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A three-dimensional modeling study on eddy-mean flow interaction between a Gaussian-type anticyclonic eddy and Kuroshio

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Abstract

The Princeton ocean model is employed to study the energy balance of a fast-moving anticyclonic eddy (AE) during eddy-mean flow interaction. The AE is initialized with an axisymmetric Gaussian-type temperature profile and is placed to the east of the Philippine Islands. An energy analysis suggests that the advection term, pressure work and friction term play dominant roles in the initial eddy decay. During the strong interaction stage, barotropic instability (BTI) becomes the main force for the eddy kinetic energy (EKE) production, with the largest positive BTI in the interaction zone, which means that the eddy always obtains kinetic energy from the Kuroshio during this stage. Most of the EKE dissipation, the large conversion from the eddy available potential energy to the EKE and that from the mean kinetic energy to the EKE all occur at the upper layer during the strong interaction stage. When the AE interacts with the mean flow on the eastern side of the Kuroshio, whether the AE gains kinetic energy from the Kuroshio or loses kinetic energy to the Kuroshio is mainly determined by its shape in the interaction zone.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the National Key Research & Development Plan of China (grant no. 2016YFC1401703), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41506002, 41576012, 41276024, 41676015, 41476011 and 41676010), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant no. XDA11010302), the Knowledge Innovation Engineering Frontier Project of Sanya Institute of Deep Sea Science and Engineering (Grant No. SIDSSE-201205) and the Sanya and Chinese Academy of Sciences Cooperation Project (Grant No. 2013YD77).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 164, West **ngang Road, Haizhu District, Guangzhou, 510301, China

    Wu Geng, Gengxin Chen, Qinyan Liu & Dongxiao Wang

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Bei**g, 100049, China

    Wu Geng

  3. Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, 572000, China

    Qiang **e

  4. Laboratory for Regional Oceanography and Numerical Modeling, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Qiang **e

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  1. Wu Geng
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  4. Qinyan Liu
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  5. Dongxiao Wang
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Correspondence to Qiang **e or Dongxiao Wang.

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Geng, W., **e, Q., Chen, G. et al. A three-dimensional modeling study on eddy-mean flow interaction between a Gaussian-type anticyclonic eddy and Kuroshio. J Oceanogr 74, 23–37 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-017-0435-z

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