Sack Lunch Seminar (SLS)

In this seminar, the concept of dynamical potential energy (DPE) will be introduced and proposed as an alternative to available potential energy (APE). DPE is defined as the horizontal anomaly of Potential Energy, i.e. we define the reference profile using the horizontal mean densities instead of an adiabatically rearranged resting state. Energy conservation will be reformulated in terms of horizontal anomalies of density and pressure, making it much simpler to identify oceanic power inputs by buoyancy or mechanical forcings directly at the local scale. The usefulness of this diagnostic will be illustrated through the analysis of idealized circulations simulated with the MITgcm, comparing spatial patterns of power inputs generated by wind and thermal forcings.