Dataset for: Wind- and Wave-Driven Ocean Surface Boundary Layer in a Frontal Zone: Roles of Submesoscale Eddies and Ekman–Stokes Transport

This study used the National Center for Atmospheric Research Large Eddy Simulation (NCAR-LES) model for the Ocean Surface Boundary Layer (OSBL). This model has been widely used to investigate boundary layer turbulence driven by various external surface forcing, as well as vertical mixing of particulate tracers such as gas bubbles, plastic debris and cohesive sediments. Recently, the model was also configured to study turbulence in the presence of a horizontal density gradient and to quantify horizontal dispersion and transport in the OSBL. The model can be requested from Dr. Peter Sullivan ([e-mail]). There is no configuration or forcing files. All model setting is set in the code. In this study, the model is configured on an infinitely wide and stationary frontal zone. By systematically varying the wind/wave and frontal zone setup, as well as the domain size, this study aims at investigating the influence of a horizontal frontal zone on the wind- and wave-driven ocean surface boundary layers. The frontal zone is represented by a uniform lateral temperature gradient in the x-direction. The horizontal temperature gradient is sent to be 0.0153 K/km. A steady and uniform wind 10m above the ocean surface of 5 m/s is applied. The wind direction is systematically varied. The wind-front angle is the counterclockwise angle the wind makes with the upgradient direction. When the wind-front angle is 0-degree, the wind blows in the direction that the background temperature increases. When the wind-front angle is 90-degree, the wind blows in the down-front direction, with colder water on the left-hand side. Simulations are configured on two different domains: a large domain with horizontal extents of 1500m and a small one of 375m in both horizontal directions. For our chosen initial condition, if without wind stress, the large domain is sufficient for both unforced submesoscale eddies (SMEs) and OSBL turbulence to develop, while the small domain only allows OSBL turbulence to evolve. Contrasting solutions on the two domains under an otherwise identical setup allows the study of how SMEs affect the structure and turbulence of the OSBL in a frontal zone. This dataset supports the publication: Yuan, Jianguo and Jun-Hong Liang. (2021). Wind- and Wave-driven Ocean Surface Boundary Layer in a Frontal Zone: Roles of Submesoscale Eddies and Ekman-Stokes Transport. Journal of Physical Oceanography. doi:10.1175/jpo-d-20-0270.1.