Simulations of Air-Sea Boundary Layers at Submesoscale Fronts and Filaments
Abstract
"We propose to use high-fidelity large-eddy simulations (LES) and phase-resolved wave simulation to study air-sea interactions with the submesoscale oceanic structures of fronts and filaments. The main objective of the proposed project is to improve the fundamentalunderstanding of and modeling capabilities for the upper-ocean turbulence, atmospheric turbulence, and surface waves in the presence of submesoscale fronts and filaments.The proposed study builds on our powerful computational framework of Wave-Ocean-Wind(WOW) developed for high-fidelity simulations of marine environment, with modules recentlydeveloped specifically for the front DRI. The highlights of the WOW codes include: (i) phaseresolved simulation of the nonlinear wave field with dynamic interaction with the complexcurrents of fronts and filaments; (ii) wave-surface-fitted and wave-direct-forcing LES for simulations of ocean surface boundary layer (OSBL) in the presence of fronts and filaments; (iii) LES of the turbulent marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL) coupled with the wave solverand the dynamic sea-surface roughness model. We intend to use these unique simulation tools to conduct comprehensive studies of the coupled ocean-wave-air processes in the presence of frontsand filaments. This project is intended to be an integral and important component of the front DRI. The specific research tasks of this project are: (1) Study the interaction between surface waves and fronts. We will use the phase-resolvedwave solver of WOW and will develop a new coupled wave-turbulence-front Simulation tool for capturing the coupling dynamics involving the surface waves, oceanicturbulence, and the submesoscale structures; (2) Study oceanic turbulence in the surface boundary layer of fronts and filaments. We will use our wave-phase-resolved LES to investigate the physical processes of upper-ocean turbulence in the presence of fronts and filaments, such as the energy fluxes, buoyancy fluxes, Langmuir cells, and material transport and dispersion.(3) Study the effect of abrupt changes of sea surface roughness and temperature across a front on marine atmospheric boundary layer.(4) Study the unsteady effect of transient ocean fronts on marine atmospheric boundarylayer.(5) Develop models for oceanic turbulence and multiscale structures in fronts. We willcombine physics- and data-driven analysis tools to develop effective models for the key processes in fronts and filaments, such as the multi-scale modeling of upper-ocean turbulence and a fast model for wave-front interactions.(6) Collaborate with field measurement in the DRI. We will use our LES to support the field measurement by assisting the planning of field campaign and the analysis of measurement data. We will also employ data assimilation tools to fill the gaps in fielddata and help the synthesis of measurement data obtained from different measurement platforms."
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 31, 2020
- Source ID
- N000142012747
Entities
People
- Lian Shen
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- Regents of the University of Minnesota
- United States Navy