Fractal trajectories in a numerical model of the upper Indian Ocean

S. D. Meyers (1) , J. F. Magnan (2, 3) , J. J. O'Brien (1)

1 Mesoscale Air-Sea Interaction Group
2 SCRI - Supercomputer Computations Research Institute
3 GFDI - Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Institute

A wind-driven numerical model of the Indian Ocean is used to examine the horizontal statistics of hundreds of passive tracers spread evenly over the model domain. The distribution covers several dynamically distinct regions, revealing a variety of Lagrangian behaviours associated with different geographic locations. In particular, a cluster of trajectories with scaling dimension as large as 1.3 exists throughout the equatorial zone. Spectral analysis of trajectory displacements indicates mixed Rossby-gravity waves are involved in the production of some fractal trajectories.

Domaines: Cosmologie et astrophysique extra-galactique [astro-ph.CO]; Astrophysique [astro-ph]; Sciences de la Terre

S. D. Meyers, J. F. Magnan, J. J. O'Brien. Fractal trajectories in a numerical model of the upper Indian Ocean. Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics, 1994, 1 (1), pp.45-50. ⟨hal-00301720⟩