| Mapping of an Approximate Neutral Density Surface with Ungridded Data |
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| 作者姓名： | YOU Yuzhu |
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| 作者单位： | University of Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Building H11, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia |
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| 摘 要： | A neutral density surface is a logical study frame for water-mass mixing since water parcels spread along such a surface without doing work against buoyancy restoring force. Mesoscale eddies are believed to stir and subsequently mix predominantly along such surfaces. Because of the nonlinear nature of the equation of state of seawater, the process of accurately mapping a neutral density surface necessarily involves lateral computation from one conductivity, temperature and depth （CTD） cast to the next in a logical sequence. By contrast, the depth of a potential density surface on any CTD cast is found solely from the data on this cast. The lateral calculation procedure causes a significant inconvenience. In a previous paper by present author published in this journal （You, 2006）, the mapping of neutral density surfaces with regularly gridded data such as Levitus data has been introduced. In this note, I present a new method to find the depth of a neutral density surface from a cast without having to specify an integration path in space. An appropriate reference point is required that is on the neutral density surface and thereafter the neutral density surface can be determined by using the CTD casts in any order. This method is only approximate and the likely errors can be estimated by plotting a scatter diagram of all the pressures and potential temperatures on the neutral density surfaces. The method assumes that the variations of potential temperature and pressure （with respect to the values at the reference point） on the neutral density surface are proportional It is important to select the most appropriate reference point in order to approximately satisfy this assumption, and in practice this is found by inspecting the θ-p plot of data on the surface. This may require that the algorithm be used twice. When the straight lines on the θ-p plot, drawn from the reference point to other points on the neutral density surface, enclose an area that is external to the cluster of θ-p points of the neutral density surface, errors will occur, and these errors can be quantified from this diagram. Examples showing the use of the method are presented for each of the world＇s main oceans.
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| 关 键 词： | 海水密度 非线性方程 网格数据 水体混合 海洋 |
| 收稿时间： | 2007-07-12 |
| 修稿时间： | 2007-12-03 |
Mapping of an approximate neutral density surface with Ungridded data |
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| YOU Yuzhu.Mapping of an Approximate Neutral Density Surface with Ungridded Data[J].Journal of Ocean University of China,2008,7(1):1-9. |
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| Authors: | Yuzhu You |
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| Institution: | University of Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Building H11, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia |
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| Abstract: | A neutral density surface is a logical study frame for water-mass mixing since water parcels spread along such a surface without doing work against buoyancy restoring force. Mesoscale eddies are believed to stir and subsequently mix predominantly along such surfaces. Because of the nonlinear nature of the equation of state of seawater, the process of accurately mapping a neutral density surface necessarily involves lateral computation from one conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) cast to the next in a logical sequence. By contrast, the depth of a potential density surface on any CTD cast is found solely from the data on this cast. The lateral calculation procedure causes a significant inconvenience. In a previous paper by present author published in this journal (You,2006), the mapping of neutral density surfaces with regularly gridded data such as Levitus data has been introduced. In this note, I present a new method to find the depth of a neutral density surface from a cast without having to specify an integration path in space.An appropriate reference point is required that is on the neutral density surface and thereafter the neutral density surface can be determined by using the CTD casts in any order. This method is only approximate and the likely errors can be estimated by plotting a scatter diagram of all the pressures and potential temperatures on the neutral density surfaces. The method assumes that the variations of potential temperature and pressure (with respect to the values at the reference point) on the neutral density surface are proportional.It is important to select the most appropriate reference point in order to approximately satisfy this assumption, and in practice this is found by inspecting the θ-p plot of data on the surface. This may require that the algorithm be used twice. When the straight lines on the θ-p plot, drawn from the reference point to other points on the neutral density surface, enclose an area that is external to the cluster of θ-p points of the neutral density surface, errors will occur, and these errors can be quantified from this diagram. Examples showing the use of the method are presented for each of the world's main oceans. |
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| Keywords: | neutral density surface McDougall Surface mapping of a neutral density surface nonlinear equation of state of sea water ungridded data water-mass mixing world oceans |
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