New tools for aperiodic time dependent flows: applications to the description of transport across the Kuroshio current
| by Ana M Mancho, Carolina Mendoza |
| LAPCOD MEETING 2009, La Londes-les-Maures, September 7-11 2009 |
| Output type: presentation at conference |
 URL: http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/LAPCOD/2009-La_Londe-les-Maures/abstracts/lapcod2009_B205.php |
In recent years there has been a lot of progress in the application of dynamical systems concepts to the description of transport in oceanic flows. In these flows the classical dynamical system theory does not apply as typically they are aperiodic and finite-time defined. Definitions of Lyapunov exponents and invariant manifolds have been adapted for describing finite time flows.
Recently a new definition of distinguished trajectory has been proposed in Madrid & Mancho (Chaos, 2009). Distinguished trajectories are special trajectories that act as organizing centres of the geometrical template of aperiodic time-dependent flows, like fixed points and periodic orbits do in time independent or periodic flows.
The computation of distinguished trajectories as reported in Madrid & Mancho (Chaos, 2009) uses a function M of which we show contains a lot of Lagrangian information. In this presentation I will discuss how the visualization of this function M, allows the identification of relevant Lagrangian features at a glance. In particular we study an application to real altimetry data taken from satellite in the area of the Kuroshio current. We combine this information with the computation of distinguished trajectories and invariant manifolds and we report an accurate description of transport routes in this region.
