JpGU-AGU Joint Meeting 2020

Session information

[E] Oral

A (Atmospheric and Hydrospheric Sciences ) » A-OS Ocean Sciences & Ocean Environment

[A-OS24] Exploring new frontiers of oceanic mixing research in the next decade

convener:Toshiyuki Hibiya(Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo), Ichiro Yasuda(Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo), Lakshmi Kantha(Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA)

Mixing plays many important roles in the global ocean through a variety of different processes. In the upper ocean, mixing affects the sea surface temperature and hence air-sea interactions, which in turn influence the state of the atmosphere on a variety of time scales. Mixing in the deep ocean maintains the abyssal stratification of the world's oceans and influences the global overturning circulation, which in turn affects long-term climate. Ocean mixing modulates the transport and dispersal of dissolved and suspended materials, including pollutants, plankton and fish larvae. It also plays an important role in the oceanic food chain in so far as primary productivity, which occurs predominantly in the euphotic zone, is affected by nutrient uptake from the deep associated with ocean mixing.

Microstructure profilers are being increasingly and routinely used to measure turbulence in the oceans, including the deep. Mixing models with more inclusive physics are being developed. Increasing computer power is making it possible to include sophisticated mixing models in global circulation models. As such, it is time to take stock of where we stand at present and explore the frontiers of mixing research over the next decade to advance our knowledge and utilize it for societal benefit.

This session encompasses a wide variety of aspects of mixing within the water column from the surface to the seabed, as well as the impact of mixing on key physical, biological, and chemical processes, such as those mentioned above, with special attention to new findings obtained through improvements in oceanographic instrumentation, mixing models and the use of supercomputers. Observational, theoretical, experimental, and numerical approaches are all welcome. In this session, we particularly encourage discussion that can confirm how far our understanding of related topics has advanced and help define the new frontiers of ocean mixing research to be tackled in the next decade.

*Naoki Yoshie1, Kazuki Ohgi1, Anri Kabe1, Yuma Hayashi1, Toru Kobari2, Eisuke Tsutsumi3, Daisuke Hasegawa4, Joji Ishizaka5 (1.Center for Marine Environmental Studies, Ehime University, 2.Faculty of Fisheries, Kagoshima University, 3.Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 4.Tohoku National Fisheries Research Institute, Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, 5.Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research Nagoya University)

*Ueno Hiromichi1, Ryo Dobashi2, Yuki Okada2, Takahiro Tanaka3, Jun Nishioka4, Toru Hirawake1, Atsushi Ooki1, Sachihiko Itoh5, Yoshikazu Sasai6, Hideharu Sasaki6, Ichiro Yasuda5 (1.Faculty of Fisheries Sciences, Hokkaido University, 2.Graduate School of Fisheries Sciences, Hokkaido University, 3.Tohoku National Fisheries Research Institute, Japan Fisheries Researh and Education Agency, 4.Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University, 5.Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 6.Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology)

*Jun Nishioka1,2, Hajime Obata3, Toru Hirawake2,4, Youhei Yamashita5, Hiroshi Ogawa3, Ichiro Yasuda3 (1.Institute of low temperature sciences, Hokkaido University, 2.Arctic Research Center, Hokkaido University, 3.Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 4.Faculty of Fisheries Sciences, Hokkaido University, 5.Faculty of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University)