On the effect of line current width and relative position on the multi-spacecraft curlometer technique

The response of the multi-spacecraft curlometer technique to variations in the size and relative position of infinitely long line currents with radially varying current density is systematically investigated for spacecraft in a regular tetrahedral formation. It is shown that, for line currents with a width less than the spacecraft separation, there is significant variation in the returned current with position of that current within the tetrahedron. For infinitely thin line currents, the curlometer tends to detect approximately 20% of the input current. For increasingly wide line currents there is less variation of the curlometer results with position of the current and the percentage of current magnitude detected increases. When the width of the current system is half the spacecraft separation, the curlometer tends to detect approximately 80% of the input current. These results are discussed in the context of multi-scale, multi-spacecraft missions.     

海底浊流研究百年回顾

本文概括性地回顾了一个多世纪以来浊流研究的历史和发展过程。浊流既是解决许多海洋地质学和沉积学基础科学问题的关键,又与海洋资、能源和海底灾害防护等应用性研究息息相关,多国科学家近百年的努力在浊流理论的发展、实验室水槽数据采集和数值模拟的优化等方面都有很大的进步。但由于浊流的不可预测性和破坏性,如何在现场实时、连续地对浊流实施观测至今仍然是浊流研究的瓶颈。南海东北部海域集天时、地利于一体,在此实施多学科浊流现场观测研究有望实现在‘破坏性’浊流的机制、过程、和沉积响应研究方面的突破。     

Rotating channel flow: Control and upstream currents

Abstract

Theory and experiments are presented for critically controlled flow of a layer of inviscid rotating fluid. Flow is controlled by a level passage. For a wide upstream channel of fixed depth (i.e. constant potential vorticity) the volume flux on the right-hand wall is unaffected by passage flow. This suggests that specifying Bernoulli potential on the right-hand passage wall produces a physically well-posed condition. The specification results in one less dimensionless number than was required by previous formulations to specify flow in the controlled passage. The upstream flow needs the same number as before, so that a range of upstream conditions produce exactly the same passage flow. A laboratory study is conducted using a thin layer of water under air. This is pumped in steadily at various locations in a deep rotating upstream basin, with fluid leaving through a level passage. All currents in the upstream basin cross to the left-hand wall as the current approaches the passage over a sloping bottom. The current crosses back to the right-hand wall within the passage. Velocity profiles of currents agree reasonably well with constant potential vorticity theory. To the right of the detached upstream current is a closed gyre that connects the upstream flows (that have different patterns depending on source location) with the unique passage flows. The results suggest that gyres upstream of critically controlling passages in the ocean might serve as adjustment regions between the relatively unconstrained upstream flows and the tightly controlled passage flows.     

台湾海峡中、北部浮游有孔虫同海流和沉积环境的关系

于１９８７年７月和８月及１９８８年５月和７月，在台湾海峡中、北部海域，利用浮游生物网和蚌式采泥器分别采集了水层中的浮游有孔虫标本和表层沉积里的浮游有孔虫遗壳样品。对活体和遗壳在数量和组成方面对比分析研究表明，调查海区暖水性最强的水域位于东南角的Ａ５站一带，海峡暖流水由此向北延伸，在海坛岛以东Ｄ１站附近，因与闽浙沿岸水交汇而减弱。遗壳高值区位于深水的盆地，活体则出现在台地上，两者分布不一致。其原因在     

44 Years Hindcast of the sea level and circulation in the Baltic Sea

The subject of the investigation was the multiyear hindcast of the sea level elevations and currents over the Baltic Sea. The approach follows to the HIPOCAS project conception and contained the 3D hydrodynamic model using boundary conditions from the atmosphere and catchment for 44-year period referring to the second half of the 20th century.     

Implementation and evaluation of alternative wave breaking formulas in a coastal spectral wave model

This paper describes methods and results of research for incorporating four different parameterized wave breaking and dissipation formulas in a coastal wave prediction model. Two formulations assume the breaking energy dissipation to be limited by the Rayleigh distribution, whereas the other two represent the breaking wave energy by a bore model. These four formulations have been implemented in WABED, a directional spectral wave model based on the wave action balance equation with diffraction, reflection, and wave–current interaction capabilities. Four parameterized wave breaking formulations are evaluated in the present study using two high-quality laboratory data sets. The first data set is from a wave transformation experiment at an idealized inlet entrance, representing four incident irregular waves in a slack tide and two steady-state ebb current conditions. The second data set is from a laboratory study of wave propagation over a complex bathymetry with strong wave-induced currents. Numerical simulation results show that with a proper breaking formulation the wave model can reproduce laboratory data for waves propagating over idealized or complicated bathymetries with ambient currents. The extended Goda wave breaking formulation with a truncated Rayleigh distribution, and the Battjes and Janssen formulation with a bore model produced the best agreement between model and data.     

Burial and scour of short cylinders under combined random waves and currents including effects of second order wave asymmetry

This paper provides an approach by which the burial and scour of short cylinders under combined second order random waves and currents can be derived. Here the formulas for burial and scour for regular waves plus currents presented by Catano-Lopera and Garcia [Catano-Lopera, Y.A. and Garcia, M.H. (2006). Burial of short cylinders induced by scour under combined waves and currents. ASCE J. Waterway, Port, Coastal and Ocean Eng. 132(6), 439–449., Catano-Lopera, Y.A. and Garcia, M.H. (2007). Geometry of scour hole around, and the influence of the angle of attack on the burial of finite cylinders under combined flows. Ocean Eng. 34(5, 6), 856–869.] are used together with Stokes second order wave theory by assuming the basic harmonic wave motion to be a stationary Gaussian narrow-band random process. An example of calculation is also presented.     

台湾海峡中、北部浮游有孔虫同海流和沉积环境的关系

于1987年7月和8月及1988年5月和7月，在台湾海峡中、北部海域，利用浮游生物网和蚌式采泥器分别采集了水层中的浮游有孔虫标本和表层沉积里的浮游有孔虫遗壳样品。对活体和遗壳在数量和组成方面对比分析研究表明，调查海区暖水性最强的水域位于东南角的A5站一带，海峡暖流水由此向北延伸，在海坛岛以东D1站附近，因与闽浙沿岸水交汇而减弱。遗壳高值区位于深水的盆地，活体则出现在台地上，两者分布不一致。其原因在于盆地受冲刷，沉积作用缓慢，遗壳被浓缩；台地沉积速率高，遗壳数量被稀释。     

Bailard's sediment transport formulation in shelf sea conditions: comparison with observations using a clustering technique

A previously published wave-averaged version of Bailard's sediment transport formulation, intended for use in a numerical model of shelf sand transport, is compared against available field observations from literature. The objective was to test the performance of the transport relation over the wide range of hydrodynamical conditions that can occur at sea. A modified data analysis method was used to assess the reliability of the field observations. The modification consists of a method to cluster the data into classes to enable statistical analysis. The sediment transport formulation is part of the classification method. The method is in principle also suitable to reduce the size of data sets of non-cohesive sediment transport obtained with modern electronic equipment. The results show that the quality of the published field observations is fair, and that the wave-averaged Bailard formulation performs well for low and medium transport regimes in both currents and waves. For those conditions, it yields a slight overprediction of the transports, and a nearly uniform behaviour as a function of the conditions. The formulation underestimates transport rates for very high flow velocities in absence of waves, which is in agreement with earlier findings. The present version of Bailard's wave averaged sediment transport formulation is suitable for computing the local transport rates of fine to coarse sand on continental shelves in conditions ranging from small currents to moderate currents combined with non-breaking waves.     

Does the Ulleung eddy owe its existence to β and nonlinearities?

A nonlinear theory for the generation of the Ulleung Warm Eddy (UWE) is proposed. Using the nonlinear reduced gravity (shallow water) equations, it is shown analytically that the eddy is established in order to balance the northward momentum flux (i.e., the flow force) exerted by the separating western boundary current (WBC). In this scenario, the presence of β produces a southward (eddy) force balancing the northward momentum flux imparted by the separating East Korean Warm Current (EKWC).It is found that, for a high Rossby number EKWC (i.e., highly nonlinear current), the eddy radius is roughly 2R_d/ε^1/6 (here ε≡βR_d/f₀, where R_d is the Rossby radius), implying that the UWE has a scale larger than that of most eddies (R_d). This solution suggests that, in contrast to the familiar idea attributing the formation of eddies to instabilities (i.e., the breakdown of a known steady solution), the UWE is an integral part of the steady stable solution. The solution also suggests that a weak WBC does not produce an eddy (due to the absence of nonlinearity).A reduced gravity numerical model is used to further analyze the relationship between β, nonlinearity and the eddy formation. First, we show that a high Rossby number WBC which is forced to separate from the wall on an f plane does not produce an eddy near the separation. To balance the northward momentum force imparted by the nonlinear boundary current, the f plane system moves constantly offshore, producing a southward Coriolis force. We then show that, as β is introduced to the problem, an anticyclonic eddy is formed. The numerical balance of forces shows that, as suggested by the analytical reasoning, the southward force produced by the eddy balances the northward flow force imparted by the boundary current. We also found that the observed eddy scale in the Japan/East Sea agrees with the analytical estimate for a nonlinear current.