Introduction to the Special Issue: Flow Encountering Abrupt Topography (FLEAT): A Multiscale Observational and Modeling Program to Understand How Topography Affects Flows in the Western North Pacific

Abstract

Using a combination of models and observations, the US Office of Naval Research Flow Encountering Abrupt Topography (FLEAT) initiative examines how island chains and submerged ridges affect open ocean current systems, from the hundreds of kilometer scale of large current features to the millimeter scale of turbulence. FLEAT focuses on the western Pacific, mainly on equatorial currents that encounter steep topography near the island nation of Palau. Wake eddies and lee waves as small as 1 km were observed to form as these currents flowed around or over the steep topography. The direction and vertical structure of the incident flow varied over tidal, inertial, seasonal, and interannual timescales, with implications for downstream flow. Models incorporated tides and had grids with resolutions of hundreds of meters to enable predictions of flow transformations as waters encountered and passed around Palau's islands. In addition to making scientific advances, FLEAT had a positive impact on the local Palauan community by bringing new technology to explore local waters, expanding the countrys scientific infrastructure, maintaining collaborations with Palauan partners, and conducting outreach activities aimed at elementary and high school students, US embassy personnel, and Palauan government officials.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 2019
Accession Number
AD1098287

Entities

People

  • Bo Qiu
  • Brian K. Arbic
  • Brian Powell
  • Daniel L. Rudnick
  • Eric Terrill
  • H. W. Wijesekera
  • Hans C. Graber
  • Harper L. Simmons
  • Jennifer MacKinnon
  • Karl Helfrich
  • Louis St. Laurent
  • Luca Centurioni
  • Magdalena Andres
  • Martha C. Schoenau
  • Matthew H. Alford
  • Patrick L. Colin
  • Pierre F. J. Lermusiaux
  • Ruth Musgrave
  • S. Johnston
  • Terri Paluszkiewicz
  • Verena Hormann

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Sensors
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Boundary Layer
  • Climate Change
  • Communities
  • Coral Reefs
  • Ecology
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Fluid Mechanics
  • Froude Number
  • Multiscale Modeling
  • Ocean Currents
  • Oceanography
  • Physics Laboratories
  • Ridges
  • Topography
  • Turbulence
  • Turbulent Mixing
  • Underwater Acoustics

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Modeling, Data Assimilation, and Flux Boundary Layers
  • Oceanography.
  • Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Cognitive Aging in the Guam and Border Populations Affected by Alzheimer's Disease and Tau-Associated Dementias.