Review of Global Ocean Intermediate Water Masses: 1.Part A, the Neutral Density Surface (the ‘McDougall Surface’) as a Study Frame for Water-Mass Analysis

This review article commences with a comprehensive historical review of the evolution and application of various density surfaces in atmospheric and oceanic studies. The background provides a basis for the birth of the neutral density idea. Attention is paid to the development of the neutral density surface concept from the nonlinearity of the equation of state of seawater. The definition and properties of neutral density surface are described in detail as developed from the equations of state of seawater and the buoyancy frequency when the squared buoyancy frequency N2 is zero, a neutral state of stability. In order to apply the neutral density surface to intermediate water-mass analysis, this review also describes in detail its practical oceanographic application. The mapping technique is focused for the first time on applying regularly gridded data in this review. It is reviewed how a backbone and ribs framework was designed to flesh out from a reference cast and first mapped the global neutral surfaces in the world’s oceans. Several mapped neutral density surfaces are presented as examples for each world ocean. The water-mass property is analyzed in each ocean at mid-depth. The characteristics of neutral density surfaces are compared with those of potential density surfaces.

Mapping of an Approximate Neutral Density Surface with Ungridded Data

A neutral density surface is a logical study frame for water-mass mixing since water parcels spread along such a surface without doing work against buoyancy restoring force. Mesoscale eddies are believed to stir and subsequently mix predominantly along such surfaces. Because of the nonlinear nature of the equation of state of seawater, the process of accurately mapping a neutral density surface necessarily involves lateral computation from one conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) cast to the next in a logical sequence. By contrast, the depth of a potential density surface on any CTD cast is found solely from the data on this cast. The lateral calculation procedure causes a significant inconvenience. In a previous paper by present author published in this journal (You, 2006), the mapping of neutral density surfaces with regularly gridded data such as Levitus data has been introduced. In this note, I present a new method to find the depth of a neutral density surface from a cast without having to specify an integration path in space. An appropriate reference point is required that is on the neutral density surface and thereafter the neutral density surface can be de- termined by using the CTD casts in any order. This method is only approximate and the likely errors can be estimated by plotting a scatter diagram of all the pressures and potential temperatures on the neutral density surfaces. The method assumes that the variations of potential temperature and pressure (with respect to the values at the reference point) on the neutral density surface are proportional. It is important to select the most appropriate reference point in order to approximately satisfy this assumption, and in practice this is found by inspecting the θ-p plot of data on the surface. This may require that the algorithm be used twice. When the straight lines on the θ-p plot, drawn from the reference point to other points on the neutral density surface, enclose an area that is external to the clus- ter of θ-p points of the neutral density surface, errors will occur, and these errors can be quantified from this diagram. Examples showing the use of the method are presented for each of the world’s main oceans.

Adiabatic density surface,neutral density surface, potential density surface,and mixing path

In this paper,adiabatic density surface,neutral density surface and potential density surface are compared.The adiabatic density surface is defined as the surface on which a water parcel can move adiabatically,without changing its potential temperature and salinity.For a water parcel taken at a given station and pressure level,the corresponding adiabatic density surface can be determined through simple calculations.This family of surface is neutrally buoyant in the world ocean,and different from other surfaces that are not truly neutrally buoyant.In order to explore mixing path in the ocean,a mixing ratio m is introduced,which is defined as the portion of potential temperature and salinity of a water parcel that has exchanged with the environment during a segment of migration in the ocean.Two extreme situations of mixing path in the ocean are m=0(no mixing),which is represented by the adiabatic density curve,and m=1,where the original information is completely lost through mixing.The latter is represented by the neutral density curve.The reality lies in between,namely,0<m<1.In the turbulent ocean,there are potentially infinite mixing paths,some of which may be identified by using different tracers(or their combinations)and different mixing criteria.Searching for mixing paths in the real ocean presents a great challenge for further research.

Estimation of Neutral Density in Edge Plasma with Double Null Configuration in EAST

In this work, population coefficients of hydrogen＇s n = 3 excited state from the hydrogen collisional-radiative （CR） model, from the data file of DEGAS 2, are used to calculate the photon emissivity coefficients （PECs） of hydrogen Balmer-α （n = 3 →n = 2） （Hα）. The results are compared with the PECs from Atomic Data and Analysis Structure （ADAS） database, and a good agreement is found. A magnetic surface-averaged neutral density profile of typical double-null （DN） plasma in EAST is obtained by using FRANTIC, the 1.5-D fluid transport code. It is found that the sum of integral Dα and Hα emission intensity calculated via the neutral density agrees with the measured results obtained by using the absolutely calibrated multi-channel poloidal photodiode array systems viewing the lower divertor at the last closed flux surface （LCFS）. It is revealed that the typical magnetic surface-averaged neutral density at LCFS is about 3.5×10^16 m^-3 .

The Effect of IMF-Bz and F10.7 Solar Flux on Neutral Molecule Density of Ionospheric E-Region

In this study, the relationship between the neutral components （N2 and 02） in the E-region of the ionosphere （at 110 km altitude） for the Singapore （01.23 N; 103.55 E） station in the equatorial region and the FI0.7 solar flux and z-component of Interplanetary Magnetic Field （IMF-Bz） was investigated. This relationship was determined by means of statistical multiple regression model. As a result, it was observed that the changes in F10.7 solar flux and IMF-Bz were inversely proportional to the changes in N2 and 02. 92% and 83% of changes in N2 and O2 were found to be explained by F10.7 solar flux and IMF-Bz, respectively. When the F10.7 solar flux is changed by 1 s.f.u., it causes a decrease of 2.61×10TM m-3 in N2 and 2.96×1014 m-3 in O2. Change of I nT in IMF-Bz causes a decrease of 9.95× 1015 m-3 in N2 and 1.69× 1015 m-3 in O2.

Preliminarily study of Saturn’s upper atmosphere density by observing Cassini plunging via China’s deep space station

When the Cassini spacecraft finally plunged into the Saturnian atmosphere on 2017 September15,China’s deep space telescope pointed to Saturn to observe Cassini and study the Saturnian upper neutral atmosphere.In this first Chinese Saturnian radio science experiment,X band Doppler velocity radio science data between the deep space telescope and the Cassini spacecraft were obtained.After removing Saturnian and solar gravity effects,Earth rotation effect,the remaining Saturnian atmosphere drag information was retrieved in the Cassini final plunge progress.Saturn’s upper neutral atmosphere mass density profile is approximately estimated based on atmosphere mass density derived principally by real orbit measurement data.Saturn’s upper neutral atmosphere mass density from 76000 km to 1400 km is estimated from the orbit measurement data,the mass density results are about from 1.4×10^-15 kg cm^-3 to 2.5×10^-14 kg cm^-3.