Some Aspects of Turbulence Role in Oceanic Currents

This manuscript is intended to review some of the methods used to estimate one of the most useful parameters in Ocean Modeling: the diapycnal diffusivity. Specifically it focus on simultaneous measurements carried out at two different locations in the deep ocean. The techniques reviewed here to estimate diapycnal mixing in the ocean interior are: tracer-release experiments, microstructure direct measurements and fine-structure estimates based on LADCP\(/\)CTD data. There are only few data sets in the world that have simultaneous measurements of the three techniques mentioned above. The importance of the lack of spatial and temporal estimates of the turbulent mixing parameters and the implication of those parameters on modeling the Global Circulation are also reviewed.