Vortex Generation Due to Coastal and Topographic Interactions and Numerical Studies of Internal Wave Dynamics
1998
Carnevale, George F.
Our basic goal is to achieve a better understanding of the turbulent flow of the oceans in terms of the laws that govern the behavior of vortices and waves and their interactions. Our program of research investigates how vortices and waves evolve and interact subject to oceanographically relevant forces. In particular, we are aiming at a better understanding of how internal wave energy propagates through the spectrum of physical scales and how it propagates from the deep ocean to the shallow coastal zones. Also we wish to understand the processes by which vortices and currents are generated in coastal regions. In our internal-wave project, we are trying to answer several basic questions: How is energy transferred from large-scale perturbations down to the smallest scales where dissipation occurs? Can the range of behaviors observed in isopycnal separation statistics be captured in large-eddy simulation models? How do flow and density fluctuation statistics change as the depth of the ocean varies. In our project on coastal interactions, the questions that we are trying to answer have to do with how the presence of a coast affects the basic processes involved in the evolution of vortices and currents. We wish to determine the role coastal topography plays in generating vortices and deflecting vortices incident on the coast. Further, we wish to understand the role that coastal topography plays in permitting or inhibiting the bifurcations of coastal currents.
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