Transit-Time and Tracer-Age Distributions in Geophysical Flows

Abstract

Transport in the atmosphere and in the ocean is the result of the complex action of time-dependent and often highly turbulent flow. A useful diagnostic that summarizes the rate at which fluid elements are transported from some region to a point (or the reverse) via a multiplicity of pathways and mechanisms is the probability density function (pdf ) of transit times. The first moment of this pdf, often referred to as ''mean age,'' has become an important transport diagnostic commonly used by the observational community.