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Quantifying the Contribution of Mesoscale Eddies to Global Internal Wave-Driven Turbulent Mixing
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DOI：10.1029/2025JC022416.png)
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Abstract
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Direct observations revealed that internal wave-driven turbulent mixing is enhanced by oceanic mesoscale eddies. However, the contribution of mesoscale eddies to turbulent mixing on a global scale has been elusive. In this study, we synthesize the Argo-profile-based internal wave-driven turbulence kinetic energy dissipation rate ( ε I W ${\varepsilon }_{IW}$ ) across the global ocean with the corresponding satellite-altimetry-based ocean surface mesoscale eddy kinetic energy (E), which allows us to determine the quantitative relationship between ε I W ${\varepsilon }_{IW}$ and E, thereby quantifying mesoscale eddies' contribution to ε I W ${\varepsilon }_{IW}$ on a global scale in the ocean's subsurface to middle layers (250–2,000 m). Our analysis reveals a nearly linear relationship between ε I W ${\varepsilon }_{IW}$ and E on logarithmic scales. The sensitivity of ε I W ${\varepsilon }_{IW}$ to E, characterized by the linear regression coefficient of the linear relationship, is influenced by environmental factors, exhibiting high sensitivity in regions with active near-inertial winds, low internal tide activity, and weak stratification. These results indicate that mesoscale eddies play a relatively minor role in internal tide-induced dissipation but a more prominent role in enhancing dissipation associated with near-inertial waves. Using this relationship, we estimated the contribution of mesoscale eddies to ε I W ${\varepsilon }_{IW}$ at each Argo location and found that they contribute approximately 18.5% (∼0.036 TW) to the total ε I W ${\varepsilon }_{IW}$ (∼0.195 TW) in the subsurface to middle layers globally. In regions with high E, the contribution exceeds 50%. These findings provide valuable insights for developing eddy-involved internal wave-driven turbulent mixing parameterization schemes in numerical models.
Keywords:
turbulent mixing
mesoscale eddy
near inertial waves
internal tides
Journal
J
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3.4
Papers:
1.1W
Citations:
4.4W
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