Geometric interpretation of Southern Ocean eddy form stress

Mads Poulsen, a recent visiting graduate student from the University of Copenhagen, has published an article on “A Geometric interpretation of Southern Ocean eddy form stress“, has been published in the Journal of Physical Oceanography. Complimentary to the use of eddy ellipses to describe eddy Reynolds stresses, the paper shows that eddy form stress, which transfers zonal momentum downward in the Southern Ocean, can be fully described by a vertical ellipse whose size, shape and orientation with respect to the mean-flow shear determine the strength and direction of vertical momentum transfers.

Eddy form stress ellipses
Vertical section showing eddy form stress ellipses as a function of latitude and depth in a 1/6 degree resolution ocean circulation model

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