Manucharyan
Georgy E.
Manucharyan
Georgy E.
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PreprintEntrainment and mixed layer dynamics of a surface-stress-driven stratiified fluid( 2014-12) Manucharyan, Georgy E. ; Caulfield, C. P.We consider experimentally an initially quiescent and linearly stratified fluid with buoyancy frequency NQ in a cylinder subject to surface-stress forcing from a disc of radius R spinning at a constant angular velocity Ω. We observe the growth of the disc-adjacent turbulent mixed layer bounded by a sharp primary interface with a constant characteristic thickness lI. To a good approximation the depth of the forced mixed layer scales as hF/R∼(NQ/Ω)−2/3(Ωt)2/9. Generalising the previous arguments and observations of Shravat, Cenedese & Caulfield. (2012), we show that such a deepening rate is consistent with three central assumptions that allow us to develop a phenomenological energy balance model for the entrainment dynamics. First, the total kinetic energy of the deepening mixed layer EKF∝hFu2F, where uF is a characteristic velocity scale of the turbulent motions within the forced layer, is essentially independent of time and the buoyancy frequency NQ. Second, the scaled entrainment parameter E=h˙F/uF depends only on the local interfacial Richardson number RiI=(N2QhFlI)/(2u2F). Third, the potential energy increase (due to entrainment, mixing and homogenisation throughout the deepening mixed layer) is driven by the local energy input at the interface, and hence is proportional to the third power of the characteristic velocity uF. We establish that internal consistency between these assumptions implies that the rate of increase of the potential energy (and hence the local mass flux across the primary interface) decreases with RiI. This observation suggests, as originally argued by Phillips (1972), that the mixing in the vicinity of the primary interface leads to the spontaneous appearance of secondary partially mixed layers, and we observe experimentally such secondary layers below the primary interface.
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ArticlePartitioning of kinetic energy in the Arctic Ocean's Beaufort Gyre(John Wiley & Sons, 2018-07-10) Zhao, Mengnan ; Timmermans, Mary-Louise ; Krishfield, Richard A. ; Manucharyan, Georgy E.Kinetic energy (KE) in the Arctic Ocean's Beaufort Gyre is dominated by the mesoscale eddy field that plays a central role in the transport of freshwater, heat, and biogeochemical tracers. Understanding Beaufort Gyre KE variability sheds light on how this freshwater reservoir responds to wind forcing and sea ice and ocean changes. The evolution and fate of mesoscale eddies relate to energy pathways in the ocean (e.g., the exchange of energy between barotropic and baroclinic modes). Mooring measurements of horizontal velocities in the Beaufort Gyre are analyzed to partition KE into barotropic and baroclinic modes and explore their evolution. We find that a significant fraction of water column KE is in the barotropic and the first two baroclinic modes. We explain this energy partitioning by quantifying the energy transfer coefficients between the vertical modes using the quasi‐geostrophic potential vorticity conservation equations with a specific background stratification observed in the Beaufort Gyre. We find that the quasi‐geostrophic vertical mode interactions uphold the persistence of KE in the first two baroclinic modes, consistent with observations. Our results explain the specific role of halocline structure on KE evolution in the gyre and suggest depressed transfer to the barotropic mode. This limits the capacity for frictional dissipation at the sea floor and suggests that energy dissipation via sea ice‐ocean drag may be prominent.
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ArticleWind-driven freshwater buildup and release in the Beaufort Gyre constrained by mesoscale eddies(John Wiley & Sons, 2016-01-06) Manucharyan, Georgy E. ; Spall, Michael A.Recently, the Beaufort Gyre has accumulated over 20,000 km3 of freshwater in response to strong anticyclonic atmospheric winds that have prevailed over the gyre for almost two decades. Here we explore key physical processes affecting the accumulation and release of freshwater within an idealized eddy-resolving model of the Beaufort Gyre. We demonstrate that a realistic halocline can be achieved when its deepening tendency due to Ekman pumping is counteracted by the cumulative action of mesoscale eddies. Based on this balance, we derive analytical scalings for the depth of the halocline and its spin-up time scale and emphasize their explicit dependence on eddy dynamics. Our study further suggests that the Beaufort Gyre is currently in a state of high sensitivity to atmospheric winds. However, an intensification of surface stress would inevitably lead to a saturation of the freshwater content—a constraint inherently set by the intricacies of the mesoscale eddy dynamics.
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ArticleEddy memory mode of multidecadal variability in residual-mean ocean circulations with application to the Beaufort Gyre(American Meteorological Society, 2017-04-12) Manucharyan, Georgy E. ; Thompson, Andrew F. ; Spall, Michael A.Mesoscale eddies shape the Beaufort Gyre response to Ekman pumping, but their transient dynamics are poorly understood. Climate models commonly use the Gent–McWilliams (GM) parameterization, taking the eddy streamfunction to be proportional to an isopycnal slope s and an eddy diffusivity K. This local-in-time parameterization leads to exponential equilibration of currents. Here, an idealized, eddy-resolving Beaufort Gyre model is used to demonstrate that carries a finite memory of past ocean states, violating a key GM assumption. As a consequence, an equilibrating gyre follows a spiral sink trajectory implying the existence of a damped mode of variability—the eddy memory (EM) mode. The EM mode manifests during the spinup as a 15% overshoot in isopycnal slope (2000 km3 freshwater content overshoot) and cannot be explained by the GM parameterization. An improved parameterization is developed, such that is proportional to an effective isopycnal slope , carrying a finite memory γ of past slopes. Introducing eddy memory explains the model results and brings to light an oscillation with a period ≈ 50 yr, where the eddy diffusion time scale TE ~ 10 yr and γ ≈ 6 yr are diagnosed from the eddy-resolving model. The EM mode increases the Ekman-driven gyre variance by γ/TE ≈ 50% ± 15%, a fraction that stays relatively constant despite both time scales decreasing with increased mean forcing. This study suggests that the EM mode is a general property of rotating turbulent flows and highlights the need for better observational constraints on transient eddy field characteristics.
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ArticleA theory of the wind-driven Beaufort Gyre variability(American Meteorological Society, 2016-10-20) Manucharyan, Georgy E. ; Spall, Michael A. ; Thompson, Andrew F.The halocline of the Beaufort Gyre varies significantly on interannual to decadal time scales, affecting the freshwater content (FWC) of the Arctic Ocean. This study explores the role of eddies in the Ekman-driven gyre variability. Following the transformed Eulerian-mean paradigm, the authors develop a theory that links the FWC variability to the stability of the large-scale gyre, defined as the inverse of its equilibration time. The theory, verified with eddy-resolving numerical simulations, demonstrates that the gyre stability is explicitly controlled by the mesoscale eddy diffusivity. An accurate representation of the halocline dynamics requires the eddy diffusivity of 300 ± 200 m2 s−1, which is lower than what is used in most low-resolution climate models. In particular, on interannual and longer time scales the eddy fluxes and the Ekman pumping provide equally important contributions to the FWC variability. However, only large-scale Ekman pumping patterns can significantly alter the FWC, with spatially localized perturbations being an order of magnitude less efficient. Lastly, the authors introduce a novel FWC tendency diagnostic—the Gyre Index—that can be conveniently calculated using observations located only along the gyre boundaries. Its strong predictive capabilities, assessed in the eddy-resolving model forced by stochastic winds, suggest that the Gyre Index would be of use in interpreting FWC evolution in observations as well as in numerical models.
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ArticleAnalysis of the Beaufort Gyre freshwater content in 2003-2018(American Geophysical Union, 2019-12-11) Proshutinsky, Andrey ; Krishfield, Richard A. ; Toole, John M. ; Timmermans, Mary-Louise ; Williams, William J. ; Zimmermann, Sarah ; Yamamoto-Kawai, Michiyo ; Armitage, Thomas ; Dukhovskoy, Dmitry S. ; Golubeva, Elena ; Manucharyan, Georgy E. ; Platov, Gennady A. ; Watanabe, Eiji ; Kikuchi, Takashi ; Nishino, Shigeto ; Itoh, Motoyo ; Kang, Sung-Ho ; Cho, Kyoung-Ho ; Tateyama, Kazutaka ; Zhao, JingHydrographic data collected from research cruises, bottom‐anchored moorings, drifting Ice‐Tethered Profilers, and satellite altimetry in the Beaufort Gyre region of the Arctic Ocean document an increase of more than 6,400 km3 of liquid freshwater content from 2003 to 2018: a 40% growth relative to the climatology of the 1970s. This fresh water accumulation is shown to result from persistent anticyclonic atmospheric wind forcing (1997–2018) accompanied by sea ice melt, a wind‐forced redirection of Mackenzie River discharge from predominantly eastward to westward flow, and a contribution of low salinity waters of Pacific Ocean origin via Bering Strait. Despite significant uncertainties in the different observations, this study has demonstrated the synergistic value of having multiple diverse datasets to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of Beaufort Gyre freshwater content variability. For example, Beaufort Gyre Observational System (BGOS) surveys clearly show the interannual increase in freshwater content, but without satellite or Ice‐Tethered Profiler measurements, it is not possible to resolve the seasonal cycle of freshwater content, which in fact is larger than the year‐to‐year variability, or the more subtle interannual variations.