dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaThe sensitivity and stability of the ocean's thermohaline circulation to finite amplitude perturbations
| Authors | Mu Mu, Liang Sun, Henk A. Dijkstra |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0702083 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0702083 |
| DOI | 10.1175/1520-0485(2004)034<2305:TSASOT>2.0.CO;2 |
| Journal | Journal of Physical Oceanography. 2004, Vol. 34, 2305-2315 |
Abstract
Within a simple model context, the sensitivity and stability of the thermohaline circulation to finite amplitude perturbations is studied. A new approach is used to tackle this nonlinear problem. The method is based on the computation of the so-called Conditional Nonlinear Optimal Perturbation (CNOP) which is a nonlinear generalization of the linear singular vector approach (LSV). It is shown that linearly stable thermohaline circulation states can become nonlinearly unstable and the properties of the perturbations with optimal nonlinear growth are determined. An asymmetric nonlinear response to perturbations exists with respect to the sign of finite amplitude freshwater perturbations, on both thermally dominated and salinity dominated thermohaline flows. This asymmetry is due to the nonlinear interaction of the perturbations through advective processes.
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"abstract": "Within a simple model context, the sensitivity and stability of the\nthermohaline circulation to finite amplitude perturbations is studied. A new\napproach is used to tackle this nonlinear problem. The method is based on the\ncomputation of the so-called Conditional Nonlinear Optimal Perturbation (CNOP)\nwhich is a nonlinear generalization of the linear singular vector approach\n(LSV). It is shown that linearly stable thermohaline circulation states can\nbecome nonlinearly unstable and the properties of the perturbations with\noptimal nonlinear growth are determined. An asymmetric nonlinear response to\nperturbations exists with respect to the sign of finite amplitude freshwater\nperturbations, on both thermally dominated and salinity dominated thermohaline\nflows. This asymmetry is due to the nonlinear interaction of the perturbations\nthrough advective processes.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0702083",
"authors": [
"Mu Mu",
"Liang Sun",
"Henk A. Dijkstra"
],
"categories": [
"physics.ao-ph",
"physics.flu-dyn"
],
"doi": "10.1175/1520-0485(2004)034\u003c2305:TSASOT\u003e2.0.CO;2",
"journal_ref": "Journal of Physical Oceanography. 2004, Vol. 34, 2305-2315",
"title": "The sensitivity and stability of the ocean\u0027s thermohaline circulation to finite amplitude perturbations",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0702083"
},
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