a positive/negative pCO2 anomaly and more/less CO2 outgassing. It is argued that DIC-driven effects on pCO2 are greater than temperature effects in austral summer, leading to a negative correlation. In austral winter, however, the reverse is true. An eddy-centric analysis of the model solution reveals that nitrate and iron respond differently to the same vertical mixing: vertical mixing has a greater impact on iron because its normalized vertical gradient at the base of the surface mixed layer is an order of magnitude greater than that of nitrate.
  • Preprint
    Mechanisms controlling the SST air-sea heat flux feedback and its dependence on spatial scale
    ( 2016-04-05) Hausmann, Ute ; Czaja, Arnaud ; Marshall, John C.
    The turbulent air-sea heat flux feedback (α, in W m-2 K-1) is a major contributor to setting the damping timescale of sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies. In this study we compare the spatial distribution and magnitude of α in the North Atlantic and the Southern Ocean, as estimated from the ERA-Interim reanalysis dataset. The comparison is rationalized in terms of an upper bound on the heat flux feedback, associated with \fast" atmospheric export of temperature and moisture anomalies away from the marine boundary layer, and a lower bound associated with "slow" export. It is found that regions of cold surface waters (≤10°C) are best described as approaching the slow export limit. This conclusion is not only valid at the synoptic scale resolved by the reanalysis data, but also on basin scales. In particular, it applies to the heat flux feedback acting as circumpolar SST anomaly scales are approached in the Southern Ocean, with feedbacks of ≤10 W m-2 K-1. In contrast, the magnitude of the heat flux feed-back is close to that expected from the fast export limit over the Gulf Stream and its recirculation with values on the order of ≈40 W m-2 K-1. Further analysis suggests that this high value reflects a compensation between a moderate thermo-dynamic adjustment of the boundary layer, which tends to weaken the heat flux feedback, and an enhancement of the surface winds over warm SST anomalies, which tend to enhance the feedback.