The Vertical Structure of Shear and Dissipation in the Ocean Surface Layer

Abstract

We compare measured profiles of upper layer shear and rates of kinetic energy dissipation with the predictions of a one-dimensional turbulence model proposed by Craig and Banner (1994). Their formulation contains an unknown parameter, the "roughness length" Zo, which we determine by fitting computed and observed dissipation rates. The resulting model, without further adjustment, is then used to compute downwind current profiles which compare favorably with observations of shear obtained in winter on the Northern California Shelf as part of the Shelf Mixed Layer Experiment (SMILE).

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1999
Accession Number
ADA365369

Entities

People

  • E. A. Terray
  • M. A. Donelan
  • William M. Drennan

Organizations

  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Temperature
  • Atmospheric Sciences
  • Collapse
  • Coordinate Systems
  • Data Processing
  • Data Sets
  • Dissipation
  • Energy
  • Equations
  • Inertial Navigation Systems
  • Instrumentation
  • Kinetic Energy
  • Layers
  • Measurement
  • Observation
  • Turbulence
  • Turbulent Mixing

Readers

  • Approximation Theory.
  • Atmospheric Science / Meteorology, specifically Wind Wave Turbulence.
  • Oceanography.