Wind ringing of the ocean in presence of mesoscale eddies

Recent findings have highlighted the impact of high frequency (HF) winds on the inertial motions and the consequences on the large-scale oceanic circulation [Wunsch and Ferrari, 2004]. Within this context the present study focuses on the role of intermediate scales related to oceanic mesoscale eddies. Results show that a turbulent eddy field does not affect the impact of HF winds on the inertial motions. However the eddies efficiently and permanently concentrate the wind-forced inertial motions in small-scale anticyclonic structures. This leads to a spatially heterogeneous vertical mixing strongly related to the eddy field properties.