scholarly journals Shear, Stability and Mixing within the Ice-Shelf-Ocean Boundary Current

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Jenkins
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Stable Stratification ◽  
Dynamical Instability ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Boundary Current ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Close Coupling ◽  
Turbulent Layer ◽  
Shear Stability ◽  
Buoyancy Forcing

AbstractWhen the inclined base of an ice shelf melts into the ocean, it induces both a statically-stable stratification and a buoyancy-forced, sheared flow along the interface. Understanding how those competing effects influence the dynamical stability of the boundary current is the key to quantifying the turbulent transfer of heat from far-field ocean to ice. The implications of the close coupling between shear, stability and mixing are explored with the aid of a one-dimensional numerical model that simulates density and current profiles perpendicular to the ice. Diffusivity and viscosity are determined using a mixing length model within the turbulent boundary layer and empirical functions of the gradient Richardson number in the stratified layer below. Starting from rest, the boundary current is initially strongly stratified and dynamically stable, slowly thickening as meltwater diffuses away from the interface. Eventually, the current enters a second phase where dynamical instability generates a relatively well-mixed, turbulent layer adjacent to the ice, while beneath the current maximum, strong stratification suppresses mixing in the region of reverse shear. Under weak buoyancy forcing the timescale for development of the initial dynamical instability can be months or longer, but background flows, which are always present in reality, provide additional current shear that greatly accelerates the process. A third phase can be reached when the ice shelf base is sufficiently steep, with dynamical instability extending beyond the boundary layer into regions of geostrophic flow, generating a marginally-stable pycnocline through which the heat flux is a simple function of ice-ocean interfacial slope.

scholarly journals Evaluation of the AMPS Boundary Layer Simulations on the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica, with Unmanned Aircraft Observations

2017 ◽  
Vol 56 (8) ◽  
pp. 2239-2258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan D. Wille ◽  
David H. Bromwich ◽  
John J. Cassano ◽  
Melissa A. Nigro ◽  
Marian E. Mateling ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Relative Humidity ◽  
High Wind ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
High Wind Speed ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Ross Ice Shelf ◽  
Low Cloud ◽  
The Antarctic

AbstractAccurately predicting moisture and stability in the Antarctic planetary boundary layer (PBL) is essential for low-cloud forecasts, especially when Antarctic forecasters often use relative humidity as a proxy for cloud cover. These forecasters typically rely on the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS) Polar Weather Research and Forecasting (Polar WRF) Model for high-resolution forecasts. To complement the PBL observations from the 30-m Alexander Tall Tower! (ATT) on the Ross Ice Shelf as discussed in a recent paper by Wille and coworkers, a field campaign was conducted at the ATT site from 13 to 26 January 2014 using Small Unmanned Meteorological Observer (SUMO) aerial systems to collect PBL data. The 3-km-resolution AMPS forecast output is combined with the global European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts interim reanalysis (ERAI), SUMO flights, and ATT data to describe atmospheric conditions on the Ross Ice Shelf. The SUMO comparison showed that AMPS had an average 2–3 m s−1 high wind speed bias from the near surface to 600 m, which led to excessive mechanical mixing and reduced stability in the PBL. As discussed in previous Polar WRF studies, the Mellor–Yamada–Janjić PBL scheme is likely responsible for the high wind speed bias. The SUMO comparison also showed a near-surface 10–15-percentage-point dry relative humidity bias in AMPS that increased to a 25–30-percentage-point deficit from 200 to 400 m above the surface. A large dry bias at these critical heights for aircraft operations implies poor AMPS low-cloud forecasts. The ERAI showed that the katabatic flow from the Transantarctic Mountains is unrealistically dry in AMPS.

scholarly journals Effective Buoyancy, Inertial Pressure, and the Mechanical Generation of Boundary Layer Mass Flux by Cold Pools

2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (8) ◽  
pp. 3199-3213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadir Jeevanjee ◽  
David M. Romps
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Mass Flux ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Force Balance ◽  
Vertical Force ◽  
Inertial Forces ◽  
Buoyancy Forcing ◽  
Cold Pools ◽  
Gust Front

Abstract The Davies-Jones formulation of effective buoyancy is used to define inertial and buoyant components of vertical force and to develop an intuition for these components by considering simple cases. This decomposition is applied to the triggering of new boundary layer mass flux by cold pools in a cloud-resolving simulation of radiative–convective equilibrium (RCE). The triggering is found to be dominated by inertial forces, and this is explained by estimating the ratio of the inertial forcing to the buoyancy forcing, which scales as H/h, where H is the characteristic height of the initial downdraft and h is the characteristic height of the mature cold pool’s gust front. In a simulation of the transition from shallow to deep convection, the buoyancy forcing plays a dominant role in triggering mass flux in the shallow regime, but the force balance tips in favor of inertial forcing just as precipitation sets in, consistent with the RCE results.

Unsteady convective exchange flows in cavities

1998 ◽  
Vol 368 ◽  
pp. 127-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. J. STURMAN ◽  
G. N. IVEY
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Steady State ◽  
Boundary Layer Thickness ◽  
Buoyancy Flux ◽  
Exchange Flow ◽  
Flushing Time ◽  
Exchange Flows ◽  
Buoyancy Forcing ◽  
Convective Exchange ◽  
Approach To Steady State

Horizontal exchange flows driven by spatial variation of buoyancy fluxes through the water surface are found in a variety of geophysical situations. In all examples of such flows the timescale characterizing the variability of the buoyancy fluxes is important and it can vary greatly in magnitude. In this laboratory study we focus on the effects of this unsteadiness of the buoyancy forcing and its influence on the resulting flushing and circulation processes in a cavity. The experiments described all start with destabilizing forcing of the flows, but the buoyancy fluxes are switched to stabilizing forcing at three different times spanning the major timescales characterizing the resulting cavity-scale flows. For destabilizing forcing, these timescales are the flushing time of the region of forcing, and the filling-box timescale, the time for the cavity-scale flow to reach steady state. When the forcing is stabilizing, the major timescale is the time for the fluid in the exchange flow to pass once through the forcing boundary layer. This too is a measure of the time to reach steady state, but it is generally distinct from the filling-box time. When a switch is made from destabilizing to stabilizing buoyancy flux, inertia is important and affects the approach to steady state of the subsequent flow. Velocities of the discharges from the end regions, whether forced in destabilizing or stabilizing ways, scaled as u∼(Bl)1/3 (where B is the forcing buoyancy flux and l is the length of the forcing region) in accordance with Phillips' (1966) results. Discharges with destabilizing and stabilizing forcing were, respectively, Q−∼(Bl)1/3H and Q+∼(Bl)1/3δ (where H is the depth below or above the forcing plate and δ is the boundary layer thickness). Thus Q−/Q+>O(1) provided H>O(δ), as was certainly the case in the experiments reported, demonstrating the overall importance of the flushing processes occurring during periods of cooling or destabilizing forcing.

scholarly journals Wind-Driven Ageostrophic Transport in the North Equatorial Countercurrent of the Eastern Pacific at 95°W

2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (11) ◽  
pp. 2985-2998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Sprintall ◽  
Sean Kennan ◽  
Yoo Yin Kim ◽  
Peter Niiler
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Turbulent Boundary Layer ◽  
Ekman Transport ◽  
Momentum Balance ◽  
Altimeter Data ◽  
Turbulent Stress ◽  
Wind Stress Curl ◽  
Turbulent Layer ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
The North

Abstract Observations of horizontal velocity from two shipboard acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs), as well as wind, temperature, and salinity observations from a cruise during June–July 2001, are used to compute a simplified mean meridional momentum balance of the North Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC) at 95°W. The terms that are retained in the momentum balance and derived using the measurements are the Coriolis and pressure gradient forces, and the vertical divergence of the turbulent stress. All terms were vertically integrated over the surface turbulent layer. The K-profile parameterization (KPP) prescribed Richardson number (Ri) is used to determine the depth of the turbulent boundary layer h at which the turbulent stress and its gradient vanish. At the time of the cruise, surface drifters and altimeter data show the flow structure of the NECC was complicated by the presence of tropical instability waves to the south and a strong Costa Rica Dome to the north. Nonetheless, a consistent, simplified momentum balance for the surface layer was achieved from the time mean of 19 days of repeat transects along 95°W with a 0.5° latitude resolution. The best agreement between the ageostrophic transport determined from the near-surface cruise measurements and the wind-derived Ekman transport was obtained for an Ri of 0.23 ± 0.05. The corresponding h ranges from ∼55 m at 4°N to ∼30 m within the NECC core (4.5°–6°N) and shoaling to just 15 m at 7°N. In general, the mean ageostrophic and Ekman transports decreased from south to north along the 95°W transect, although within the core of the NECC both transports were relatively strong and steady. This study underscores the importance of the southerly wind-driven eastward Ekman transport in the turbulent boundary layer before the NECC becomes fully developed later in the year through indirect forcing from the wind stress curl.

A data-driven stochastic parametrisation of intermittent turbulence in the stably stratified atmospheric boundary layer

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vyacheslav Boyko ◽  
Sebastian Krumscheid ◽  
Nikki Vercauteren
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Time Series Data ◽  
Stable Stratification ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Series Data ◽  
Similarity Function ◽  
Intermittent Turbulence ◽  
Stochastic Perturbations ◽  
Model Based Clustering ◽  
Flux Gradient

<p>We present results on the modelling of intermittent turbulence in the nocturnal boundary layer using a data-driven approach. In conditions of high stratification and weak wind, the bulk shear can be too weak to sustain continuous turbulence, and the sporadic submeso motions play an important role for the turbulence production. We show a way to stochastically parametrise the effect of the unresolved submeso scales and include it into a 1.5-order turbulence closure scheme. This is achieved by introducing a stochastic equation, which describes the evolution of the non-dimensional flux-gradient stability correction for momentum ($\phi_m$). The unperturbed equilibrium solution of the equation follows the functional form of the universal similarity function. The stochastic perturbations reflect the instantaneous excursions from its equilibrium state, and the distribution of values covers the scatter found in observations at high stability.</p><p>The non-stationary parameters of this equations are estimated from a time-series data of the FLOSS2 experiment using a model-based clustering approach. The clustering analysis of the parameters shows a scaling relationship with the local gradient Ri number, leading to a suggested closed-form model for the stochastic flux-gradient stability correction. The spatial correlation in height of the perturbations is included in the model as well. The resulting equation captures the transition of the stability correction across and beyond the critical Ri up to a value of 10. The out-of-sample prediction shows a valid transient dynamics into and within the regime of strongly-stable stratification.</p>

Optimal energy growth in stably stratified turbulent Couette flow

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grigory Zasko ◽  
Andrey Glazunov ◽  
Evgeny Mortikov ◽  
Yuri Nechepurenko ◽  
Pavel Perezhogin
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Turbulent Flow ◽  
Couette Flow ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Thin Layers ◽  
Plane Couette Flow ◽  
Turbulent Layer ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Optimal Disturbances

<p>In this report, we will try to explain the emergence of large-scale organized structures in stably stratified turbulent flows using optimal disturbances of the mean turbulent flow. These structures have been recently obtained in numerical simulations of turbulent stably stratified flows [1] (Ekman layer, LES) and [2] (plane Couette flow, DNS and LES) and indirectly confirmed by field measurements in the stable boundary layer of the atmosphere [1, 2]. In instantaneous temperature fields they manifest themselves as irregular inclined thin layers with large gradients (fronts), spaced from each other by distances comparable to the height of the entire turbulent layer, and separated by regions with weak stratification.</p><p>Optimal disturbances of a stably stratified turbulent plane Couette flow are investigated in a wide range of Reynolds and Richardson numbers. These disturbances were computed based on a simplified linearized system of equations in which turbulent Reynolds stresses and heat fluxes were approximated by isotropic viscosity and diffusion with coefficients obtained from DNS results. It was shown [3] that the spatial scales and configurations of the inclined structures extracted from DNS data coincide with the ones obtained from optimal disturbances of the mean turbulent flow.</p><p>Critical value of the stability parameter is found starting from which the optimal disturbances resemble inclined structures. The physical mechanisms that determine the evolution, energetics and spatial configuration of these optimal disturbances are discussed. The effects due to the presence of stable stratification are highlighted.</p><p>Numerical experiments with optimal disturbances were supported by the RSF (grant No. 17-71-20149). Direct numerical simulation of stratified turbulent Couette flow was supported by the RFBR (grant No. 20-05-00776).</p><p>References:</p><p>[1] P.P. Sullivan, J.C. Weil, E.G. Patton, H.J. Jonker, D.V. Mironov. Turbulent winds and temperature fronts in large-eddy simulations of the stable atmospheric boundary layer // J. Atmos. Sci., 2016, V. 73, P. 1815-1840.</p><p>[2] A.V. Glazunov, E.V. Mortikov, K.V. Barskov, E.V. Kadantsev, S.S. Zilitinkevich. Layered structure of stably stratified turbulent shear flows // Izv. Atmos. Ocean. Phys., 2019, V. 55, P. 312–323.</p><p>[3] G.V. Zasko, A.V. Glazunov, E.V. Mortikov, Yu.M. Nechepurenko. Large-scale structures in stratified turbulent Couette flow and optimal disturbances // Russ. J. Num. Anal. Math. Model., 2010, V. 35, P. 35–53.</p>

scholarly journals A New Value of the von Kármán Constant: Implications and Implementation

2009 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 923-944 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edgar L. Andreas
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Similarity Theory ◽  
Stable Stratification ◽  
Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Obukhov Length ◽  
Von Karman ◽  
Roughness Lengths ◽  
Experimental Values ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Von Kármán

Abstract The von Kármán constant k occurs throughout the mathematics that describe the atmospheric boundary layer. In particular, because k was originally included in the definition of the Obukhov length, its value has both explicit and implicit effects on the functions of Monin–Obukhov similarity theory. Although credible experimental evidence has appeared sporadically that the von Kármán constant is different than the canonical value of 0.40, the mathematics of boundary layer meteorology still retain k = 0.40—probably because the task of revising all of this math to implement a new value of k is so daunting. This study therefore outlines how to make these revisions in the nondimensional flux–gradient relations; in variance, covariance, and dissipation functions; and in structure parameters of Monin–Obukhov similarity theory. It also demonstrates how measured values of the drag coefficient (CD), the transfer coefficients for sensible (CH) and latent (CE) heat, and the roughness lengths for wind speed (z0), temperature (zT), and humidity (zQ) must be modified for a new value of the von Kármán constant. For the range of credible experimental values for k, 0.35–0.436, revised values of CD, CH, CE, z0, zT, and zQ could be quite different from values obtained assuming k = 0.40, especially if the original measurements were made in stable stratification. However, for the value of k recommended here, 0.39, no revisions to the transfer coefficients and roughness lengths should be necessary. Henceforth, use the original measured values of transfer coefficients and roughness lengths but do use similarity functions modified to reflect k = 0.39.

scholarly journals Transport by deep convection in basin-scale geostrophic circulation: turbulence-resolving simulations

2019 ◽  
Vol 865 ◽  
pp. 681-719
Author(s):  
Catherine A. Vreugdenhil ◽  
Bishakhdatta Gayen ◽  
Ross W. Griffiths
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Thermal Boundary Layer ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Ocean Basin ◽  
Open Ocean ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Large Scale Circulation ◽  
Buoyancy Forcing ◽  
Basin Scale

Direct numerical simulations are used to investigate the nature of fully resolved small-scale convection and its role in large-scale circulation in a rotating $f$-plane rectangular basin with imposed surface temperature difference. The large-scale circulation has a horizontal geostrophic component and a deep vertical overturning. This paper focuses on convective circulation with no wind stress, and buoyancy forcing sufficiently strong to ensure turbulent convection within the thermal boundary layer (horizontal Rayleigh numbers $Ra\approx 10^{12}{-}10^{13}$). The dynamics are found to depend on the value of a convective Rossby number, $Ro_{\unicode[STIX]{x0394}T}$, which represents the strength of buoyancy forcing relative to Coriolis forces. Vertical convection shifts from a mean endwall plume under weak rotation ($Ro_{\unicode[STIX]{x0394}T}>10^{-1}$) to ‘open ocean’ chimney convection plus mean vertical plumes at the side boundaries under strong rotation ($Ro_{\unicode[STIX]{x0394}T}<10^{-1}$). The overall heat throughput, horizontal gyre transport and zonally integrated overturning transport are then consistent with scaling predictions for flow constrained by thermal wind balance in the thermal boundary layer coupled to vertical advection–diffusion balance in the boundary layer. For small Rossby numbers relevant to circulation in an ocean basin, vertical heat transport from the surface layer into the deep interior occurs mostly in ‘open ocean’ chimney convection while most vertical mass transport is against the side boundaries. Both heat throughput and the mean circulation (in geostrophic gyres, boundary currents and overturning) are reduced by geostrophic constraints.

scholarly journals Boundary layer models for calving marine outlet glaciers

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 2283-2303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Schoof ◽  
Andrew D. Davis ◽  
Tiberiu V. Popa
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Ice Sheets ◽  
Ice Thickness ◽  
Ice Shelf ◽  
Bedrock Channel ◽  
Extensional Stress ◽  
Grounding Line ◽  
Direct Numerical Solution ◽  
Glacier Ice ◽  
Side Walls

Abstract. We consider the flow of marine-terminating outlet glaciers that are laterally confined in a channel of prescribed width. In that case, the drag exerted by the channel side walls on a floating ice shelf can reduce extensional stress at the grounding line. If ice flux through the grounding line increases with both ice thickness and extensional stress, then a longer shelf can reduce ice flux by decreasing extensional stress. Consequently, calving has an effect on flux through the grounding line by regulating the length of the shelf. In the absence of a shelf, it plays a similar role by controlling the above-flotation height of the calving cliff. Using two calving laws, one due to Nick et al. (2010) based on a model for crevasse propagation due to hydrofracture and the other simply asserting that calving occurs where the glacier ice becomes afloat, we pose and analyse a flowline model for a marine-terminating glacier by two methods: direct numerical solution and matched asymptotic expansions. The latter leads to a boundary layer formulation that predicts flux through the grounding line as a function of depth to bedrock, channel width, basal drag coefficient, and a calving parameter. By contrast with unbuttressed marine ice sheets, we find that flux can decrease with increasing depth to bedrock at the grounding line, reversing the usual stability criterion for steady grounding line location. Stable steady states can then have grounding lines located on retrograde slopes. We show how this anomalous behaviour relates to the strength of lateral versus basal drag on the grounded portion of the glacier and to the specifics of the calving law used.

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