Abstract. The use of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) to investigate the ocean surface provides a wealth of useful information that is very seldom used to its full potential. Here we will discuss the application of multifractal techniques to detect oil spills and the dynamic state of the sea regarding turbulent diffusion. We present different techniques in order to relate the shape of the multifractal spectral functions and the maximum fractal dimension to the behaviour of the ocean surface. We compare eddy and sheared dominated flows with convective driven flows and discuss the different features and observation methods. We also compare the scaling of different oil spills detected by means of SAR images. Recent spills and weathered ones are selected and compared to investigate their behaviour in different spatial and temporal ranges. We calculate the partition function based on the grey intensity value of each SAR pixel deriving several types of multifractal spectra as a function of spill residence time estimated for each image. Image manipulations are seen to reduce the speckle noise and thus distinguish much better the texture of the oil spill images. The results are used to discuss how eddy diffusivity may be estimated and used in a description of the ocean surface using a simple turbulence kinematic simulation model to predict the shape of oil spills. Differences in the multifractal spectrum among SAR images may detect the slicks due to plankton and also provide information on the age of the oil spills, on the Lagrangian turbulent structure and on ocean surface diffusivity.
Abstract. The behavior of a forced plume is mainly controlled by the source buoyancy and momentum fluxes and the efficiency of turbulent mixing between the plume and the ambient fluid (stratified or not). The interaction between the plume and the ambient fluid controls the plume dynamics and is usually represented by the entrainment coefficient α E . Commonly used one-dimensional models incorporating a constant entrainment coefficient are fundamental and very useful for predictions in geophysical flows and industrial situations. Nevertheless, if the basic geometry of the flow changes, or the type of source or the environmental fluid conditions (e.g., level of turbulence, shear, ambient stratification, presence of internal waves), new models allowing for variable entrainment are necessary. The presented paper is an experimental study based on a set of turbulent plume experiments in a calm unstratified ambient fluid under different source conditions (represented by different buoyancy and momentum fluxes). The main result is that the entrainment coefficient is not a constant and clearly varies in time within the same plume independently of the buoyancy and the source position. This paper also analyzes the influence of the source conditions on the mentioned time evolution. The measured entrainment coefficient α E has considerable variability. It ranges between 0.26 and 0.9 for variable Atwood number experiments and between 0.16 and 0.55 for variable source position experiments. As is observed, values are greater than the traditional standard value of Morton et al. (1956) for plumes and jets, which is about 0.13.
The advances in radar sensors may be applied to study the flow in the Region of Fresh Water Influence (ROFI) region of the ocean. The Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is a useful tool that may be used to study both marine water dynamics and its pollution. Oil spills and natural slicks may be detected and processed with advanced computer techniques to reveal vortex dynamics and turbulence spectral characteristics of the complex eddy and current interaction in the ocean surface, more than 300 SAR images of the North-west Mediterranean Sea area taken between December 1996 and December 1998 were analyzed. A total of 255 eddies were detected under convenient environmental conditions and we analyzed statistically the appearance, size, shape and position of vortices in the test area. We find that the maximum size of the eddies detected near the coast is limited by the Rossby deformation radius and that there is a decrease in size in the coastal waters in the direction of the Liguro-Provenzal current with the largest eddies occurring near the cape of Rosas. Near the Rhone and Ebro rivers, high discharges also contribute to eddy forcing, coastal radar measurements confirm the SAR observations. The role of submarine canyons in the vortex generation is also confirmed due to the asymmetry of their distribution with respect to the thalwegs. It is demonstrated that useful information of a geometrical nature obtained by SAR satellite images may be used to estimate relevant dynamical parameters of coastal flows
River freshwater contribution in the European Atlantic margin and its influence on the sea salinity field are analyzed. The impacts of using a new river discharge database as part of the freshwater forcing in a regional ocean model are assessed. Ocean model scenarios, based on the CMEMS (Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service) operational IBI-MFC (Iberia Biscay Ireland Monitoring Forecasting Centre) model set‑up, are run to test different (observed, modeled and climatological) river and coastal freshwater forcing configurations throughout 2018. The modelled salinity fields are validated, using as a reference all known available in-situ observational data sources. The IBI model application is proven to adequately simulate the regional salinity, and the scenarios showcase the effects of varying imposed river outflows. Some model improvement is achieved using the new forcing (i.e., better capture of salinity variability and more realistic simulation of baroclinic frontal structures linked to coastal and river freshwater buoyancy plumes). Major impacts are identified in areas with bigger river discharges (i.e., the French shelf or the northwestern Iberian coast). Instead, the Portuguese shelf or the Gulf of Cadiz are less impacted by changes in the imposed river inflows, and other dynamical factors in these areas play a major role in the configuration of the regional salinity.
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