Title: An idealized framework and global data approach to constrain oceanic mesoscale energy dissipation
Speaker: Cheng Yang Yeh, UCLA
Time: 2026/1/20 (Tuesday) 2pm Room 106
Abstract:
Oceanic mesoscale energy is ubiquitous and pervades the kinetic energy spectrum, which is referred to as the ocean’s weather. This energy source primarily originates from large-scale winds and ocean currents. It can transfer energy back to larger scales or ultimately dissipate to smaller scales, playing a crucial role in balancing the ocean’s energy budget. Current mesoscale dissipation mechanisms are not well constrained due to the lack of comprehensive observations at the dissipation scale, and the fundamental dissipation regimes remain poorly understood. This leads to significant uncertainties in simulations and is particularly amplified in mesoscale applications, such as eddy parameterization, ocean mixing, ocean heat and tracer transports, and in climate models.
In this talk, I will present an idealized mesoscale propagation and dissipation framework that describes regimes of mesoscale energy observed in the global ocean, and demonstrate the success of using this theory to investigate where and how mesoscale energy dissipates. I will also demonstrate a novel EOF technique that combines satellite and Argo data to carefully estimate global bottom drag dissipation for the first time, and reinforce the need to constrain other dissipation mechanisms, including bottom lee-wave generation. Finally, I will introduce my last Ph.D. project, which utilizes a theoretical global circulation framework that couples wind and seamounts, and sparks several future directions, such as
regional and climate modeling.
