Experimental study of the Ekman layer instability in steady or oscillating flows

To investigate the instabilities of steady and oscillating Ekman layers, an 8 m×2 m horizontal plate was moved at controlled speed in homogeneous water at rest in solid body rotation in the “Coriolis” 13 m diameter rotating tank. For a steady Ekman layer two distinct wave types were found, in agreement with previous experimental or numerical studies. Type I was stationary, was oriented positively with respect to the flow direction and had a wavelength of about 10 times the Ekman layer thickness. Type II was oriented negatively with respect to the flow direction and had a wavelength which was more than 20 times the Ekman layer thickness and a phase-speed between 0.3 and 0.5 the forcing interior velocity. The growth rates of both type I and type II waves for various Reynolds numbers Re (computed with the Ekman layer thickness) were estimated and their Re-variations qualitatively agree with previous numerical results. For an oscillating Ekman layer, experimental results depended strongly on Ro_t, the temporal Rossby number: only when Ro_t<1 was it possible to observe either type I or type II instabilities. Moreover, for all Ro_t and average to high Re, there was a noticeable upward turbulent transport occurring during each cycle between the flow maximum and the flow reversal. Such an upward turbulent transport is consistent with observations in the English Channel where maximum upward benthic movements and maximum turbidity were recorded at the flow reversal, hence Ekman layer instabilities and transition to turbulence are likely to occur in shallow tidal seas where they may be relevant for sediment resuspension and transport as well as for some biological processes.