First-Order Scaling Law for Potential Vorticity Extraction due to Wind

Abstract

urface sources and sinks of potential vorticity (PV) have been examined recently in various publications. These are normally identified as the mechanical and buoyant PV fluxes with the former scaled according to wind stress and the latter from buoyancy flux. The authors here examine a PV source that is often overlooked: namely, the diabatically forced source due to wind-driven deepening.Based on an idealized model of the mixed layer, the rate of deepening of the mixed layer due to wind is translated into PV extraction. The authors propose the first-order scaling law as an estimate of the net PV flux due to diabatic wind effects in the absence of other buoyancy effects. This law is verified and calibrated in several numerical experiments. Then, the authors compare the magnitude of the PV extraction due to wind to the other factors responsible for PV input/output: namely, air?sea heat flux, freshwater flux, and Ekman wind-driven currents. Finally, to illustrate the impact of the mixing induced by wind, the authors conclude with a global air?sea PV budget in the North Atlantic basin. The wind-driven diabatic PV flux is found to be comparable to all other sources in all cases and is distinguished by acting only to extract PV.