Numerical simulations of Rossby–Haurwitz waves

Simulations of Rossby–Haurwitz waves have been carried out using four different high‐resolution numerical shallow water models: a spectral model, two semi‐Langrangian models predicting wind components and potential vorticity respectively, and a finite‐volume model on a hexagonal–icosahedral grid. The simulations show that (i) unlike the nondivergent case, the shallow water Rossby–Haurwitz wave locally generates small‐scale features and so has a potential enstrophy cascade, and (ii) contrary to common belief, the zonal wavenumber 4 Rossby–Haurwitz wave is dynamically unstable and will eventually break down if initially perturbed. Implications of these results for the use of the Rossby–Haurwitz wave as a numerical model test case are discussed. The four models tested give very similar results, giving confidence in the accuracy and robustness of the results. The most noticeable difference between the models is that truncation errors in the hexagonal–icosahedral grid model excite the Rossby–Haurwitz wave instability, causing the wave to break down quickly, whereas for the other models in the configurations tested the instability is excited only by roundoff error at worst, and the Rossby–Haurwitz wave breaks down much more slowly or not at all.     

Dynamics of a Wave Packet on the Surface of an Inhomogeneously Vortical Fluid (Lagrangian Description)

A nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NSE) describing packets of weakly nonlinear waves in an inhomogeneously vortical infinitely deep fluid has been derived. The vorticity is assumed to be an arbitrary function of Lagrangian coordinates and quadratic in the small parameter proportional to the wave steepness. It is shown that the modulational instability criteria for the weakly vortical waves and potential Stokes waves on deep water coincide. The effect of vorticity manifests itself in a shift of the wavenumber of high-frequency filling. A special case of Gerstner waves with a zero coefficient at the nonlinear term in the NSE is noted.     

A time‐split, forward‐backward numerical model for solving a nonhydrostatic and compressible system of equations

In this paper, we present a numerical procedure for solving a 2‐dimensional, compressible, and nonhydrostatic system of equations. A forward‐backward integration scheme is applied to treat high‐frequency and internal gravity waves explicitly. The numerical procedure is shown to be neutral in time as long as a Courant–Friedrichs–Lewy criterion is met. Compared to the leap‐frog‐scheme most models use, this method involves only two time steps, which requires less memory and is also free from unstable computational modes. Hence, a time‐filter is not needed. Advection and diffusion terms are calculated with a time step longer than sound‐wave related terms, so that extensive computer time can be saved. In addition, a new numerical procedure for the free‐slip bottom boundary condition is developed to avoid using inaccurate one‐sided finite difference of pressure in the surface horizontal momentum equation when the terrain effect is considered. We have demonstrated the accuracy and stability of this new model in both linear and nonlinear situations. In linear mountain wave simulations, the model results match the corresponding analytical solution very closely for all three cases presented in this paper. The analytical streamlines for uniform flow over a narrow mountain range were obtained through numerical integration of Queney's mathematical solution. It was found Queney's original diagram is not very accurate. The diagram had to be redrawn before it was used to verify our model results. For nonlinear tests, we simulated the famous 1972 Boulder windstorm and a bubble convection in an isentropic enviroment. Although there are no analytical solutions for the two nonlinear tests, the model results are shown to be very robust in terms of spatial resolution, lateral boundary conditions, and the use of the time-split scheme.     

Some remarks on the westward propagation of the monsoon depression

Several westward propagation properties of the Indian monsoon depression were neglected by previous studies. They include:(1) the slower propagation speed of the depression depicted by a quasi‐geostrophic model, (2) the initiation of the asymmetric secondary circulation with respect to the depression center, and (3) the absence of the depression perturbation in the upper troposphere. Some further insights into these neglected propagation properties of the depression are obtained from the streamfunction budget analysis with the ECMWF (European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts) reanalysis data. (1) The inclusion of relative vorticity stretching, which is neglected in a quasi‐geostrophic model, increases the depression's westward propagation speed. (2) Within the large‐scale environment of the summer monsoon, the coupling of the east‐west differentiation of the meridional absolute vorticity advection with the CISK mechanism is conducive to the initiation and development of the asymmetric secondary circulation associated with the depression. (3) The Tibetan high is formed by summertime global‐scale stationary waves which are maintained by a Sverdrup balance. The positive streamfunction tendency induced by the upper‐tropospheric vortex stretching over the monsoon region suppresses the development of the monsoon depression in the upper troposphere.     

夏季风场对长江冲淡水扩展影响的数值模拟

建立一个σ坐标系下三维非线性斜压陆架模式，研究长江冲淡扩展的动力机制。数值试验再现了夏季长江冲淡水转向东北的现象，夏季风场对长江冲淡水扩展的影响，取决于风速的大小和动向，风速为３ｍ／ｓ的南风，对冲淡水向北扩展的影响比较明显，而当南风风速达到６ｍ／ｓ时，则起着十分显著的作用，西南风加强了冲淡水向东扩展，但对南北向的扩展影响甚微，东南风抑了冲淡水向东扩散，并使之偏向西北，明确阐明了夏季风场对冲淡水扩展     

完全非线性孤立波的直墙反射

报道了应用边界积分方法模拟完全非线性孤立波的传播与直墙反射,给出了波形演变过程。结果表明,本模型对计算孤立波的传播与直墙反射是有效的。三阶Boussinesq方程的孤立波解比低阶方程的孤立波解更接近完全非线性的数值解.当来波波高增大时,孤立波直墙反射的相位滞后变小。若考虑大波高孤立波的直墙反射或波——波相互作用,一阶理论预报的相位滞后往往低估实际情况。     

Measurements and modelling of the advection of suspended sediment in the swash zone by solitary waves

Novel laboratory experiments and numerical modelling have been performed to study the advection scales of suspended sediment in the swash zone. An experiment was designed specifically to measure only the sediment picked up seaward of the swash zone and during bore collapse. The advection scales and settling of this sediment were measured during the uprush along a rigid sediment-free beach face by a sediment trap located at varying cross-shore positions. Measurements were made using a number of repeated solitary broken waves or bores. Approximately 25% of the pre-suspended sediment picked up by the bores reaches the mid-swash zone (50% of the horizontal run-up distance), indicating the importance of the sediment advection in the lower swash zone. The pre-suspended sediment is sourced from a region seaward of the shoreline (still water line) which has a width of about 20% of the run-up distance. An Eulerian–Lagrangian numerical model is used to model the advection scales of the suspended sediment. The model resolves the hydrodynamics by solving the non-linear shallow water equations in an Eulerian framework and then solves the advection–diffusion equation for turbulence and suspended sediment in a Lagrangian framework. The model provides good estimates of the measured mass and distribution of sediment advected up the beach face. The results suggest that the correct modelling of turbulence generation prior to and during bore collapse and the advection of the turbulent kinetic energy into the lower swash is important in resolving the contribution of pre-suspended sediment to the net sediment transport in the swash zone.     

A New Class of Edge Baroclinic Waves and the Mechanism of Their Generation

Edge baroclinic waves are generated in a geostrophic flow with a vertical shear near a solid surface. The study investigates a new class of baroclinic waves in flows with horizontal and vertical shears and a linear distribution of potential vorticity. It is shown that taking account of the horizontal shear leads to the appearance of new features of wave dynamics. These include the nonmodal growth of energy in the initial stage of development, the time dependence of the vertical wave scale, and the possibility of generation of stationary or blocked waves. The horizontal shear makes the mechanism of generation of baroclinic waves by initial vortex perturbations more efficient. One important feature is associated with vortex paths, which are formed by the superposition of a baroclinic wave on the flow with horizontal shear.     

Interactions of Mesoscale Eddy and Western Boundary Current: A Reduced-Gravity Numerical Model Study

A reduced-gravity primitive equation eddy resolving model is used to study the interaction of a typhoon-induced eddy and a wind-driven general circulation. A typhoon-induced eddy is characterized by a core with a relative vorticity of the same order as the local Coriolis parameter. This eddy is neutrally stable relative to a disturbance induced by the westward advection of the eddy, due to the planetary β-effect. Hence, its evolution in the open ocean is similar to the classical frontal geostrophic eddy. Within the western boundary flow regime, the eddy is entrained northward by the mean circulation. This northward eddy advection and the mean-vorticity advection due to eddy flow induce another disturbance with a north-south asymmetry into the circular eddy. Together with the zonal asymmetric disturbance, associated with the planetary β-effect, the original circular eddy becomes unstable. The nonlinear eddy-flow interactions in the eastern flank of a western boundary current causes the eddy to deform quickly into an ellipse and lose its waters and energy into the mean circulation.     

Linear dynamics of Eady waves in the presence of horizontal shear

The problem of the instability of the flow of a stratified rotating fluid with constant vertical and horizontal shears is investigated within the framework of a quasi-geostrophic approximation. It is shown that the horizontal shear, when taken into account, leads to a qualitative change in the dynamics of Eady waves, i.e., wave solutions with zero potential vorticity. The main salient feature is related to the effect of the temporary exponential growth of the unstable waves, i.e., the growth effect in a finite time interval. This effect is manifested by an alternation of the stages of a smooth oscillating behavior (in time) with an exponential (explosive) growth of finite duration. A kinematic interpretation of the effect of the temporary exponential growth is suggested which is associated with the passage of a time-dependent wave disturbance vector across the domain of the exponential instability existing in the absence of horizontal shear. Along with the dynamics of individual Eady waves, the generation process of these waves—caused by an initial disturbance defined by one spatial Fourier harmonic—is also investigated. It is shown that this process is accompanied by the formation of nonmodal waves, with time-varying horizontal and vertical wavenumbers and nonzero potential vorticity. The interaction of the nonmodal wave with the background flow leads to an algebraic growth of the Eady wave at the initial cyclogenesis stage.     

The application of a Godunov-type shock capturing scheme for the simulation of waves from deep water up to the swash zone

A two-dimensional vertical (2DV) non-hydrostatic boundary fitted model based on a Godunov-type shock-capturing scheme is introduced and applied to the simulation of waves from deep water up to the swash zone. The effects of shoaling, breaking, surf zone dissipation and swash motions are considered. The application of a Godunov-type shock-capturing algorithm together with an implicit solver on a standard staggered grid is proposed as a new approach in the 2DV simulation of large gradient problems such as wave breaking and hydraulic jumps. The complete form of conservative Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations are solved using an implicit finite volume method with a pressure correction technique. The horizontal advection of the horizontal velocity is solved by an explicit predictor–corrector method. Fluxes are predicted by an exact Riemann solver and corrected by a downwind scheme. A simple total variation diminishing (TVD) method with a monotonic upstream-centered scheme for conservation laws (MUSCL) limiter function is employed to eliminate undesirable oscillations across discontinuities. Validation of the model is carried out by comparing the results of the simulations with several experimental test cases of wave breaking and run-up and the analytical solution to linear short waves in deep water. Promising performance of the model has been observed.     

Large-wave simulation of three-dimensional,cross-shore and oblique,spilling breaking on constant slope beach

In this work, the large-wave simulation (LWS) method is adapted for application in spilling wave breaking over a constant slope beach. According to LWS, large scales of velocities, pressure and free-surface elevation are numerically resolved, while the corresponding unresolved scale effects are taken into consideration by a subgrid scale (SGS) model for wave and eddy stresses. The model may be not fully applicable in very shallow water, close to the shoreline, where the unresolved, turbulent, free-surface oscillation is of the same order with the water depth. Time integration of the Euler equations is achieved by a two-stage fractional scheme, combined with a hybrid scheme for spatial discretization, consisting of finite difference and pseudospectral approximation methods. Model parameters are calibrated by comparison to available experimental data of free-surface elevation and velocities in the surf zone for cross-shore incoming waves. The action of the wave SGS stresses in the outer coastal and surf zones initiates breaking and generates appropriate vorticity, in the form of an eddy structure (surface roller), at the breaking wavefront. At incipient breaking, both advection and gravity contribute to the vorticity flux at the free surface, while only after the full development of the surface roller, the effect of advection becomes stronger. The SGS model is also utilized to simulate propagation, refraction and breaking of oblique incoming waves. The gradual breaking and dissipation of wave crestlines and the surface roller structure along the breaking wavefront are automatically captured without any empirical input, such as data for the roller shape or the wave propagation angle at breaking.     

斜压海洋动力学的一种三维数值模式 Ⅰ.动力学方程数值格式

依据自由海面海洋动力学原始方程建立了一种三维有限差分数值模式,可用于潮波、风暴潮和海流的数值模拟和预报。运动方程和连续方程的数值格式采用内、外模态分离的技术。外模态采用交替方向隐格式,用于计算海面高度和垂直平均流速,时间步长不受Ｃｏｕｒａｎｔ－Ｆｒｉｄｅｒｉｃｈｓ－Ｌｅｗｙ条件限制;内模态采用半隐格式,用于计算海流的垂直２颁布,其时间步长可大于外模态时间步长。模式的计算程度比一般显式模式可快１０倍     

Numerical study of rapid cyclogenesis over sea

A five-layer primitive equation model was used in the study of rapid cyclogenesis over sea. The numerical simulations show that'the Tibetan Plateau, large-scale baroclinicity and heat flux from the sea surface are the three important agents to produce cyclonic vorticity along the east coast of China. The diagnostic computation of a 24 h control simulation indicates that the nonlinear vorticity advec-tion, baroclinicity and diabatic heating are also responsible for the development of the extratropical cyclones over seas.     

The mixing mechanism in the formation of ocean shear waves

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A note on solitary waves along potential vorticity fronts on anf-plane

The effects of short waves on the propagration of velocity discontinuity along the interface of two uniform potential vorticity, zones on anf-plane is examined. It is shown, using a multiple scale analysis, that the dispersion introduced by the short waves can balance the nonlinear steepening effects predicted by the semigeostrophic theory. The time evolution of a shear disturbance along the front is governed by a Korteweg-de Vries equation. Numerical solutions of the solitary waves along the front are presented.     

Interaction of dispersive water waves with weakly sheared currents of arbitrary profile

A set of depth-integrated equations describing combined wave–current flows is derived and validated. To account for the effect of turbulence induced by interactions between waves and currents with arbitrary horizontal vorticity, new additional stress terms are introduced. These stresses are functions of a parameter b that relates the relative importance of wave radiation stress and bottom friction stress to the wave–current interaction. To solve the equations, a fourth-order MUSCL-TVD scheme with an approximate Riemann solver is adopted. As a first-order check of the model, the Doppler shift effect and wave dispersion over linearly sheared currents are analytically shown to be retained appropriately in the equation set. The model results are then validated through comparisons with three experimental data sets. First, based on the experiments of Kemp and Simons (1982, 1983), a reasonable functional form of b is estimated. Second, simulations examining the propagation of a weakly dispersive wave over a depth-uniform or linearly sheared current are performed. Finally, the model is applied to a more complex configuration where bichromatic waves interact with spatially varying currents. Simulated results indicate that the model is capable of predicting nearshore interactions of waves with currents of arbitrary vertical structure. One of the unique properties of the developed model is its ability to assimilate an external current field from any source, be it from a circulation model or an observation, and predict the interaction of a nonlinear and dispersive wave field with that current.     

An efficient mode-splitting method for a curvilinear nearshore circulation model

A mode-splitting method is applied to the quasi-3D nearshore circulation equations in generalized curvilinear coordinates. The gravity wave mode and the vorticity wave mode of the equations are derived using the two-step projection method. Using an implicit algorithm for the gravity mode and an explicit algorithm for the vorticity mode, we combine the two modes to derive a mixed difference–differential equation with respect to surface elevation. McKee et al.'s [McKee, S., Wall, D.P., and Wilson, S.K., 1996. An alternating direction implicit scheme for parabolic equations with mixed derivative and convective terms. J. Comput. Phys., 126, 64–76.] ADI scheme is then used to solve the parabolic-type equation in dealing with the mixed derivative and convective terms from the curvilinear coordinate transformation. Good convergence rates are found in two typical cases which represent respectively the motions dominated by the gravity mode and the vorticity mode. Time step limitations imposed by the vorticity convective Courant number in vorticity-mode-dominant cases are discussed. Model efficiency and accuracy are verified in model application to tidal current simulations in San Francisco Bight.     

Interaction mechanisms among waves,currents and a submerged plate

Wave-induced loads on a submerged plate, representative of submerged breakwater, coastal-bridge deck and a certain type of wave energy converter, in a uniform current are investigated in this study using fully nonlinear numerical wave tanks (NWTs) based on potential flow theory. The coupling effect of wave and current is explored, and the underlying interaction mechanisms of the hydrodynamic forces are described. The presence of a background current modifies the frequency dispersion. It produces changes of the water-surface elevation, and also has an effect on wave-induced loads. Depending on the nonlinearity, higher harmonic wave components are generated above the submerged plate. These contribute to the wave forces. It is found that the horizontal and the vertical force, hence the moment, are affected in the opposite way by the currents. The Doppler shifted effect dominates the vertical force and the moment on the plate. Whereas, the Doppler shifted effect and the generation of higher wave harmonics play opposite roles on the horizontal forces. The contribution of 2^nd order harmonics is found to be up to 30% of the linear component. The current-induced drag force, represented by the advection term ρU∂φ/∂x in the pressure equation, is found to lead to a decrease in the moment for the most range of wavelengths considered, and an increase in the moment for a small range of longer waves.