Sack Lunch Seminar (SLS)

On the wind power input in the general ocean circulation


The pathways of wind-induced power input into the ocean circulation are analyzed using observations and models. Direct rates of wind-work can be calculated through the wind stress acting on the surface geostrophic flow. But because that energy is transported laterally in the Ekman layer, the pattern of injection into the geostrophic interior is controlled by Ekman pumping. The result is that regions of direct wind-work are different from regions of sustenance of the geostrophic circulation, with a pattern determined by the wind-curl rather than the wind itself.