Detecting barriers to transport: A review of different techniques

Abstract

We review and discuss some different techniques for describing local dispersion properties in fluids. A recent Lagrangian diagnostics, based on the Finite Scale Lyapunov Exponent (FSLE), is presented and compared to the Finite Time Lyapunov Exponent (FTLE), and to the Okubo-Weiss (OW) and Hua-Klein (HK) criteria. We show that the OW and HK are a limiting case of the FTLE, and that the FSLE is the most efficient method for detecting the presence of cross-stream barriers. We illustrate our findings by considering two examples of geophysical interest: a kinematic meandering jet model, and Lagrangian tracers advected by stratospheric circulation.

15 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Physica D

References in corpus (2)

• Predictability: a way to characterize Complexity
• Universal Distribution of Centers and Saddles in Two-Dimensional Turbulence

Cited by in corpus (22)

• Complexity without chaos: Plasticity within random recurrent networks generates robust timing and motor control
• A Spectral Clustering Approach to Lagrangian Vortex Detection
• Comparison between Eulerian diagnostics and finite-size Lyapunov exponents computed from altimetry in the Algerian basin
• How reliable are Finite-Size Lyapunov Exponents for the assessment of ocean dynamics?
• Objective Eulerian Coherent Structures
• Oceanic three-dimensional Lagrangian Coherent Structures: A study of a mesoscale eddy in the Benguela ocean region
• Hyperbolic and Elliptic Transport Barriers in Three-Dimensional Unsteady Flows
• Detecting barrier to cross-jet Lagrangian transport and its destruction in a meandering flow
• The reduction of plankton biomass induced by mesoscale stirring: a modeling study in the Benguela upwelling
• Evidence for a k^{-5/3} spectrum from the EOLE Lagrangian balloons in the low stratosphere
• Characterization of coherent structures in three-dimensional flows using the finite-size Lyapunov exponent
• Mechanism of destruction of transport barriers in geophysical jets with Rossby waves
• Characterization of the structure and cross-shore transport properties of a coastal upwelling filament using three-dimensional finite-size Lyapunov exponents
• New Lagrangian diagnostics for characterizing fluid flow mixing
• Eulerian Methods for Visualizing Continuous Dynamical Systems using Lyapunov Exponents
• Lagrangian transport in a microtidal coastal area: the Bay of Palma, island of Mallorca, Spain
• Crossroads of the mesoscale circulation
• Nonautonomous control of stable and unstable manifolds in two-dimensional flows
• Surface Mixing by Geostrophic Flows in the Bay of Bengal
• Three dimensional chaotic advection by mixed layer baroclinic instabilities
• Mixing and reaction efficiency in closed domains
• Identifying Lagrangian fronts with favourable fishery conditions