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    Characterization and modulation of Langmuir circulation in Chesapeake Bay

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    jpo-d-14-0239%2E1.pdf (2.064Mb)
    Date
    2015-10
    Author
    Scully, Malcolm E.  Concept link
    Fisher, Alexander W.  Concept link
    Suttles, Steven E.  Concept link
    Sanford, Lawrence P.  Concept link
    Boicourt, William C.  Concept link
    Metadata
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    Citable URI
    https://hdl.handle.net/1912/7617
    As published
    https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-14-0239.1
    DOI
    10.1175/JPO-D-14-0239.1
    Keyword
     Circulation/ Dynamics; Convection; Instability; Mixing; Turbulence; Wave breaking; Wind stress 
    Abstract
    Measurements made as part of a large-scale experiment to examine wind-driven circulation and mixing in Chesapeake Bay demonstrate that circulations consistent with Langmuir circulation play an important role in surface boundary layer dynamics. Under conditions when the turbulent Langmuir number Lat is low (<0.5), the surface mixed layer is characterized by 1) elevated vertical turbulent kinetic energy; 2) decreased anisotropy; 3) negative vertical velocity skewness indicative of strong/narrow downwelling and weak/broad upwelling; and 4) strong negative correlations between low-frequency vertical velocity and the velocity in the direction of wave propagation. These characteristics appear to be primarily the result of the vortex force associated with the surface wave field, but convection driven by a destabilizing heat flux is observed and appears to contribute significantly to the observed negative vertical velocity skewness. Conditions that favor convection usually also have strong Langmuir forcing, and these two processes probably both contribute to the surface mixed layer turbulence. Conditions in which traditional stress-driven turbulence is important are limited in this dataset. Unlike other shallow coastal systems where full water column Langmuir circulation has been observed, the salinity stratification in Chesapeake Bay is nearly always strong enough to prevent full-depth circulation from developing.
    Description
    Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2015. 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 45 (2015): 2621–2639, doi:10.1175/JPO-D-14-0239.1.
    Collections
    • Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering (AOP&E)
    Suggested Citation
    Journal of Physical Oceanography 45 (2015): 2621–2639
     

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