HyMeX-SOP2: The field campaign dedicated to dense water formation in the northwestern Mediterranean

Claude Estournel (1) , Pierre Testor (2) , Isabelle Taupier-Letage (3) , Marie-Noëlle Bouin (4) , Laurent Coppola (5) , Jean-Pierre Durand (1) , Pascal Conan (6) , Anthony Bosse (7) , Pierre-Etienne Brilouet (1) , Laurent Béguery (8) , Sophie Belamari (4) , Karine Béranger (9) , Jonathan Beuvier (10) , Denis Bourras (3, 11) , Guylaine Canut (4) , Alexis Doerenbecher (4) , Xavier Durrieu de Madron (12) , Fabrizio d'Ortenzio (5) , Véronique Ducrocq (4) , Nadia Fourrie (4) , Hervé Giordani (4) , Loïc Houpert (13) , Laurent Labatut (4) , Cindy Lebeaupin Brossier (4) , Mathieu Nuret (4) , Jean-Louis Prieur (5) , Odile Roussot (4) , Leo Seyfried (1) , Samuel Somot (4) , Philippe Drobinski (9)

1 LAERO - Laboratoire d'aérologie
2 VOG - Variabilité de l'Océan et de la Glace de mer
3 MIO - Institut méditerranéen d'océanologie
4 CNRM - Centre national de recherches météorologiques
5 LOV - Laboratoire d'océanographie de Villefranche
6 LOMIC - Laboratoire d'Océanographie Microbienne
7 LOCEAN - Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques
8 DTI - Division technique INSU/SDU
9 LMD - Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539)
10 Mercator Océan
11 ESTER - LATMOS
12 CEFREM - Centre de Formation et de Recherche sur les Environnements Méditérranéens
13 SAMS - Scottish Association for Marine Science

The HYdrological cycle in the Mediterranean Experiment (HyMeX) Special Observing Period 2 (SOP2, January 27–March 15, 2013) was dedicated to the study of dense water formation in the Gulf of Lion in the northwestern Mediterranean. This paper outlines the deep convection of winter 2012–2013 and the meteorological conditions that produced it. Alternating phases of mixing and restratification are related to periods of high and low heat losses, respectively. High-resolution, realistic, three-dimensional models are essential for assessing the intricacy of buoyancy fluxes, horizontal advection, and convective processes. At the submesoscale, vertical velocities resulting from symmetric instabilities of the density front bounding the convection zone are crucial for ventilating the deep ocean. Finally, concomitant atmospheric and oceanic data extracted from the comprehensive SOP2 data set highlight the rapid, coupled evolution of oceanic and atmospheric boundary layer characteristics during a strong wind event.

Keywords: Oceanography General Climate and interannual variability; mediterranean sea; Hydrological cycle

Domains: Sciences of the Universe [physics]; Ocean, Atmosphere; Oceanography

Claude Estournel, Pierre Testor, Isabelle Taupier-Letage, Marie-Noëlle Bouin, Laurent Coppola, et al.. HyMeX-SOP2: The field campaign dedicated to dense water formation in the northwestern Mediterranean. Oceanography, 2016, 29 (4), pp.196-206. ⟨10.5670/oceanog.2016.94⟩. ⟨hal-01444295⟩