Lagrangian averaging is a valuable tool for the analysis and modeling of multiscale processes in fluid dynamics. The numerical computation of Lagrangian (time) averages from simulation data is challenging, however. It can be carried out by tracking a …
Geophysical flows are typically composed of wave and mean motions with a wide range of overlapping temporal scales, making separation between the two types of motion in wave-resolving numerical simulations challenging. Lagrangian filtering -- whereby …
Internal tides are generated in the stratified ocean interior by the interaction of barotropic tidal currents with rough bathymetry. Low-vertical-mode internal tides can transport energy far from their generation site, but it remains unclear how and …
The lower cell of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) is sourced by dense Antarctic Bottom Waters (AABWs), which form and sink around Antarctica and subsequently fill the abyssal ocean. For the MOC to “overturn,” these dense waters must …
Oceanic lee waves are generated when quasi-steady flows interact with rough topography at the bottom of the ocean, providing an important sink of energy and momentum from the mean flow and a source of turbulent kinetic energy. Linear theory with a …
Large amplitude oscillations in the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) have been found near the equator in all major ocean basins in the NEMO ocean general circulation model. With periods of 3-15 days and amplitudes of ~ 100 Sv in the Pacific, …
Turbulent mixing induced by breaking internal waves is key to the ocean circulation and global tracer budgets. While the classic marginal shear instability of Richardson number ∼1/4 has been considered as potentially relevant to turbulent wave …
A linear model of lee waves with viscosity and an upper boundary is used to demonstrate the potential importance of the surface in reflecting lee wave energy back into the interior, making the case for treating lee waves as a full water column process.