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    Observations of turbulence in the ocean surface boundary layer : energetics and transport

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    2008jpo4044%2E1.pdf (1.524Mb)
    Date
    2009-05
    Author
    Gerbi, Gregory P.  Concept link
    Trowbridge, John H.  Concept link
    Terray, Eugene A.  Concept link
    Plueddemann, Albert J.  Concept link
    Kukulka, Tobias  Concept link
    Metadata
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    Citable URI
    https://hdl.handle.net/1912/4004
    As published
    https://doi.org/10.1175/2008JPO4044.1
    DOI
    10.1175/2008JPO4044.1
    Keyword
     Turbulence; Boundary layer; Sea/ocean surface; Air-sea interaction; Energy transport 
    Abstract
    Observations of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) dynamics in the ocean surface boundary layer are presented here and compared with results from previous observational, numerical, and analytic studies. As in previous studies, the dissipation rate of TKE is found to be higher in the wavy ocean surface boundary layer than it would be in a flow past a rigid boundary with similar stress and buoyancy forcing. Estimates of the terms in the turbulent kinetic energy equation indicate that, unlike in a flow past a rigid boundary, the dissipation rates cannot be balanced by local production terms, suggesting that the transport of TKE is important in the ocean surface boundary layer. A simple analytic model containing parameterizations of production, dissipation, and transport reproduces key features of the vertical profile of TKE, including enhancement near the surface. The effective turbulent diffusion coefficient for heat is larger than would be expected in a rigid-boundary boundary layer. This diffusion coefficient is predicted reasonably well by a model that contains the effects of shear production, buoyancy forcing, and transport of TKE (thought to be related to wave breaking). Neglect of buoyancy forcing or wave breaking in the parameterization results in poor predictions of turbulent diffusivity. Langmuir turbulence was detected concurrently with a fraction of the turbulence quantities reported here, but these times did not stand out as having significant differences from observations when Langmuir turbulence was not detected.
    Description
    Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2009. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Physical Oceanography 39 (2009): 1077–1096, doi:10.1175/2008JPO4044.1.
    Collections
    • Physical Oceanography (PO)
    • Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering (AOP&E)
    Suggested Citation
    Journal of Physical Oceanography 39 (2009): 1077–1096
     

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