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Discontinuity, Nonlinearity, and Complexity

Dimitry Volchenkov (editor), Dumitru Baleanu (editor)

Dimitry Volchenkov(editor)

Mathematics & Statistics, Texas Tech University, 1108 Memorial Circle, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA

Email: dr.volchenkov@gmail.com

Dumitru Baleanu (editor)

Cankaya University, Ankara, Turkey; Institute of Space Sciences, Magurele-Bucharest, Romania

Email: dumitru.baleanu@gmail.com


Influence of Deep Vortices on the Ocean Surface

Discontinuity, Nonlinearity, and Complexity 4(3) (2015) 281--311 | DOI:10.5890/DNC.2015.09.006

Daniele Ciani, Xavier Carton$^{1}$, Igor Bashmachnikov$^{2}$, Bertrand Chapron$^{3}$, Xavier Perrot$^{4}$

$^{1}$ Laboratoire de Physique des Océans, UMR6523, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, 29200, Brest, France

$^{2}$ Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre (MARE), Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

$^{3}$ Laboratoire d’Océanographie Spatiale, IFREMER, Centre de Brest, Plouzané, France

$^{4}$ Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France

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Abstract

We study the influence of deep vortices on the ocean surface in terms of sea-surface elevation, a quantity related to a fluid stream function. We use several mathematical and numerical models, from the most idealized configurations (point vortices) to realistic ones (finite volume vortices). We determine analytically the surface influence of vortices at rest (steady signature) and in motion (dynamical signature). Then, using a nonlinear, numerical hydrodynamicmodel for oceanic vortices, we determine the growth with time of a dynamical signature for drifting vortices without steady signature. We conclude on the possibility to detect several types of oceanic vortices with surface measurements, using the results from our theory and experiments.

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