Conservative Surface Wave Effects on a Wind-Driven Coastal Upwelling System

Upwelling brings deep, cold, and nutrient-rich water to the euphotic zone, enhancing biological primary productivity. Coastal upwelling is affected by various factors, such as winds, topography, and tides. However, it remains unclear how the upwelling is affected by surface waves, particularly the Stokes drift and its related forces, that is, conservative wave effects. Here using a coupled wave-circulation model, we examined how conservative wave effects impact the wind-driven coastal upwelling system over an idealized continental shelf. We showed that conservative wave effects reduce upwelling but enhance downwelling; consequently, the amount of deep cold water brought up to the surface by upwelling is reduced with waves, leading to a weaker upwelling front than that without waves. Conservative wave effects also change the potential vorticity (PV) fluxes across the sea surface/bottom and alter the thickness of surface/bottom negative-PV layers. In addition, conservative wave effects modify the turbulent thermal wind (TTW) associated with the upwelling front, forming a Stokes-TTW balance. Further, we studied sensitivities of the upwelling and downwelling magnitudes to four parameters: wave height, wind stress, shelf slope, and wave incident angle. We combined these parameters into a single nondimensional number that can indicate when conservative wave effects need to be included in the upwelling and downwelling. Significance StatementUpwelling is important to the marine ecosystem because it enhances biological primary productivity by bringing nutrient-rich water to the euphotic zone from depths. However, it remains unclear how the upwelling is affected by ubiquitous surface waves. Here using numerical simulations, we showed that Stokes drift and its related forces due to surface waves reduce upwelling but enhance downwelling. It implies that there could be a substantial bias in the estimation of upwelling and downwelling if surface waves are not considered. Further, we proposed a nondimensional number to indicate when surface waves need to be considered in the upwelling and downwelling.

Automated summary

Upwelling is important for enhancing marine primary productivity by bringing nutrient-rich water to the euphotic zone, but its interaction with surface waves is not well understood. Using numerical simulations, we found that surface waves reduce upwelling but enhance downwelling, leading to a weaker upwelling front. Surface waves also change the fluxes of potential vorticity and alter the thickness of negative-potential vorticity layers. Additionally, we proposed a nondimensional number to determine when surface waves need to be considered in upwelling and downwelling.