The Response of Ocean Models to Variable Wind Forcing

Variability of wind-driven mid-latitude ocean circulation has important consequences for climate, but little is known about the role of fluctuating wind forcing in this variability. This project will provide significant new insights into this problem by using a novel combination of numerical models and laboratory experiments to investigate the response of ocean circulation to variable wind forcing. Building on current studies of circulations produced by steady forcing I will characterise the variability induced by unsteady forcing, analyse the physical mechanisms of the flow instabilities (in particular the role of topography), and determine the implications for simulations of ocean circulation.