Mapping eddy flow structures using GCM-Filters

[NoraLoose]

Title

Mapping eddy flow structures using GCM-Filters

Summary

The ocean is a turbulent fluid, and contains flow structures of many different spatial scales: from large-scale ocean currents to small-scale eddies, fronts, filaments, and current meanders. The aim of this project is to use the python package GCM-Filters and high-resolution gridded data (either from models or observations) to disentangle and map oceanic motions at different spatial scales.

Personnel

Nora Loose @NoraLoose
Paige Martin @paigem

Specific tasks

• Identify gridded data sets to be used, either from observations or models.
• Use GCM-Filters to spatially filter the data with different filter scales. (There are many examples in the GCM-Filters documentation that could be a good starting point to be reproduced and extended!)
• Find a science problem of interest to which this method can be applied. For example: Map eddy kinetic energy in a specific part of the ocean using different data products.
• Optional: Contribute to the open-source project GCM-Filters, for example by submitting a new example to the documentation!

Data sets and infrastructure support

• Possible gridded data sets: from the pangeo cloud catalog or the Copernicus Programme
• Python packages: GCM-Filters, xarray, dask, intake, matplotlib

[pbranson]

This is interesting. Could be a good candidate application for a kerchunked dataset. Is the intention to look at trends in EKE and how that might relate to climate/atmospheric indicators?

[NoraLoose]

Interesting idea @pbranson! I guess it's up to the participants which questions they are most interested in! 😃

[NoraLoose]

@leticiafabre @anaclarabmariani any thoughts on which datasets you would like to use?

[leticiafabre]

Initially I was thinking to work with the GMACMD, that is a database of in-situ oceanographic time series data with a strong emphasis on current meters. But its is not a grided data and it is in MATLAB format. So I think it is not suitable in this project....

[anaclarabmariani]

Hi @NoraLoose and @leticiafabre, maybe we could merge the two projects by, for example, exploring the internal wave energy distribution and comparing it with the eddy kinetic energy distribution in the different areas of the ocean. We could use the altimeter satellite gridded data from Copernicus to investigate the eddy kinetic energy (https://resources.marine.copernicus.eu/product-detail/SEALEVEL_GLO_PHY_L4_MY_008_047/INFORMATION). What do you think?

[NoraLoose]

We could also try to write down what goals we have for this hack project!