Short biography:
Interested in eddy dynamics in the ocean and multi-year predictability.
MSc from Bangor, PhD from Oxford, Postdoc in Stockholm.
Abstract:
Isolated anticyclones are frequently observed below the mixed layer in the Arctic Ocean. Some of these sub-surface anticyclones are thought to originate at surface fronts. Numerical simulations of fronts subject to a surface stress presented here show that the direction of the surface stress affects dipole propagation away from a front. Regardless of the surface stress at the point of dipole formation, these dipoles can be broken up on a timescale of days when a surface stress is applied. The dipole breakup leads to the deeper anticyclonic component becoming an isolated sub-surface eddy. Simple hierarchical models are presented that capture the interaction of the surface stress and the eddies.