(Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2001-09)
Botella, Juan
The interaction between the eddy field and the mean flow near the Gulf Stream is
studied here using satellite altimeter measurements and an eddy resolving numerical
modeL. The eddy vorticity flux in the quasigeostrophic framework is obtained from
the stream function standard deviation and spatial correlation function assuming the
correlation function is homogeneous. An analytical expression is found for the stream
function correlation using the altimetric and numerical data. Cases when the correlation
function is anisotropic are compared to the isotropic case previously studied by
Hogg (1993), who found that the eddy vorticity flux drives two counter rotating gyres
on either side of the stream. The anisotropy can be important in the eddy vorticity
flux, even when its departure from the isotropic case is smalL. Meridional or zonal
anisotropies can drive recirculation gyres similar in strength and position to the ones
driven by the isotropic case. The results when including anisotropy in the diagonal
direction suggest that the homogenoeus assumption may not be valid.
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