Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics www.nonlin-processes-geophys.net 1023-5809 1607-7946 17 3 2010 10.5194/npg-17-283-2010 http://www.nonlin-processes-geophys.net/17/283/2010/ http://www.nonlin-processes-geophys.net/17/283/2010/npg-17-283-2010.html http://www.nonlin-processes-geophys.net/17/283/2010/npg-17-283-2010.pdf 283 285 2010-05-31 <i>Preface</i> "Nonlinear processes in oceanic and atmospheric flows" A. M. Mancho a.m.mancho@icmat.es S. Wiggins A. Turiel E. Hernández-García C. López E. García-Ladona Instituto de Ciencias Matemáticas, CSIC-UAM-UC3M-UCM, Serrano 121, 28006 Madrid, Spain School of Mathematics, University of Bristol, University Walk, Bristol BS8 1TW, UK Institut de Ciències del Mar, CSIC, Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta 37-49, 08003 Barcelona, Spain Instituto de Física Interdisciplinar y Sistemas Complejos IFISC (CSIC-UIB), Campus Universitat de les Illes Balears, 07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain Nonlinear phenomena are essential ingredients in many oceanic and atmospheric processes, and successful understanding of them benefits from multidisciplinary collaboration between oceanographers, meteorologists, physicists and mathematicians. The present Special Issue on "Nonlinear Processes in Oceanic and Atmospheric Flows" contains selected contributions from attendants to the workshop which, in the above spirit, was held in Castro Urdiales, Spain, in July 2008. Here we summarize the Special Issue contributions, which include papers on the characterization of ocean transport in the Lagrangian and in the Eulerian frameworks, generation and variability of jets and waves, interactions of fluid flow with plankton dynamics or heavy drops, scaling in meteorological fields, and statistical properties of El Niño Southern Oscillation. Boucharel, J., Dewitte, B., Garel, B., and du Penhoat, Y.: ENSO's non-stationary and non-Gaussian character: the role of climate shifts, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 16, 453–473, doi:10.5194/npg-16-453-2009, 2009. Rossi, V., López, C., Hernández-García, E., Sudre, J., Garçon, V., and Morel, Y.: Surface mixing and biological activity in the four Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 16, 557–568, doi:10.5194/npg-16-557-2009, 2009. Sánchez-Garrido, J. C. and Vlasenko, V.: Long-term evolution of strongly nonlinear internal solitary waves in a rotating channel, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 16, 587–598, doi:10.5194/npg-16-587-2009, 2009. Stolle, J., Lovejoy, S., and Schertzer, D.: The stochastic multiplicative cascade structure of deterministic numerical models of the atmosphere, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 16, 607–621, doi:10.5194/npg-16-607-2009, 2009. McKiver, W., Neufeld, Z., and Scheuring, I.: Plankton bloom controlled by horizontal stirring, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 16, 623–630, doi:10.5194/npg-16-623-2009, 2009. Dellnitz, M., Froyland, G., Horenkamp, C., Padberg-Gehle, K., and Sen Gupta, A.: Seasonal variability of the subpolar gyres in the Southern Ocean: a numerical investigation based on transfer operators, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 16, 655–663, doi:10.5194/npg-16-655-2009, 2009. Pierini, S. and Dijkstra, H. A.: Low-frequency variability of the Kuroshio Extension, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 16, 665–675, doi:10.5194/npg-16-665-2009, 2009. Zahnow, J. C. and Feudel, U.: What determines size distributions of heavy drops in a synthetic turbulent flow?, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 16, 677–690, doi:10.5194/npg-16-677-2009, 2009. Branicki, M. and Wiggins, S.: Finite-time Lagrangian transport analysis: stable and unstable manifolds of hyperbolic trajectories and finite-time Lyapunov exponents, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 17, 1–36, doi:10.5194/npg-17-1-2010, 2010. Koszalka, I., Ceballos, L., and Bracco, A.: Vertical mixing and coherent anticyclones in the ocean: the role of stratification, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 17, 37–47, doi:10.5194/npg-17-37-2010, 2010. Marié, L.: A study of the phase instability of quasi-geostrophic Rossby waves on the infinite β-plane to zonal flow perturbations, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 17, 49–63, doi:10.5194/npg-17-49-2010, 2010. Mendoza, C., Mancho, A. M., and Rio, M.-H.: The turnstile mechanism across the Kuroshio current: analysis of dynamics in altimeter velocity fields, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 17, 103–111, doi:10.5194/npg-17-103-2010, 2010. Branicki, M. and Malek-Madani, R.: Lagrangian structure of flows in the Chesapeake Bay: challenges and perspectives on the analysis of estuarine flows, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 17, 149–168, doi:10.5194/npg-17-149-2010, 2010. Pérez-Muñuzuri, V. and Huhn, F.: The role of mesoscale eddies time and length scales on phytoplankton production, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 17, 177–186, doi:10.5194/npg-17-177-2010, 2010.