scholarly journals The Intrusion Depth of Density Currents Flowing into Stratified Water Bodies

2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (8) ◽  
pp. 1935-1947 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathew Wells ◽  
Parthiban Nadarajah
Keyword(s):  
Water Column ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Buoyancy Flux ◽  
Density Current ◽  
Density Currents ◽  
Coriolis Parameter ◽  
Entrainment Ratio ◽  
Geostrophic Balance ◽  
Intrusion Depth

Abstract Theory and laboratory experiments are presented describing the depth at which a density current intrudes into a linearly stratified water column, as a function of the entrainment ratio E, the buoyancy flux in the dense current B, and the magnitude of the stratification N. The main result is that Z ∼ E−1/3B1/3/N. It is shown that the depth of the intrusion scales as Z ∼ (3 ± 1)B1/3/N for laboratory experiments, and as for oceanic density currents. The velocity of a large-scale density current is controlled by a geostrophic balance defined as Ugeo = 0.25g′s/f, where s is the slope and f is the Coriolis parameter. The geostrophic buoyancy flux is then defined by Bgeo = g′Ugeoh, with g′ the reduced gravity and h the thickness of the current. The scaling herein implies that the depth of an oceanic intrusion is relatively insensitive to changes in source water properties but is very sensitive to changes in the stratification of the water column, consistent with the previous scaling of Price and Baringer. For example, if the buoyancy flux of a dense current were to double while the stratification remained constant, then there would only be a 25% increase in the intrusion depth, whereas doubling the stratification would result in a 50% decrease of the intrusion depth.

scholarly journals Effects of morphology in controlling propagation of density currents in a reservoir using uncalibrated three-dimensional hydrodynamic modeling

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Behnam Zamani ◽  
Manfred Koch ◽  
Ben R. Hodges
Keyword(s):  
Hydrodynamic Model ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Density Current ◽  
Density Currents ◽  
Large Reservoir ◽  
Bottom Water Temperature ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Basin Morphology ◽  
Southwest Iran

In this study, effects of basin morphology are shown to affect density current hydrodynamics of a large reservoir using a three-dimensional (3D) hydrodynamic model that is validated (but not calibrated) with in situ observational data. The AEM3D hydrodynamic model was applied for 5-month simulations during winter and spring flooding for the Maroon reservoir in southwest Iran, where available observations indicated that large-scale density currents had previously occurred. The model results were validated with near-bottom water temperature measurements that were previously collected at five locations in the reservoir. The Maroon reservoir consists of upper and lower basins that are connected by a deep and narrow canyon. Analyses of simulations show that the canyon strongly affects density current propagation and the resulting differing limnological characteristics of the two basins. The evolution of the Wedderburn Number, Lake Number, and Schmidt stability number are shown to be different in the two basins, and the difference is attributable to the morphological separation by the canyon. Investigation of the background potential energy (BPE) changes along the length of the canyon indicated that a density front passes through the upper section of the canyon but is smoothed into simple filling of the lower basin. The separable dynamics of the basins has implications for the complexity of models needed for representing both water quality and sedimentation.

EXPERIMENTS ON DENSITY AND TURBIDITY CURRENTS: II. UNIFORM FLOW OF DENSITY CURRENTS

1966 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 627-637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerard V. Middleton
Keyword(s):  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Average Velocity ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Quantitative Estimation ◽  
Uniform Flow ◽  
Turbidity Currents ◽  
Density Current ◽  
Density Currents ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Fluid Interface

The basic theory for the average velocity of uniform flow of a density current is now well established. The resistance at the bottom may be estimated from reasonable assumptions regarding the roughness of the bottom and the size of the current. The principal problem remaining is quantitative estimation of the resistance of the upper (fluid) interface. A review of the literature suggests that this resistance increases with increase in Froude number and decreases with increase in Reynolds number, and the writer's experiments support this hypothesis.As many turbidity currents are large scale and flow over low slopes of relatively small roughness it seems probable that both the bottom resistance and the resistance at the upper interface are small.

Density currents induced by differential cooling in lake

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damien Bouffard ◽  
Cintia Ramón ◽  
Tomy Doda ◽  
Hugo Ulloa
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Numerical Simulations ◽  
Water Column ◽  
Lake Ecosystem ◽  
Density Current ◽  
Field Observations ◽  
Density Currents ◽  
Lake Surface ◽  
Littoral Region ◽  
Negatively Buoyant

<p>Differential cooling occurs in the littoral region of lakes, during calm and cold nights in summer and continuously in fall/ winter. For uniform heat loss over the lake surface, shallower regions cool faster than deeper regions leading to horizontal density gradients. Nearshore waters become negatively buoyant and start to plunge creating a cold downslope density current that can reach the pelagic zone. This cross-shore flow, also referred to as “thermal siphon”, has the potential to transport biogeochemical constituents offshore and deeper into the water column. However, its significance for the lake ecosystem remains unknown. Here we combine high resolution numerical simulations and field observations to evaluate the global significance of lateral boundaries and differential cooling on the lake dynamic. We focus on a small elongated lake: Lake Rotsee (Switzerland) and investigated the dynamic of the density current as well as the consequences of this flow such as the flushing of the littoral water.</p>

scholarly journals The Relationship between Flux Coefficient and Entrainment Ratio in Density Currents

2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (12) ◽  
pp. 2713-2727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathew Wells ◽  
Claudia Cenedese ◽  
C. P. Caulfield
Keyword(s):  
Froude Number ◽  
Empirical Relationship ◽  
Density Current ◽  
Density Currents ◽  
Mean Velocity ◽  
Entrainment Ratio ◽  
Turbulent Length Scale ◽  
A Value ◽  
Current Flows ◽  
Sudden Decrease

Abstract The authors explore the theoretical and empirical relationship between the nonlocal quantities of the entrainment ratio E, the appropriately depth- and time-averaged flux coefficient Γ, and the bulk Froude number Fro in density currents. The main theoretical result is that E = 0.125 Γ Fro2(CU3/CL)/cosθ, where θ is the angle of the slope over which the density current flows, CL is the ratio the turbulent length scale to the depth of the density current, and CU is the ratio of the turbulent velocity scale to the mean velocity of the density current. In the case of high bulk Froude numbers Γ ∼ Fro−2 and (CU3/CL) = Cε ∼ 1, so E ∼ 0.1, consistent with observations of a constant entrainment ratio in unstratified jets and weakly stratified plumes. For bulk Froude numbers close to one, Γ is constant and has a value in the range of 0.1–0.3, which means that E ∼ Fro2, again in agreement with observations and previous experiments. For bulk Froude numbers less than one, Γ decreases rapidly with bulk Froude number, explaining the sudden decrease in entrainment ratios that has been observed in all field and experimental observations.

Inertial instability of intense stratified anticyclones. Part 2. Laboratory experiments

2013 ◽  
Vol 732 ◽  
pp. 485-509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayah Lazar ◽  
A. Stegner ◽  
R. Caldeira ◽  
C. Dong ◽  
H. Didelle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parameter Space ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Stability Limit ◽  
Stability Diagram ◽  
Relative Vorticity ◽  
Marginal Stability ◽  
Rotating Platform ◽  
Coriolis Parameter ◽  
The Stability

AbstractLarge-scale laboratory experiments were performed on the Coriolis rotating platform to study the stability of intense vortices in a thin stratified layer. A linear salt stratification was set in the upper layer on top of a thick barotropic layer, and a cylinder was towed in the upper layer to produce shallow cyclones and anticyclones of similar size and intensity. We focus our investigations on submesoscale eddies, where the radius is smaller than the baroclinic deformation radius. Towing speed, cylinder size and stratification were changed in order to cover a large range of the parameter space, staying in a relatively high horizontal Reynolds number ($Re= 2000{{\unicode{x2013}}}7000$). The Rayleigh criterion states that inertial instabilities should strongly destabilize intense anticyclonic eddies if the vorticity in the vortex core is negative enough ${\zeta }_{0} / f\lt - 1$, where ${\zeta }_{0} $ is the relative vorticity in the core of the vortex, and $f$ is the Coriolis parameter. However, we found that some anticyclones remain stable even for very intense negative vorticity values, up to ${\zeta }_{0} / f= - 3. 5$, when the Burger number is large enough. This is in agreement with the linear stability analysis performed in part 1 (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 732, 2013, pp. 457–484), which shows that the combined effect of a strong stratification and a moderate vertical dissipation may stabilize even very intense anticyclones, and the unstable eddies we found were located close to the marginal stability limit. Hence, these experimental results agree well with the simple stability diagram proposed in the Rossby, Burger and Ekman parameter space for inertial destabilization of viscous anticyclones within a shallow and stratified layer.

The long-term circulation driven by density currents in a two-layer stratified basin

2007 ◽  
Vol 572 ◽  
pp. 37-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. G. WELLS ◽  
J. S. WETTLAUFER
Keyword(s):  
Richardson Number ◽  
Slope Angle ◽  
Impact Angle ◽  
Buoyancy Flux ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Density Current ◽  
Entrainment Rate ◽  
Density Currents ◽  
Penetrative Convection

Experimentation and theory are used to study the long-term dynamics of a two-dimensional density current flowing into a two-layer stratified basin. When the initial Richardson number, $\hbox{\it Ri}_{\rho}^{\hbox{\scriptsize\it in}}$, characterizing the ratio of the background stratification to the buoyancy flux of the density current, is less than the critical value of $\hbox{\it Ri}_{\rho}^{*} \,{=}\, 21-27$, it is found that the density current penetrates the stratified interface. This result is ostensibly independent of slope for angles between 30° and 90°. If the current does not initially penetrate the interface, then it slowly increases the density of the top layer until the interfacial density difference is reduced sufficiently to drive penetration. The time scale for this to occur, $t_{p} \,{=}\, (\hbox{\it Ri}^{\hbox{\scriptsize\it in}}_{\rho} - \hbox{\it Ri}_{\rho}^{*}) L/B^{1/3}$, is explicitly a function of the buoyancy flux B and the length of the basin L. The initial Richardson number, $\hbox{\it Ri}^{\hbox{\scriptsize\it in}}_{\rho}$, is a function of depth, the initial reduced gravity of the interface and a weak function of slope angle. In the absence of initial penetration for very steep slopes of 75° and 90°, we observe that penetrative convection at the interface leads to significant local entrainment. In consequence, the top layer thickens and the interfacial entrainment rate increases as the fifth power of the interfacial Froude number. In contrast, such a process is not observed at comparable interfacial Froude numbers on lower slopes of 30°, 45° and 60°, thereby demonstrating the important role of impact angle on penetrative convection. We attribute the increased interfacial entrainment by the steep density currents as the result of the transition from an undular bore to a turbulent hydraulic jump at the point where the density current intrudes. We discuss the applicability of the observed circulation to the stability of the Arctic halocline where we find $0.56\,{\lesssim}\, t_{p} \,{\lesssim}\,1.2$ years for a range of contemporary oceanographic conditions.

scholarly journals Large-Scale Laboratory Experiments on Mussel Dropper Lines in Ocean Surface Waves

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Rebekka Gieschen ◽  
Christian Schwartpaul ◽  
Jannis Landmann ◽  
Lukas Fröhling ◽  
Arndt Hildebrandt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Blue Mussel ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Quality Parameter ◽  
Large Wave ◽  
Marine Aquaculture ◽  
Ocean Surface Waves ◽  
Wave Flume ◽  
Waves And Currents

The rapid growth of marine aquaculture around the world accentuates issues of sustainability and environmental impacts of large-scale farming systems. One potential mitigation strategy is to relocate to more energetic offshore locations. However, research regarding the forces which waves and currents impose on aquaculture structures in such conditions is still scarce. The present study aimed at extending the knowledge related to live blue mussels (Mytilus edulis), cultivated on dropper lines, by unique, large-scale laboratory experiments in the Large Wave Flume of the Coastal Research Center in Hannover, Germany. Nine-months-old live dropper lines and a surrogate of 2.0 m length each are exposed to regular waves with wave heights between 0.2 and 1.0 m and periods between 1.5 and 8.0 s. Force time histories are recorded to investigate the inertia and drag characteristics of live mussel and surrogate dropper lines. The surrogate dropper line was developed from 3D scans of blue mussel dropper lines, using the surface descriptor Abbott–Firestone Curve as quality parameter. Pull-off tests of individual mussels are conducted that reveal maximum attachment strength ranges of 0.48 to 10.55 N for mussels that had medium 3.04 cm length, 1.60 cm height and 1.25 cm width. Mean drag coefficients of CD = 3.9 were found for live blue mussel lines and CD = 3.4 for the surrogate model, for conditions of Keulegan–Carpenter number (KC) 10 to 380, using regular wave tests.

scholarly journals Automatic controller to water plants

2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (6) ◽  
pp. 727-730 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Oliveira Medici ◽  
Hermes Soares da Rocha ◽  
Daniel Fonseca de Carvalho ◽  
Carlos Pimentel ◽  
Ricardo Antunes Azevedo
Keyword(s):  
Water Column ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Organic Substrate ◽  
Domestic Water ◽  
Plastic Tube ◽  
Soil P ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Water Plants ◽  
Water Tension

Despite the massive demand of water for plant irrigation, there are few devices being used in the automation of this process in agriculture. This work evaluates a simple controller to water plants automatically that can be set up with low cost commercial materials, which are large-scale produced. This controller is composed by a ceramic capsule used in common domestic water filters; a plastic tube around 1.5 m long, and a pressostate used in domestic washing machines. The capsule and the pressostate are connected through the tube so that all parts are filled with water. The ceramic capsule is the sensor of the controller and has to be placed into the plant substrate. The pressostate has to be placed below the sensor and the lower it is, the higher is the water tension to start the irrigation, since the lower is the pressostate the higher is the water column above it and, therefore, the higher is the tension inside the ceramic cup to pull up the water column. The controller was evaluated in the control of drip irrigation for small containers filled with commercial organic substrate or soil. Linear regressions explained the relationship between the position of pressostate and the maximum water tension in the commercial substrate (p < 0.0054) and soil (p < 0.0001). Among the positions of the pressostate from 0.30 to 0.90 m below the sensor, the water tension changed from 1 to 8 kPa for commercial substrate and 4 to 13 kPa for the soil. This simple controller can be useful to grow plants, applying water automatically in function of the water tension of the plant substrate.

scholarly journals Destruction of Potential Vorticity by Winds

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (12) ◽  
pp. 2457-2466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leif N. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Wind Stress ◽  
Potential Vorticity ◽  
Ekman Layer ◽  
Buoyancy Flux ◽  
Coriolis Parameter ◽  
Mode Water ◽  
Ocean Fronts ◽  
Secondary Circulations ◽  
Frictional Forces

Abstract The destruction of potential vorticity (PV) at ocean fronts by wind stress–driven frictional forces is examined using PV flux formalism and numerical simulations. When a front is forced by “downfront” winds, that is, winds blowing in the direction of the frontal jet, a nonadvective frictional PV flux that is upward at the sea surface is induced. The flux extracts PV out of the ocean, leading to the formation of a boundary layer thicker than the Ekman layer, with nearly zero PV and nonzero stratification. The PV reduction is not only active in the Ekman layer but is transmitted through the boundary layer via secondary circulations that exchange low PV from the Ekman layer with high PV from the pycnocline. Extraction of PV from the pycnocline by the secondary circulations results in an upward advective PV flux at the base of the boundary layer that scales with the surface, nonadvective, frictional PV flux and that leads to the deepening of the layer. At fronts forced by both downfront winds and a destabilizing atmospheric buoyancy flux FBatm, the critical parameter that determines whether the wind or the buoyancy flux is the dominant cause for PV destruction is (H/δe)(FBwind/FBatm), where H and δe are the mixed layer and Ekman layer depths, FBwind = S2τo/(ρof ), S2 is the magnitude of the lateral buoyancy gradient of the front, τo is the downfront component of the wind stress, ρo is a reference density, and f is the Coriolis parameter. When this parameter is greater than 1, PV destruction by winds dominates and may play an important role in the formation of mode water.

An experimental investigation of the effects of compressibility on a turbulent reacting mixing layer

1998 ◽  
Vol 356 ◽  
pp. 25-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. F. MILLER ◽  
C. T. BOWMAN ◽  
M. G. MUNGAL
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Density Ratio ◽  
Mixing Layer ◽  
Mixing Layers ◽  
Unexpected Result ◽  
Entrainment Ratio ◽  
Plan View ◽  
Compressible Mixing Layer

Experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of compressibility on turbulent reacting mixing layers with moderate heat release. Side- and plan-view visualizations of the reacting mixing layers, which were formed between a high-speed high-temperature vitiated-air stream and a low-speed ambient-temperature hydrogen stream, were obtained using a combined OH/acetone planar laser-induced fluorescence imaging technique. The instantaneous images of OH provide two-dimensional maps of the regions of combustion, and similar images of acetone, which was seeded into the fuel stream, provide maps of the regions of unburned fuel. Two low-compressibility (Mc=0.32, 0.35) reacting mixing layers with differing density ratios and one high-compressibility (Mc=0.70) reacting mixing layer were studied. Higher average acetone signals were measured in the compressible mixing layer than in its low-compressibility counterpart (i.e. same density ratio), indicating a lower entrainment ratio. Additionally, the compressible mixing layer had slightly wider regions of OH and 50% higher OH signals, which was an unexpected result since lowering the entrainment ratio had the opposite effect at low compressibilities. The large-scale structural changes induced by compressibility are believed to be primarily responsible for the difference in the behaviour of the high- and low-compressibility reacting mixing layers. It is proposed that the coexistence of broad regions of OH and high acetone signals is a manifestation of a more biased distribution of mixture compositions in the compressible mixing layer. Other mechanisms through which compressibility can affect the combustion are discussed.

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