Articles | Volume 25, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-25-125-2018
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-25-125-2018
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
23 Feb 2018
Research article |
| 23 Feb 2018
| 23 Feb 2018
Preface: Current perspectives in modelling, monitoring, and predicting geophysical fluid dynamics
Ana M. Mancho
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Instituto de Ciencias Matemáticas, CSIC-UAM-UC3M-UCM, Serrano 121, 28006 Madrid, Spain
Emilio Hernández-García
Instituto de Física Interdisciplinar y Sistemas Complejos IFISC (CSIC-UIB), Campus Universitat de les Illes Balears, 07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Cristóbal López
Instituto de Física Interdisciplinar y Sistemas Complejos IFISC (CSIC-UIB), Campus Universitat de les Illes Balears, 07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Antonio Turiel
Institut de Ciències del Mar, CSIC, Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta 37–49, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Stephen Wiggins
School of Mathematics, University of Bristol, University Walk, Bristol, BS8 1TW, UK
Vicente Pérez-Muñuzuri
Group of Nonlinear Physics, Faculty of Physics, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Related authors
Jezabel Curbelo, Víctor José García-Garrido, Carlos Roberto Mechoso, Ana Maria Mancho, Stephen Wiggins, and Coumba Niang
Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 24, 379–392, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-24-379-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-24-379-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Lagrangian coherent structures have supported the description of transport processes in fluid dynamics. In this work we use the M function to provide new insights into the 3-D Lagrangian structure of the southern stratosphere. Dynamical systems concepts appropriate to 3-D, such as normally hyperbolic invariant curves, are discussed and applied to describe the vertical extension of the stratospheric polar vortex and its evolution.
Víctor José García-Garrido, Jezabel Curbelo, Carlos Roberto Mechoso, Ana María Mancho, and Stephen Wiggins
Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 24, 265–278, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-24-265-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-24-265-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Our work shows that a simple kinematic model is able to retain the fundamental mechanisms responsible for complex fluid parcel evolution in the stratosphere. Our analysis justifies in a controlled manner the formation of filaments eroding the polar vortex and shows that the breaking and splitting of the polar vortex is explained by the sudden growth of a planetary wave and the decay of the axisymmetric flow.
V. J. García-Garrido, A. M. Mancho, S. Wiggins, and C. Mendoza
Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 22, 701–712, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-22-701-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-22-701-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 on 8 March 2014 is one of the great mysteries of our time. The most relevant aspect is that not a piece of debris was found during the intensive surface search carried out for roughly 2 months following the crash. By combining different ocean data with dynamical systems tools, we propose a revised search strategy by showing why debris could not have been expected in some targeted search areas and determining regions where debris could be.
C. Mendoza, A. M. Mancho, and S. Wiggins
Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 21, 677–689, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-21-677-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-21-677-2014, 2014
S. Wiggins and A. M. Mancho
Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 21, 165–185, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-21-165-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-21-165-2014, 2014
Alfredo Crespo-Otero, Damián Insua-Costa, Emilio Hernández-García, Cristóbal López, and Gonzalo Míguez-Macho
Earth Syst. Dynam. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-2024-18, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-2024-18, 2024
Preprint under review for ESD
Short summary
Short summary
We evaluated two Lagrangian moisture tracking tools, WaterSip and UTrack, and compared them against the WRF model with Water Vapor Tracers. Our results show that UTrack, which relies on evaporation and precipitable water data, has a slightly better agreement with WRF-WVTs than WaterSip, based on specific humidity data. Implementing simple physics-based changes substantially improved both methodologies, reducing discrepancies by about 50 % and narrowing the the disparities among all approaches.
Verónica González-Gambau, Estrella Olmedo, Antonio Turiel, Cristina González-Haro, Aina García-Espriu, Justino Martínez, Pekka Alenius, Laura Tuomi, Rafael Catany, Manuel Arias, Carolina Gabarró, Nina Hoareau, Marta Umbert, Roberto Sabia, and Diego Fernández
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 2343–2368, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-2343-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-2343-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We present the first Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) dedicated products over the Baltic Sea (ESA Baltic+ Salinity Dynamics). The Baltic+ L3 product covers 9 days in a 0.25° grid. The Baltic+ L4 is derived by merging L3 SSS with sea surface temperature information, giving a daily product in a 0.05° grid. The accuracy of L3 is 0.7–0.8 and 0.4 psu for the L4. Baltic+ products have shown to be useful, covering spatiotemporal data gaps and for validating numerical models.
Justino Martínez, Carolina Gabarró, Antonio Turiel, Verónica González-Gambau, Marta Umbert, Nina Hoareau, Cristina González-Haro, Estrella Olmedo, Manuel Arias, Rafael Catany, Laurent Bertino, Roshin P. Raj, Jiping Xie, Roberto Sabia, and Diego Fernández
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 307–323, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-307-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-307-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Measuring salinity from space is challenging since the sensitivity of the brightness temperature to sea surface salinity is low, but the retrieval of SSS in cold waters is even more challenging. In 2019, the ESA launched a specific initiative called Arctic+Salinity to produce an enhanced Arctic SSS product with better quality and resolution than the available products. This paper presents the methodologies used to produce the new enhanced Arctic SMOS SSS product.
Estrella Olmedo, Verónica González-Gambau, Antonio Turiel, Cristina González-Haro, Aina García-Espriu, Marilaure Gregoire, Aida Álvera-Azcárate, Luminita Buga, and Marie-Hélène Rio
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2021-364, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2021-364, 2021
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
We present the first dedicated satellite salinity product in the Black Sea. We use the measurements provided by the European Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity mission. We introduce enhanced algorithms for dealing with the contamination produced by the Radio Frequency Interferences that strongly affect this basin. We also provide a complete quality assessment of the new product and give an estimated accuracy of it.
Rebeca de la Fuente, Gábor Drótos, Emilio Hernández-García, Cristóbal López, and Erik van Sebille
Ocean Sci., 17, 431–453, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-17-431-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-17-431-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Plastic pollution is a major environmental issue affecting the oceans. The number of floating and sedimented pieces has been quantified by several studies. But their abundance in the water column remains mostly unknown. To fill this gap we model the dynamics of a particular type of particle, rigid microplastics sinking rapidly in open sea in the Mediterranean. We find they represent a small but appreciable fraction of the total sea plastic and discuss characteristics of their sinking motion.
Estrella Olmedo, Cristina González-Haro, Nina Hoareau, Marta Umbert, Verónica González-Gambau, Justino Martínez, Carolina Gabarró, and Antonio Turiel
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 857–888, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-857-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-857-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
After more than 10 years in orbit, the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) European mission is still a unique, high-quality instrument for providing soil moisture over land and sea surface salinity (SSS) over the oceans. At the Barcelona
Expert Center (BEC), a new reprocessing of 9 years (2011–2019) of global SMOS SSS maps has been generated. This work presents the algorithms used in the generation of the BEC global SMOS SSS product v2.0, as well as an extensive quality assessment.
Roshin P. Raj, Sourav Chatterjee, Laurent Bertino, Antonio Turiel, and Marcos Portabella
Ocean Sci., 15, 1729–1744, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-15-1729-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-15-1729-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
In this study we investigated the variability of the Arctic Front (AF), an important biologically productive region in the Norwegian Sea, using a suite of satellite data, atmospheric reanalysis and a regional coupled ocean–sea ice data assimilation system. We show evidence of the two-way interaction between the atmosphere and the ocean at the AF. The North Atlantic Oscillation is found to influence the strength of the AF and may have a profound influence on the region's biological productivity.
Peter D. Nooteboom, Qing Yi Feng, Cristóbal López, Emilio Hernández-García, and Henk A. Dijkstra
Earth Syst. Dynam., 9, 969–983, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-9-969-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-9-969-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The prediction of the El Niño phenomenon, an increased sea surface temperature in the eastern Pacific, fascinates people for a long time. El Niño is associated with natural disasters, such as droughts and floods. Current methods can make a reliable prediction of this phenomenon up to 6 months ahead. However, this article presents a method which combines network theory and machine learning which predicts El Niño up to 1 year ahead.
Jordi Isern-Fontanet, Joaquim Ballabrera-Poy, Antonio Turiel, and Emilio García-Ladona
Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 24, 613–643, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-24-613-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-24-613-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Ocean currents play a key role in Earth’s climate – they are of major importance for navigation and human activities at sea and impact almost all processes that take place in the ocean. Nevertheless, their observation and forecasting are still difficult. Here, we review the main techniques used to derive surface currents from satellite measurements and the existing approaches to assimilate this information into ocean models.
Carolina Gabarro, Antonio Turiel, Pedro Elosegui, Joaquim A. Pla-Resina, and Marcos Portabella
The Cryosphere, 11, 1987–2002, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1987-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1987-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
We present a new method to estimate sea ice concentration in the Arctic Ocean using different brightness temperature observations from the Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite. The method employs a maximum-likelihood estimator. Observations at L-band frequencies such as those from SMOS (i.e. 1.4 GHz) are advantageous to remote sensing of sea ice because the atmosphere is virtually transparent at that frequency and little affected by physical temperature changes.
Jezabel Curbelo, Víctor José García-Garrido, Carlos Roberto Mechoso, Ana Maria Mancho, Stephen Wiggins, and Coumba Niang
Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 24, 379–392, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-24-379-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-24-379-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Lagrangian coherent structures have supported the description of transport processes in fluid dynamics. In this work we use the M function to provide new insights into the 3-D Lagrangian structure of the southern stratosphere. Dynamical systems concepts appropriate to 3-D, such as normally hyperbolic invariant curves, are discussed and applied to describe the vertical extension of the stratospheric polar vortex and its evolution.
Pedro Monroy, Emilio Hernández-García, Vincent Rossi, and Cristóbal López
Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 24, 293–305, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-24-293-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-24-293-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
We study the problem of sinking particles in a realistic oceanic flow, with major energetic structures in the mesoscale, focussing on marine biogenic particles. By using a simplified equation of motion for small particles in a mesoscale velocity field, we estimate the influence of physical processes such as the Coriolis force and the particle's inertia, and we conclude that they represent negligible corrections to passive transport by the flow, with added vertical velocity due to gravity.
Víctor José García-Garrido, Jezabel Curbelo, Carlos Roberto Mechoso, Ana María Mancho, and Stephen Wiggins
Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 24, 265–278, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-24-265-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-24-265-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Our work shows that a simple kinematic model is able to retain the fundamental mechanisms responsible for complex fluid parcel evolution in the stratosphere. Our analysis justifies in a controlled manner the formation of filaments eroding the polar vortex and shows that the breaking and splitting of the polar vortex is explained by the sudden growth of a planetary wave and the decay of the axisymmetric flow.
V. J. García-Garrido, A. M. Mancho, S. Wiggins, and C. Mendoza
Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 22, 701–712, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-22-701-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-22-701-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 on 8 March 2014 is one of the great mysteries of our time. The most relevant aspect is that not a piece of debris was found during the intensive surface search carried out for roughly 2 months following the crash. By combining different ocean data with dynamical systems tools, we propose a revised search strategy by showing why debris could not have been expected in some targeted search areas and determining regions where debris could be.
C. Mendoza, A. M. Mancho, and S. Wiggins
Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 21, 677–689, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-21-677-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-21-677-2014, 2014
A. Turiel, J. Isern-Fontanet, and M. Umbert
Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 21, 291–301, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-21-291-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-21-291-2014, 2014
S. Wiggins and A. M. Mancho
Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 21, 165–185, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-21-165-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-21-165-2014, 2014
I. Hernández-Carrasco, C. López, A. Orfila, and E. Hernández-García
Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 20, 921–933, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-20-921-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-20-921-2013, 2013
Cited articles
Basnayake, R., Bollt, E., Tufillaro, N., Sun, J., and Gierach, M.: Regularization destriping of remote sensing imagery, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 24, 367–378, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-24-367-2017, 2017.
Bower, A. S.: A simple kinematic mechanism for mixing fluid parcels across a menadering jet, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 21, 173–180, 1991.
Curbelo, J., García-Garrido, V. J., Mechoso, C. R., Mancho, A. M., Wiggins, S., and Niang, C.: Insights into the three-dimensional Lagrangian geometry of the Antarctic polar vortex, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 24, 379–392, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-24-379-2017, 2017.
Garaboa-Paz, D., Lorenzo, N., and Pérez-Muñuzuri, V.: Influence of finite-time Lyapunov exponents on winter precipitation over the Iberian Peninsula, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 24, 227–235, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-24-227-2017, 2017.
García-Garrido, V. J., Curbelo, J., Mechoso, C. R., Mancho, A. M., and Wiggins, S.: A simple kinematic model for the Lagrangian description of relevant nonlinear processes in the stratospheric polar vortex, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 24, 265–278, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-24-265-2017, 2017.
Isern-Fontanet, J., Ballabrera-Poy, J., Turiel, A., and García-Ladona, E.: Remote sensing of ocean surface currents: a review of what is being observed and what is being assimilated, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 24, 613–643, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-24-613-2017, 2017.
Koshel, K. V. and Ryzhov, E. A.: Parametric resonance in the dynamics of an elliptic vortex in a periodically strained environment, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 24, 1–8, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-24-1-2017, 2017.
Monroy, P., Hernández-García, E., Rossi, V., and López, C.: Modeling the dynamical sinking of biogenic particles in oceanic flow, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 24, 293–305, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-24-293-2017, 2017.
Padberg-Gehle, K. and Schneide, C.: Network-based study of Lagrangian transport and mixing, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 24, 661–671, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-24-661-2017, 2017.
Prants, S. V., Budyansky, M. V., and Uleysky, M. Yu.: Statistical analysis of Lagrangian transport of subtropical waters in the Japan Sea based on AVISO altimetry data, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 24, 89–99, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-24-89-2017, 2017.
Rypina, I. I. and Pratt, L. J.: Trajectory encounter volume as a diagnostic of mixing potential in fluid flows, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 24, 189–202, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-24-189-2017, 2017.
Samelson, R. M.: Fluid exchange across a meandering jet, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 22, 431–440, 1992.
Samelson, R. M. and Wiggins, S.: Lagrangian Transport in Geophysical Jets and Waves: The Dynamical Systems Approach, Springer-Verlag, New York, 2006.
Yu, X., Zhang, S., Lin, X., and Li, M.: Insights on the role of accurate state estimation in coupled model parameter estimation by a conceptual climate model study, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 24, 125–139, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-24-125-2017, 2017.
