The Influence of a Suspended Cage Aquaculture Farm on the Hydrodynamic Environment in a Semienclosed Bay, SE China

Hydrodynamic responses of the aquaculture farm structures have been increasingly studied because of their importance in informing the aquaculture carrying capacity and ecological sustainability. The hydrodynamical effect of the suspended cage farm on flow structures and vertical mixing in the Sansha Bay, SE China, is examined using observational data of two comparative stations inside and outside the cage farm. The results show that current velocities are relatively uniform in the vertical except a bottom boundary layer outside the cage farm. Within the cage farm, the surface boundary layer produced by the cage-induced friction is obvious with current velocities decreasing upward, combining the classic bottom boundary layer to form a “double-drag layers” structure in the water column. The cage-induced drag decreases with water depth in the surface boundary layer with a maximum thickness of 3/4 the water column, and the current velocities can be reduced by 54%. The cage-induced friction can also significantly hinder the horizontal water exchange in the farm. Periodic stratification phenomena exist at both stations under the influence of lateral circulation. However, the subsurface (5–10 m below the sea surface) water column below the cage facilities is well-mixed as indicated by the vertical density profile, where the velocity shear (10–3 m–2) is about 10 times higher than that of the subsurface layer outside the cage farm. Therefore, we speculate that the well-mixing of the subsurface water column results from the local turbulence induced by the velocity shear, which in turn is produced by the friction of cage structures.

Numerical simulation of a tropical Storm boundary layer

A model has been designed to study the surface boundary layer of a tropical storm. The numerical method consists of solving a two point boundary value problem for two systems of simultaneous non-linear differential equations by finite differences. A Stoke's stream function suitable to represent the flow both in interior and exterior regions of a tropical storm boundary layer has been developed. The advantage of the method is that the, boundary layer of the tropical storm can be studied starting from the outer region to the centre of the storm without neglecting non-linear terms. In addition, there IS no need for assumptions on the vertical profiles for tangential and radial velocities. The method is stable and converges within a few iterations. The flow above the friction layer is represented by a steady axisymmetric vortex in gradient balance. To investigate the effect of turbulence- on boundary layer characteristics, turbulence has been represented by four different variations of the eddy coefficient of viscosity with no slip boundary conditions. Computations have been performed 1aking 40-grid points in the vertical direction. It is observed that, if the eddy coefficient of viscosity is assumed to vary with the superimposed flow above the boundary layer, the solutions compare favourably well with observations. The solution also shows an outflow from the Inner core of the boundary layer which is necessary for creation of an eye of the storm.

The dynamics of surface boundary layer during total Solar eclipse 1995

A microclimatological tower of 1.6 m height with six instrumented booms at different heights carrying wind speed, temperature and humidity sensors was set up at Robertsgun 24° 42'N, 83°4'E, 3l2m amsl) to study the implication of the total Solar eclipse on the dynamics of Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL). Apart from this, the soil temperature and heat flux were also measured during the same time. The observations were taken with a one minute average interval and recorded continuously with the data logger and then transferred to a PC for later use. The data were collected during 2l –26 October 1995. During the eclipse period decrease of surface temperature and soil temperature by 6.2°C and 3.5°C respectively and increase of humidity by nearly 60% were observed. Due to the decrease in velocity fluctuations, the mean wind speed showed the sharp increase compared to other days. The setting of stable atmosphere before the total solar eclipse was observed.

Numerical investigations of the free surface flow around a surface piercing hydrofoil

Starting with January 2013, naval architects faces new challenges, as all ships greater than 400 tons must comply with energy efficiency index (MPEC 62, 2011). From ship hydrodynamics point of view one handy solution is using Energy Saving Devices (ESD), with the main purpose to improve the flow parameters entering the propeller. For ballast loading condition the ESD may intersect the free surface disturbing and complicating the flow due to free surface /boundary layer interaction, turbulence and breaking wave effects that coexist and which are not completely clarified so far. Therefore, a free surface flow around a NACA 0012 surface piercing hydrofoil is numerically investigated and the results are compared to experimental results obtained in the Towing Tank of the Naval Architecture Faculty, “Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati. The comparison includes drag and free surface elevation on hydrofoil surface together with numerical uncertainty.

Insights into the mixing efficiency of submesoscale Centrifugal-Symmetric instabilities

Submesoscale processes provide a pathway for energy to transfer from the balanced circulation to turbulent dissipation. One class of submesoscale phenomena that has been shown to be particularly effective at removing energy from the balanced flow are centrifugal-symmetric instabilities (CSIs), which grow via geostrophic shear production. CSIs have been observed to generate significant mixing in both the surface boundary layer and bottom boundary layer flows along bathymetry, where they have been implicated in the mixing and watermass transformation of Antarctic Bottom Water. However, the mixing efficiency (i.e. the fraction of the energy extracted from the flow used to irreversibly mix the fluid) of these instabilities remains uncertain, making estimates of mixing and energy dissipation due to CSI difficult.In this work we use large-eddy simulations to investigate the mixing efficiency of CSIs in the submesoscale range. We find that centrifugally-dominated CSIs (i.e. CSI mostly driven by horizontal shear production) tend to have a higher mixing efficiency than symmetrically-dominated ones (i.e. driven by vertical shear production). The mixing efficiency associated with CSIs can therefore alternately be significantly higher or significantly lower than the canonical value used by most studies. These results can be understood in light of recent work on stratified turbulence, whereby CSIs control the background state of the flow in which smaller-scale secondary overturning instabilities develop, thus actively modifying the characteristics of mixing by Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities. Our results also suggest that it may be possible to predict the mixing efficiency with more readily measurable parameters (namely the Richardson and Rossby numbers), which would allow for parameterization of this effect.

TRANSONIC RELIEF IN FANS AND COMPRESSORS

Every supersonic fan/compressor blade row has a streamtube, the ‘sonic streamtube’, which operates with a blade relative inlet Mach number of one. A key parameter in the design of the ‘sonic streamtube’ is the area ratio between the blade throat area and upstream passage area, Athroat/Ainlet. In this paper, it is shown that one unique value exists for this area ratio. If the area ratio differs, even slightly, from this unique value then the blade either chokes or has its suction surface boundary layer separated due to a strong shock. It is therefore surprising that in practice designers have relatively little problem designing blade sections with an inlet relative Mach number close to unity. This paper shows that this occurs due to a physical mechanism known as ‘transonic relief’. If a designer makes a mistake and designs a blade with a ‘sonic streamtube’ which has the wrong area ratio, then ‘transonic relief’, will self-adjust the spanwise streamtube height automatically moving it towards the unique optimal area ratio, correcting for the designer's error. Furthermore, as the blade incidence changes, the spanwise streamtube height self-adjusts, moving the area ratio towards its unique optimal value. Without ‘transonic relief’, supersonic or transonic fan/compressor design would be impossible. The paper develops a simple model which allows ‘transonic relief’ to be decoupled from other mechanisms, and to be systematically studied. The physical mechanism on which it is based is thus determined and its implications for blade design and manufacturing discussed.

Extensive Marine Heatwaves at the Sea Surface in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean in Summer 2021

In July–August 2021, intense marine heatwaves (MHWs) occurred at the sea surface over extensive areas of the northwestern Pacific Ocean, including the entire Sea of Japan and part of the Sea of Okhotsk. In extent and intensity, these MHWs were the largest since 1982, when satellite measurements of global sea surface temperatures started. The MHWs in summer 2021 were observed at the sea surface and occurred concomitantly with a stable shallow oceanic surface boundary layer. The distribution of the MHWs was strongly related to heat fluxes at the sea surface, indicating that the MHWs were generated mainly by atmospheric forcing. The MHWs started to develop after around 10 July, concurrent with an extreme northward shift of the atmospheric westerly jet. The MHWs developed rapidly under an atmospheric high-pressure system near the sea surface, associated with a northwestward expansion of the North Pacific Subtropical High. The MHWs exhibited peaks around 30 July to 1 August. Subsequently, following the southward displacement of the westerly jet, the MHWs weakened and then shrank abruptly, synchronously with rapid deepening of the oceanic surface boundary layer. By 18 August, the MHWs had disappeared.

Competition between baroclinic instability and Ekman transport under varying buoyancy forcings in upwelling systems: An idealized analog to the Southern Ocean.

Coastal upwelling rates are classically determined by the intensity of the upper-ocean offshore Ekman transport. But (sub-)mesoscale turbulence modulates offshore transport, hence the net upwelling rate. Eddy effects generally oppose the Ekman circulation, resulting in so-called “eddy cancellation”, a process well studied in the Southern Ocean. Here we investigate how air-sea heat/buoyancy fluxes modulate eddy cancellation in an idealized upwelling model. We run CROCO simulations with constant winds but varying heat fluxes with and without submesoscale-rich turbulence. Eddy cancellation is consistently evaluated with three different methods that all account for the quasi-isopycnal nature of ocean circulation away from the surface. For zero heat fluxes the release of available potential energy by baroclinic instabilities is strongest and leads, near the coast, to nearly full cancellation of the Ekman cross-shore circulation by eddy effects, i.e., zero net mean upwelling flow. With increasing heat fluxes eddy cancellation is reduced and the transverse flow progressively approaches the classical Ekman circulation. Sensitivity of the eddy circulation to synoptic changes in air-sea heat fluxes is felt down to 125 m depth despite short experiments of tens of days. Mesoscale dynamics dominate the cancellation effect in our simulations which might also hold for the real ocean as the relevant processes act below the surface boundary layer. Although the idealized setting overemphasis the role of eddies and thus studies with more realistic settings should follow, our findings have important implications for the overall understanding of upwelling system dynamics.