Articles | Volume 28, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-28-371-2021
© Author(s) 2021. 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-28-371-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
04 Aug 2021
Research article |
| 04 Aug 2021
| 04 Aug 2021
Empirical evidence of a fluctuation theorem for the wind mechanical power input into the ocean
Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, LEGI, 38000 Grenoble, France
Bertrand Chapron
LOPS, Ifremer, Plouzané, France
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Sofia Flora, Laura Ursella, and Achim Wirth
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 4685–4712, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-4685-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-4685-2025, 2025
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We developed a hierarchy of idealized deterministic–stochastic models to simulate sea surface currents in the Gulf of Trieste. They include tide- and wind-driven sea surface current components, resolving the slowly varying part of the flow, and a stochastic signal, representing the fast-varying small-scale dynamics. The comparison with high-frequency radar observations shows that the non-Gaussian stochastic model captures key dynamics and mimics the observed fat-tailed probability distribution.
Achim Wirth
Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 32, 261–280, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-32-261-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/npg-32-261-2025, 2025
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The hydrostatic approximation is the basis of most simulations of ocean and climate dynamics. It is evaluated here by using a projection method in the 4D Fourier space. The evaluation is analytic.
Felipe L. L. Amorim, Julien Le Meur, Achim Wirth, and Vanessa Cardin
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Analysis of a high-frequency time series of thermohaline data measured at the EMSO-E2M3A regional facility in the southern Adriatic Pit (SAP) reveals a significant change in the double-diffusive regime in 2017 associated with the intrusion of extremely salty waters into the area, suggesting salt fingering as the dominant regime. The strong heat loss at the surface during this winter allowed deep convection to transport this high-salinity water from the intermediate to deep layers of the pit.
Sofia Flora, Laura Ursella, and Achim Wirth
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An increasing amount of data allows us to move from low-order moments of fluctuating observations to their PDFs. We found the analytical fat-tailed PDF form (a combination of Gaussian and two-exponential convolutions) for 2 years of sea surface current increments in the Gulf of Trieste, using superstatistics and the maximum-entropy principle twice: on short and longer timescales. The data from different wind regimes follow the same analytical PDF, pointing towards a universal behaviour.
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We show that modern concepts of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics can be applied to large-scale environmental fluid dynamics, where fluctuations are not thermal but come from turbulence. The work theorems developed by Jarzynski and Crooks are applied to air–sea interaction. Rather than looking at the average values of thermodynamic variables, their probability density functions are considered, which allows us to replace the inequalities of equilibrium statistical mechanics with equalities.
Sofia Flora, Laura Ursella, and Achim Wirth
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We developed a hierarchy of idealized deterministic–stochastic models to simulate sea surface currents in the Gulf of Trieste. They include tide- and wind-driven sea surface current components, resolving the slowly varying part of the flow, and a stochastic signal, representing the fast-varying small-scale dynamics. The comparison with high-frequency radar observations shows that the non-Gaussian stochastic model captures key dynamics and mimics the observed fat-tailed probability distribution.
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Short summary
In non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, which describes forced-dissipative systems such as air–sea interaction, there is no universal probability density function (pdf). Some such systems have recently been demonstrated to exhibit a symmetry called a fluctuation theorem (FT), which strongly constrains the shape of the pdf. Using satellite data, the mechanical power input to the ocean by air–sea interaction following or not a FT is questioned. A FT is found to apply over specific ocean regions.
In non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, which describes forced-dissipative systems such as...
