Numerical Simulations of the Ocean's Nonlinear, Baroclinic Response to Translating hurricanes

Abstract

An asymmetric nonlinear ocean model is employed to investigate the oceanic response to moving hurricanes. A turbulent kinetic energy budget is used to parameterize the stress-induced vertical mixing. The results show that the ocean's response to a symmetric storm is stronger on the right of the storm track. Although the maximum speed of the induced current under the storm is not sensitive to the storm's translation speed, the speed does have a large influence on the temperature structure and the thermocline depth in the wake. Vertical motions associated with the inertia-gravity oscillations persist in the wake of the storm. A narrow ridge in the thermocline is left in the storm track for fast-moving storms. The results in many respects agree with Geisler's linear solutions. However, vertical mixing produces significant differences in the depth of the thermocline behind the storm.