Articles | Volume 25, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-25-267-2018
https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-25-267-2018
Research article
 | 
04 Apr 2018
Research article |  | 04 Apr 2018

Connection between encounter volume and diffusivity in geophysical flows

Irina I. Rypina, Stefan G. Llewellyn Smith, and Larry J. Pratt

Data sets

Global ocean gridded l4 sea surface heights and derived variables reprocessed (1993-ongoing) Copernicus Marine and Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) http://marine.copernicus.eu/services-portfolio/access-to-products/?option=com_csw&view=details&product_id=SEALEVEL_GLO_PHY_L4_REP_OBSERVATIONS_008_047

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Short summary
Trajectory encounter volume – the volume of fluid that passes close to a reference fluid parcel over some time interval – has been recently introduced as a measure of mixing potential of a flow. We derived the analytical relationship between the encounter volume and diffusivity, which is the most commonly used characteristic of turbulent eddy diffusion. When applied to the altimetric velocities in the Gulf Stream region, the method illuminated transport properties of the Gulf Stream rings.