Hell, M. C., S. Gille, B. Cornuelle, A. J. Miller, P. D. Bromirski and A. D. Crawford, 2020:
Estimating Southern Ocean storm positions with
seismic observations
Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans, 125, e2019JC015898.
Abstract.
Surface winds from Southern Ocean cyclones generate large waves that travel over long
19 distances (> 1000 km). Wave generation regions are often co-located with enhanced air-sea
sea
fluxes and upper ocean mixing. Ocean wave spectra contain information about storm
wind speed, fetch size, and intensity at their generation site. Two years of seismic observations
from the Ross Ice shelf, combined with modern optimization (machine learning)
techniques, are used to trace the origins of wave events in the Southern Ocean with
an accuracy of +-110km and +-2h from a hypothetical point source. The observed spectral
energy attenuates within sea ice and in the ice shelf, but retains characteristics that
can be compared to parametric wave models. Comparison with the MERRA2 and ERA5
reanalyses suggests that less than 45% of ocean swell events can be associated with
individual Southern Ocean storms, while the majority of the observed wave events
cannot be matched with Southern Ocean high wind events. The reanalysis cyclones and winds
are often displaced by about 350 km or 10 hours in MERRA2 and ERA5 compared to
the most likely positions inferred from the seismic data. This high fraction of displaced
storms in reanalysis products over the South Pacific can be explained by the limited
availability of remote sensing observations, primarily caused by the presence of sea ice.
Deviation of wave rays from their great circle path by wave-current interaction plays a
minor role.
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