scholarly journals Mechanisms of Lateral Spreading in a Near-Field Buoyant River Plume Entering a Fjord

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca A. McPherson ◽  
Craig L. Stevens ◽  
Joanne M. O'Callaghan ◽  
Andrew J. Lucas ◽  
Jonathan D. Nash
Keyword(s):  
Shear Flow ◽  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Near Field ◽  
Lateral Spreading ◽  
Surface Flow ◽  
River Plume ◽  
Horizontal Shear ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Surface Drifters ◽  
Spreading Rates

Observations collected from a fast-flowing buoyant river plume entering the head of Doubtful Sound, New Zealand, were analysed to examine the drivers of plume lateral spreading. The near-field plume is characterised by flow speeds of over 2 ms−1, and strong stratification (N2 > 0.1 s−2), resulting in enhanced shear which supports the elevated turbulence dissipation rates (ϵ > 10−3 W kg−1). Estimates of plume lateral spreading rates were derived from the trajectories of Lagrangian GPS surface drifters and from cross-plume hydrographic transects. Lateral spreading rates derived from the latter compared favourably with estimates derived from a control volume technique in a previous study. The lateral spreading of the plume was driven by a baroclinic pressure gradient toward the base of the plume. However, spreading rates were underestimated by the surface drifters. A convergence of near-surface flow from the barotropic pressure gradient concentrated the drifters within the plume core. The combination of enhanced internal turbulence stress and mixing at the base of the surface layer, and the presence of steep fjord sidewalls likely reduced the rate of lateral spreading relative to the theoretical spreading rate. The estimates of plume width from the observations provided evidence of scale-dependent dispersion which followed a 4/3 power law. Two theoretical models of dispersion, turbulence and shear flow dispersion, were examined to assess which was capable of representing the observed spreading. An analytical horizontal shear-flow dispersion model generated estimates of lateral dispersion that were consistent with the observed 4/3 law of dispersion. Therefore, horizontal shear dispersion appeared to be the dominant mechanism of dispersion, thus spreading, in the surface plume layer.

scholarly journals Properties and evolution of a submesoscale cyclonic spiral

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reiner Onken ◽  
Burkard Baschek
Keyword(s):  
Extreme Values ◽  
Euphotic Zone ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
Surface Flow ◽  
Ocean Modeling ◽  
Vortex Center ◽  
Regional Ocean Modeling System ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Surface Drifters ◽  
Radial Outflow

Abstract. The evolution of a submesoscale cyclonic spiral of 1 km in diameter is simulated with ROMS (Regional Ocean Modeling System) using 33.3 m horizontal resolution in a triple-nested configuration. The generation of the spiral starts from a dense filament that is rolled into a vortex and detaches from the filament. During spin-up, extreme values are attained by various quantities, that are organized in single-arm and multi-arm spirals. The spin-down starts when the cyclone separates from the filament. At the same time, the horizontal speed develops a dipole-like pattern and isotachs form closed contours around the vortex center. The amplitudes of most quantities decrease significantly, but the instantaneous vertical velocity w exhibits high-frequency oscillations and more pronounced extremes than during spin-up. The oscillations are due to vortex Rossby waves (VRWs), that circle the eddy counterclockwise and generate multi-arm spirals with alternating signs by means of azimuthal vorticity advection. Experiments with virtual surface drifters and isopycnal floats indicate downwelling everywhere near the surface. The downwelling is most intense in the center of the spiral at all depth levels, leading to a radial outflow in the thermocline and weak upwelling at the periphery. This overturning circulation is driven by convergent near-surface flow and associated subduction of isopycnals. While the downwelling in the center may support the export of particulate organic carbon from the mixed layer into the main thermocline, the upwelling at the periphery effectuates an upward isopycnal transport of nutrients, enhancing the growth of phytoplankton in the euphotic zone.

scholarly journals Ebb-Tide Dynamics and Spreading of a Large River Plume*

2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (11) ◽  
pp. 2839-2856 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan M. McCabe ◽  
Parker MacCready ◽  
Barbara M. Hickey
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Near Field ◽  
River Estuary ◽  
Columbia River ◽  
River Plume ◽  
Force Balance ◽  
Salt Flux ◽  
Vertical Shear ◽  
Regional Ocean Modeling System ◽  
Initial Flow

Abstract Momentum balances in the near-field region of a large, tidally pulsed river plume are examined. The authors concentrate on a single ebb tide of the Columbia River plume, using the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) configured to hindcast flow conditions on the Washington and Oregon shelves and in the Columbia River estuary. During ebb, plume-interior streamwise balances are largely between advection, pressure gradient, and frictional forces. Stream-normal balances in this region reduce to centrifugal, cross-stream pressure gradient, and Coriolis terms (i.e., the “gradient wind” balance commonly assumed in river plume bulge investigations). Temporal derivatives are most important at the plume front and as the ebb progresses. Winds were light and contributed little to the force balance. Midebb stress and vertical salt flux were largest at a midplume depth, where stratification and vertical shear were also high, consistent with shear-induced mixing. Internal stress slows the spreading plume considerably. A kinematic description of the spreading process relates lateral spreading to the momentum dynamics and illustrates that plume spreading is largely a competition between the cross-stream pressure gradient and Coriolis forces. However, the very near-field dome of buoyant water is instrumental in setting initial flow pathways.

scholarly journals Flow Turbulence Characteristics and Mass Transport in the Near-Wake Region of an Aquaculture Cage Net Panel

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 294
Author(s):  
Dongdong Shao ◽  
Li Huang ◽  
Ruo-Qian Wang ◽  
Carlo Gualtieri ◽  
Alan Cuthbertson
Keyword(s):  
Mass Transport ◽  
Near Field ◽  
Lateral Spreading ◽  
Wake Flow ◽  
Wake Region ◽  
Near Wake ◽  
Turbulence Characteristics ◽  
Macro Scale ◽  
Flow Turbulence ◽  
Fish Cages

Cage-based aquaculture has been growing rapidly in recent years. In some locations, cage-based aquaculture has resulted in the clustering of large quantities of cages in fish farms located in inland lakes or reservoirs and coastal embayments or fjords, significantly affecting flow and mass transport in the surrounding waters. Existing studies have focused primarily on the macro-scale flow blockage effects of fish cages, and the complex wake flow and associated near-field mass transport in the presence of the cages remain largely unclear. As a first step toward resolving this knowledge gap, this study employed the combined Particle Image Velocimetry and Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence (PIV-PLIF) flow imaging technique to measure turbulence characteristics and associated mass transport in the near wake of a steady current through an aquaculture cage net panel in parametric flume experiments. In the near-wake region, defined as ~3M (mesh size) downstream of the net, the flow turbulence was observed to be highly inhomogeneous and anisotropic in nature. Further downstream, the turbulent intensity followed a power-law decay after the turbulence production region, albeit with a decay exponent much smaller than reported values for analogous grid-generated turbulence. Overall, the presence of the net panel slightly enhanced the lateral spreading of the scalar plume, but the lateral distribution of the scalar concentration, concentration fluctuation and transverse turbulent scalar flux exhibited self-similarity from the near-wake region where the flow was still strongly inhomogeneous. The apparent turbulent diffusivity estimated from the gross plume parameters was found to be in reasonable agreement with the Taylor diffusivity calculated as the product of the transverse velocity fluctuation and integral length scale, even when the plume development was still transitioning from a turbulent-convective to turbulent-diffusive regime. The findings of this study provide references to the near-field scalar transport of fish cages, which has important implications in the assessment of the environmental impacts and environmental carrying capacity of cage-based aquaculture.

A note on the instabilities of a horizontal shear flow with a free surface

2000 ◽  
Vol 406 ◽  
pp. 337-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. ENGEVIK
Keyword(s):  
Surface Tension ◽  
Free Surface ◽  
Shear Flow ◽  
Velocity Profile ◽  
Froude Number ◽  
The Other ◽  
Algebraic Equations ◽  
Horizontal Shear ◽  
Analytical Treatment ◽  
Unstable Region

The instabilities of a free surface shear flow are considered, with special emphasis on the shear flow with the velocity profile U* = U*0sech2 (by*). This velocity profile, which is found to model very well the shear flow in the wake of a hydrofoil, has been focused on in previous studies, for instance by Dimas & Triantyfallou who made a purely numerical investigation of this problem, and by Longuet-Higgins who simplified the problem by approximating the velocity profile with a piecewise-linear profile to make it amenable to an analytical treatment. However, none has so far recognized that this problem in fact has a very simple solution which can be found analytically; that is, the stability boundaries, i.e. the boundaries between the stable and the unstable regions in the wavenumber (k)–Froude number (F)-plane, are given by simple algebraic equations in k and F. This applies also when surface tension is included. With no surface tension present there exist two distinct regimes of unstable waves for all values of the Froude number F > 0. If 0 < F [Lt ] 1, then one of the regimes is given by 0 < k < (1 − F2/6), the other by F−2 < k < 9F−2, which is a very extended region on the k-axis. When F [Gt ] 1 there is one small unstable region close to k = 0, i.e. 0 < k < 9/(4F2), the other unstable region being (3/2)1/2F−1 < k < 2 + 27/(8F2). When surface tension is included there may be one, two or even three distinct regimes of unstable modes depending on the value of the Froude number. For small F there is only one instability region, for intermediate values of F there are two regimes of unstable modes, and when F is large enough there are three distinct instability regions.

scholarly journals The Congo River plume: Impact of the forcing on the far‐field and near‐field dynamics

2013 ◽  
Vol 118 (2) ◽  
pp. 964-989 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cléa Denamiel ◽  
W. Paul Budgell ◽  
Ralf Toumi
Keyword(s):  
Near Field ◽  
River Plume ◽  
Far Field ◽  
Congo River

scholarly journals On the fine vertical structure of the low troposphere over the coastal margins of East Antarctica

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Étienne Vignon ◽  
Olivier Traullé ◽  
Alexis Berne
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Vertical Structure ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Radiosonde Data ◽  
Gradient Force ◽  
Pressure Gradient Force ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Ice Shelves ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Humidity Profiles

Abstract. Eight years of high-resolution radiosonde data at nine Antarctic stations are analysed to provide the first large scale characterization of the fine scale vertical structure of the low troposphere up to 3 km of altitude over the coastal margins of East Antarctica. Radiosonde data show a large spatial variability of wind, temperature and humidity profiles, with different features between stations in katabatic regions (e.g., Dumont d'Urville and Mawson stations), stations over two ice shelves (Neumayer and Halley stations) and regions with complex orography (e.g., Mc Murdo). At Dumont d'Urville, Mawson and Davis stations, the yearly median wind speed profiles exhibit a clear low-level katabatic jet. During precipitation events, the low-level flow generally remains of continental origin and its speed is even reinforced due to the increase in the continent- ocean pressure gradient. Meanwhile, the relative humidity profiles show a dry low troposphere, suggesting the occurence of low-level sublimation of precipitation in katabatic regions but such a phenomenon does not appreciably occur over the ice-shelves near Halley and Neumayer. Although ERA-Interim and ERA5 reanalyses assimilate radiosoundings at most stations considered here, substantial – and sometimes large – low-level wind and humidity biases are revealed but ERA5 shows overall better performances. A free simulation with the regional model Polar WRF (at a 35-km resolution) over the entire continent shows too strong and too shallow near-surface jets in katabatic regions especially in winter. This may be a consequence of an understimated coastal cold air bump and associated sea-continent pressure gradient force due to the coarse 35 km resolution of the Polar WRF simulation. Beyond documenting the vertical structure of the low troposphere over coastal East-Antarctica, this study gives insights into the reliability and accuracy of two major reanalysis products in this region on the Earth and it raises the difficulty of modeling the low-level flow over the margins of the ice sheet with a state-of-the-art climate model.

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