A Turbulence Velocity Scale for Predicting the Fate of Buoyant Materials in the Oceanic Mixed Layer

Chor, Tomás; Yang, Di; Meneveau, Charles; Chamecki, Marcelo

doi:10.1029/2018gl080296

Cited by 18 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 32 publications

(77 reference statements)

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“…Colors indicate simulations driven by wind stress and Stokes drift (blue), buoyancy flux (orange), wind stress (green), and different combinations of wind stress, Stokes drift, and buoyancy flux (red and magenta). Figure reproduced from Chor et al ().…”

Section: Applications Of Les To Materials Transport In the Omlmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…One of the advantages of defining a general velocity scale encompassing all the turbulence production mechanisms is that it allows for the definition of a generalized floatability parameter (Chor et al, ),

β = \frac{w_{t}}{W},

with W given by equation . Based on Figure , we conclude that particles with β ≤ 0.1 behave approximately as tracers, while particles with β ≥ 1 behave approximately as floaters.…”

Section: Applications Of Les To Materials Transport In the Omlmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Chor et al () developed a simple model to predict mean transport velocity of buoyant particles U h by neglecting horizontal transport by turbulence and using equation to describe the mean concentration profile. The model is given by

U_{h} = \frac{1}{false| h - z_{c} false|} \int_{h}^{z_{c}} C_{0} {\overset{u}{true}}_{h} false(z false) {((), \frac{1 - z false/ h}{z false/ h})}^{β} \exp ((), \frac{- β}{1 - z false/ h}) d z,

where

{\overset{u}{true}}_{h} false(z false)

is the mean horizontal velocity profile.…”

Section: Applications Of Les To Materials Transport In the Omlmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Values for w t reported here are taken from the following references: a Yang et al (2016). b Chor et al (2018b). c .…”

Section: Reviews Of Geophysicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: 1029/2019rg000655mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Material Transport in the Ocean Mixed Layer: Recent Developments Enabled by Large Eddy Simulations

Chamecki

Chor

Yang

et al. 2019

Reviews of Geophysics

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Material transport in the ocean mixed layer (OML) is an important component of natural processes such as gas and nutrient exchanges. It is also important in the context of pollution (oil droplets, microplastics, etc.). Observational studies of small-scale three-dimensional turbulence in the OML are difficult, especially if one aims at a systematic coverage of relevant parameters and their effects, under controlled conditions. Numerical studies are also challenging due to the large-scale separation between the physical processes dominating transport in the horizontal and vertical directions. Despite this difficulty, the application of large eddy simulation (LES) to study OML turbulence and, more specifically, its effects on material transport has resulted in major advances in the field in recent years. In this paper we review the use of LES to study material transport within the OML and then summarize and synthesize the advances it has enabled in the past decade or so. In the first part we describe the LES technique and the most common approaches when applying it in OML material transport investigations. In the second part we review recent results on material transport obtained using LES and comment on implications. Plain Language SummaryThe transport of materials in the ocean is a topic that has been attracting much interest in the last decades. Much of the importance of this topic lies in the fact that many of the materials considered impact ecosystem health and/or ocean-related industries. As examples we have pollutants (such as plastic and oil spills) and other natural substances like nutrients and phytoplankton. We focus on the upper part of the ocean, which is heavily impacted by the interaction with the atmosphere and, as a result, is particularly difficult to understand and predict. However, using increasingly more powerful computers, scientists have made significant advances over recent years. As a result, a large amount of new research has been made by different research groups investigating different aspects of the problem. In this review, we compile, summarize, and synthesize results produced by computer simulations into a coherent framework with the goal of better understanding the state of art of material transport. Finally, we conclude the paper with open research questions and directions for future research.are capable of producing their own motion in response to different environmental stimuli (e.g., plankton swimming).This review paper consists of two main parts. Part 1 focuses on the LES technique, covering general modeling aspects and specific details relevant for its application to the OML. We focus on application of the technique to the filtered Navier-Stokes equations including relevant terms leading to, for example, the Craik-Leibovich (CL) equations. We discuss several different approaches to subgrid-scale (SGS) modeling that have been used by different groups. We also contrast the use of Eulerian and Lagrangian approaches to represent material transport and their respective advantages an...

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Section: Applications Of Les To Materials Transport In the Omlmentioning

confidence: 96%

β = \frac{w_{t}}{W},

with W given by equation . Based on Figure , we conclude that particles with β ≤ 0.1 behave approximately as tracers, while particles with β ≥ 1 behave approximately as floaters.…”

Section: Applications Of Les To Materials Transport In the Omlmentioning

confidence: 99%