Contrasting dynamic characteristics of shear turbulence and Langmuir circulation in the surface mixed layer

LI Guojing; WANG Dongxiao; CHEN Ju; YAO Jinglong; ZENG Lili; SHU Yeqiang; SUI Dandan

doi:10.1007/s13131-015-0661-4

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Article Navigation > Acta Oceanologica Sinica > 2015 > 34(5): 1-11

LI Guojing, WANG Dongxiao, CHEN Ju, YAO Jinglong, ZENG Lili, SHU Yeqiang, SUI Dandan. Contrasting dynamic characteristics of shear turbulence and Langmuir circulation in the surface mixed layer[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2015, 34(5): 1-11. doi: 10.1007/s13131-015-0661-4

Citation:

LI Guojing, WANG Dongxiao, CHEN Ju, YAO Jinglong, ZENG Lili, SHU Yeqiang, SUI Dandan. Contrasting dynamic characteristics of shear turbulence and Langmuir circulation in the surface mixed layer[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2015, 34(5): 1-11. doi: 10.1007/s13131-015-0661-4

Citation:

LI Guojing, WANG Dongxiao, CHEN Ju, YAO Jinglong, ZENG Lili, SHU Yeqiang, SUI Dandan. Contrasting dynamic characteristics of shear turbulence and Langmuir circulation in the surface mixed layer[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2015, 34(5): 1-11. doi: 10.1007/s13131-015-0661-4

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Contrasting dynamic characteristics of shear turbulence and Langmuir circulation in the surface mixed layer

doi: 10.1007/s13131-015-0661-4

State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China

Received Date: 2013-08-07
Rev Recd Date: 2014-12-21

Abstract

Abstract

Large eddy simulation (LES) is used to investigate contrasting dynamic characteristics of shear turbulence (ST) and Langmuir circulation (LC) in the surface mixed layer (SML). ST is usually induced by wind forcing in SML. LC can be driven by wave-current interaction that includes the roles of wind, wave and vortex forcing. The LES results show that LC suppresses the horizontal velocity and greatly modifies the downwind velocity profile, but increases the vertical velocity. The strong downwelling jets of LC accelerate and increase the downward transport of energy as compared to ST. The vertical eddy viscosity K_m of LC is much larger than that of ST. Strong mixing induced by LC has two locations. They are located in the 2δ_s-3δ_s(Stokes depth scale) and the lower layer of the SML, respectively. Its value and position change periodically with time. In contrast, maximum K_m induced by ST is located in the middle depth of the SML. The turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) generated by LC is larger than that by ST. The differences in vertical distributions of TKE and K_m are evident. Therefore, the parameterization of LC cannot be solely based on TKE. For deep SML, the convection of large-scale eddies in LC plays a main role in downward transport of energy and LC can induce stronger velocity shear (S²) near the SML base. In addition, the large-scale eddies and S² induced by LC is changing all the time, which needs to be fully considered in the parameterization of LC.
- surface mixed layer,
- Langmuir circulation,
- shear turbulence,
- large eddy simulation

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