Turbulent Flow and Large Surface Wave Events in the Marine Boundary Layers
Abstract
The long term objective of our research for the "High Resolution Air-Sea Interaction" (HRES) Departmental Research Initiative (DRI) is to identify the couplings between large wave events, winds, and currents in the surface layer of the marine boundary layers. Turbulence resolving large eddy simulations (LESs) and direct numerical simulations (DNSs) of the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL) in the presence of time and space varying wave fields will be the main tools used to elucidate wind-wave-current interactions. A suite of turbulence simulations over realistic seas using idealized and observed pressure gradients will be carried out to compliment the field observations collected in moderate to high winds. The database of simulations will be used to generate statistical moments, interrogated for coherent structures, and ultimately used to compare with HRES observations. Our near term goals are: 1) participate in the planning process for the HRES field campaign; and 2) construct an LES code applicable to the HRES high wind regime. In order to accomplish the latter goal we are improving the parallelization of our base LES code and developing an algorithm to allow simulations of turbulent winds over nearly arbitrary 3-D wave fields.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA527171
Entities
People
- James C. McWilliams
- Peter P Sullivan
Organizations
- National Center for Atmospheric Research