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- Title
- An experiment on the non-breaking surface-wave-induced vertical mixing
- Author(s)
- Dai, Dejun; Qiao, Fangli; Sulisz, Wojciech; Han, Lei; Babanin, Alexander
- Abstract
- Mixing induced by nonbreaking surface waves was investigated in a wave tank by measuring the thermal destratification rate of the water column. One experiment without waves and four experiments with waves of amplitudes ranging from 1.0 to 1.5 cm and wavelength from 30 to 75 cm were conducted. Water temperature variations at depths from 4 to 12 cm below the surface were measured. In the layer from 4 to 7 cm, the originally dense isothermal lines disperse soon after the waves are generated, whereas the vertical gradient from 9 to 12 cm is maintained for a relatively long time. The time span, during which the water temperature becomes well mixed, changes from about 20 h for the case with no waves to tens of minutes for the case with waves, and it decreases with increasing wave amplitude and wavelength. A one-dimensional diffusion numerical model with wave-induced mixing parameterization shows consistent results with the measurement. The study demonstrates that the mixing induced by nonbreaking waves may add an important contribution to the vertical mixing process in the upper ocean and suggests a way to parameterize wave-induced mixing in numerical ocean models.
- Publication Type
- Journal article
- Research Centre
- Swinburne University of Technology. Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Sciences
- Source
- Journal of Physical Oceanography, Vol. 40, no. 9 (Sep 2010), pp. 2180-2188
- Publication Year
- 2010
- FOR Code(s)
- 0405 Oceanography
- Keyword(s)
- Mixing; Numerical analysis; Numerical modelling; Oceanic waves; Turbulence
- Publisher
- American Meteorological Society
- Publisher URL
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/2010JPO4378.1
- Copyright
- Copyright © 2010 American Meteorological Society. The published version of the paper is reproduced here in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.
- ISSN
- 0022-3670
- Research Projects
-
Oceanic conditions within extreme tropical cyclones, Australian Research Council grant number LP0883888
Wave-induced upper-ocean mixing, Australian Research Council grant number DP1093517
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