Relating millimeter-scale turbulence to meter-scale subtidal erosion and accretion across the fringe of a coastal mangrove forest

Within a wave-exposed mangrove forest, novel field observations are presented, comparing millimeter-scale turbulent water velocity fluctuations with contemporaneous subtidal bed elevation changes. High-resolution velocity and bed level measurements were collected from the unvegetated mudflat, at the mangrove forest fringe, and within the forest interior over multiple tidal cycles (flood–ebb) during a 2-week period. Measurements demonstrated that the spatial variability in vegetation density is a control on sediment transport at sub-meter scales. Scour around single and dense clusters of pneumatophores was predicted by a standard hydraulic engineering equation for wave-induced scour around regular cylinders, when the cylinder diameter in the equations was replaced with the representative diameter of the dense pneumatophore clusters. Waves were dissipated as they propagated into the forest, but dissipation at infragravity periods (> 30 s) was observed to be less than dissipation at shorter periods (< 30 s), consistent with the predictions of a simple model. Cross-wavelet analysis revealed that infragravity-frequency fluctuations in the bed level were occasionally coherent with velocity, possibly indicating scour upstream of dense pneumatophore patches when infragravity waves reinforced tidal currents. Consequently, infragravity waves were a likely driver of sediment transport within the mangrove forest. Near-bed turbulent kinetic energy, estimated from the turbulent dissipation rate, was also correlated with bed level changes. Specifically, within the mangrove forest and over the unvegetated mudflat, high-energy events were associated with erosion or near-zero bed level change, whereas low-energy events were associated with accretion. In contrast, no single relationship between bed level changes and mean current velocity was applicable across both vegetated and unvegetated regions. These observations support the theory that sediment mobilization scales with turbulent energy, rather than mean velocity, a distinction that becomes important when vegetation controls the development of turbulence.     

The “slip law” of the free surface

A “slip law” connects the excess velocity or “slip” of a wind-blown water surface, relative to the motion in the middle of the mixed layer, to the wind stress, the wind-wave field, and buoyancy flux. An inner layer-outer layer model of the turbulent shear flow in the mixed layer is appropriate, as for a turbulent boundary layer or Ekman layer over a solid surface, allowing, however, for turbulent kinetic energy transfer from the air-side via breaking waves, and for Stokes drift. Asymptotic matching of the velocity distributions in inner and outer portions of the mixed layer yields a slip law of logarithmic form, akin to the drag law of a turbulent boundary layer. The dominant independent variable is the ratio of water-side roughness length to mixed layer depth or turbulent Ekman depth. Convection due to surface cooling is also an important influence, reducing surface slip. Water-side roughness length is a wind-wave property, varying with wind speed similarly to air-side roughness. Slip velocity is typically 20 times water-side friction velocity or 3% of wind speed, varying within a range of about 2 to 4.5%. A linearized model of turbulent kinetic energy distribution shows much higher values near the surface than in a wall layer. Nondimensional dissipation peaks at a value of about eight, a short distance below the surface.     

Dimensionless measures of turbulent magnetohydrodynamic dissipation rates

The magnetic Reynolds number, R _M, is defined as the product of a characteristic scale and associated flow speed divided by the microphysical magnetic diffusivity. For laminar flows, R _M also approximates the ratio of advective to dissipative terms in the total magnetic energy equation, but for turbulent flows this latter ratio depends on the energy spectra and approaches unity in a steady state. To generalize for flows of arbitrary spectra we define an effective magnetic dissipation number,   R _M,e  , as the ratio of the advection to microphysical dissipation terms in the total magnetic energy equation, incorporating the full spectrum of scales, arbitrary magnetic Prandtl numbers, and distinct pairs of inner and outer scales for magnetic and kinetic spectra. As expected, for a substantial parameter range   R _M,e∼ O (1) ≪ R _M  . We also distinguish   R _M,e  from     where the latter is an effective magnetic Reynolds number for the mean magnetic field equation when a turbulent diffusivity is explicitly imposed as a closure. That   R _M,e  and     approach unity even if   R _M≫ 1  highlights that, just as in hydrodynamic turbulence, energy dissipation of large-scale structures in turbulent flows via a cascade can be much faster than the dissipation of large-scale structures in laminar flows. This illustrates that the rate of energy dissipation by magnetic reconnection is much faster in turbulent flows, and much less sensitive to microphysical reconnection rates compared to laminar flows.     

LOLAS: an optical turbulence profiler in the atmospheric boundary layer with extreme altitude resolution

We report the development and first results of an instrument called Low Layer SCIDAR (Scintillation Detection and Ranging) (LOLAS) which is aimed at the measurement of optical-turbulence profiles in the atmospheric boundary layer with high altitude resolution. The method is based on the Generalized SCIDAR (GS) concept, but unlike the GS instruments which need a 1-m or larger telescope, LOLAS is implemented on a dedicated 40-cm telescope, making it an independent instrument. The system is designed for widely separated double-star targets, which enables the high altitude resolution. Using a 200-arcsec-separation double star, we have obtained turbulence profiles with unprecedented 12-m resolution. The system incorporates necessary novel algorithms for autoguiding, autofocus and image stabilization. The results presented here were obtained at Mauna Kea Observatory. They show LOLAS capabilities but cannot be considered as representative of the site. A forthcoming paper will be devoted to the site characterization. The instrument was built as part of the Ground Layer Turbulence Monitoring Campaign on Mauna Kea for Gemini Observatory.     

Dynamo coefficients from local simulations of the turbulent ISM

Observations in polarized emission reveal the existence of large‐scale coherent magnetic fields in a wide range of spiral galaxies. Radio‐polarization data show that these fields are strongly inclined towards the radial direction, with pitch angles up to 35° and thus cannot be explained by differential rotation alone. Global dynamo models describe the generation of the radial magnetic field from the underlying turbulence via the so called α ‐effect. However, these global models still rely on crude assumptions about the small‐scale turbulence. To overcome these restrictions we perform fully dynamical MHD simulations of interstellar turbulence driven by supernova explosions. From our simulations we extract profiles of the contributing diagonal elements of the dynamo α ‐tensor as functions of galactic height. We also measure the coefficients describing vertical pumping and find that the ratio between these two effects has been overestimated in earlier analytical work, where dynamo action seemed impossible. In contradiction to these models based on isolated remnants we always find the pumping to be directed inward. In addition we observe that depends on whether clustering in terms of superbubbles is taken into account. Finally, we apply a test field method to derive a quantitative measure of the turbulent magnetic diffusivity which we determine to be ∼2 kpckms^–1. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Hopf bifurcations with fluctuating gain

A Hopf bifurcation describes a transition from a steady state to an oscillatory one. This report describes how the presence of white Gaussian noise in the term driving the instability (the gain) affects the character of such a transition. We find that for small noise intensities the effective critical value of the bifurcation parameter increases linearly with the noise intensity. This result is used to quantitatively describe the onset of the magneto‐rotational instability in a laboratory experiment using liquid metal with turbulent background flow. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Nonhelical mean‐field dynamos in a sheared turbulence

Mechanisms of nonhelical large‐scale dynamos (shear‐current dynamo and effect of homogeneous kinetic helicity fluctuations with zero mean) in a homogeneous turbulence with large‐scale shear are discussed. We have found that the shearcurrent dynamo can act even in random flows with small Reynolds numbers. However, in this case mean‐field dynamo requires small magnetic Prandtl numbers (i.e., when Pm < Pm^cr < 1). The threshold in the magnetic Prandtl number, Pm^cr = 0.24, is determined using second order correlation approximation (or first‐order smoothing approximation) for a background random flow with a scale‐dependent viscous correlation time τ_c = (νk 2)^–1 (where ν is the kinematic viscosity of the fluid and k is the wave number). For turbulent flows with large Reynolds numbers shear‐current dynamo occurs for arbitrary magnetic Prandtl numbers. This dynamo effect represents a very generic mechanism for generating large‐scale magnetic fields in a broad class of astrophysical turbulent systems with large‐scale shear. On the other hand, mean‐field dynamo due to homogeneous kinetic helicity fluctuations alone in a sheared turbulence is not realistic for a broad class of astrophysical systems because it requires a very specific random forcing of kinetic helicity fluctuations that contains, e.g., low‐frequency oscillations. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Conditional statistics of Reynolds shear stress in flow over 2D dunes in the presence of surface waves

This study presents the analysis of the velocity fluctuations to describe the conditional statistics of Reynolds shear stress in flow over two‐dimensional dunes in the presence of surface waves of varying frequency. The flow velocity measurements over the dunes are made using a 16‐MHz 3D acoustic Doppler velocimeter. The joint probability distributions of the normalized stream‐wise and vertical velocity fluctuations at different vertical locations are calculated in the trough region of a selected dune in quasi‐steady region of the flow. Third‐order moments of the stream‐wise and vertical velocity components over one dune length are also calculated throughout the flow depth for understanding the effect of surface waves on relative contributions to the Reynolds shear stress due to the four quadrant events. The structure of instantaneous Reynolds stresses is analysed using quadrant analysis technique. It has been shown that the contributions of second and fourth quadrant events to the Reynolds shear stress increase with increase in the frequency of surface waves. In fact, the largest contribution to turbulent stresses comes from the second quadrant. The cumulant discard method is applied to describe the statistical properties of the covariance term u′w′. Conditional statistics and conditional sampling are used to compare the experimental and theoretical relative contributions to the Reynolds shear stress from the four quadrant events. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

模式水平扩散参数化的数值分析与试验

为了研究整个对流层中水平扩散系数（Ｋｙ）随高度变化的参数化形式以及平流格式的数值扩攻对物质浓度分布的影响及二者对模式结果影响的相互关系,本文用“高分辨对流层物质交换模式”（ＥＭ３）对三咱不同ＫＹ参数化型能对行星边界层（ＰＢＬ）内受下垫面影响的高湍流ＰＢＬ以上整个对流层受水平风切变产生的切变湍流分层结构具有良好的描述能力;模式采用几乎无数值扩散二阶矩守恒的Ｐｒａｔｈｅｒ平流差分格式代替模式Ｓｍｏｌａ     

晴空回波特征与风场信息应用

为研究晴空回波风场信息在对流性降水天气中的预警应用价值,选取山东省临沂雷达站2008—2013年5—9月的观测数据分析降水晴空回波特征。研究发现:临沂地区5—9月约87%的日数会出现晴空回波,且90%以上出现在距离雷达站100km范围之内,反射率因子多在10~25dBz,具有明显日变化;晴空回波的速度产品能提供有效监测对流性降水出现前的大气低层风场信息,能一定程度反映低层湍流的耗散率,对降水过程有一定的指示性,相关研究成果对降低对流天气漏报率和提高预警提前量有重要意义。