An Integrated Modeling and Observational Study of Three-Dimensional Upper Ocean Boundary Layer Dynamics and Parameterizations

Abstract

Existing high resolution regional models typically resolve the mean vertical structure of the upper ocean boundary layer. Physically-based parameterizations of vertical fluxes make it possible to account for subgrid mixing at length scales smaller than the layer depth, but no specialized parameterization is used to represent the dynamics of horizontal mixing below the O(1)km - O(10)km resolution scale. We aim to determine the physical limitations of subgrid parameterization on these scales.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 26, 2012
Accession Number
ADA560290

Entities

People

  • Craig Lee
  • Eric A. D'Asaro
  • Luc Rainville
  • Ramsey Harcourt

Organizations

  • University of Washington

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Boundary Layer
  • Buoyancy
  • Chemistry
  • Electronic Mail
  • High Resolution
  • Layers
  • Measurement
  • Oceans
  • Physics
  • Physics Laboratories
  • Sea Surface Temperature
  • Simulations
  • Surface Temperature
  • Three Dimensional
  • Turbulence
  • Turbulent Mixing
  • Wind Stress

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Coastal Oceanography
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)