Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences

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An Eddifying Parsons' Model

Baylor Fox-Kemper, Raffaele Ferrari

CIRES, ATOC, MIT EAPS

The time-mean effects of eddies are studied in a model based on the Parsons-Veronis-Huang-Flierl models of the wind-driven gyre. It is shown that much of the analysis used for the steady solutions carries over if the model is cast in terms of the thickness-weighted velocity, because the transport by this velocity is nondivergent in the absence of diabatic forcing. The model serves as a simple example of how the residual mean theory may simplify analysis in practice.

One of the main results of the analysis is a boundary layer width in the case of a rapid upper layer flow and weak lower layer flow. This boundary layer width is comparable to an eddy mixing length when the typical eddy velocity is taken to be the long Rossby wave phase speed.

Examination of the model equations and solution illustrates some important aspects of eddy parameterizations, model sensitivity to eddy fluxes, and model sensitivity to frictional parameters.