Yadan Mao

Unsteady natural convection in a triangular enclosure induced by absorption of radiation – a revisit by improved scaling analysis

The present study is concerned with radiation-induced natural convection in a water-filled triangular enclosure with a sloping bottom, which is directly relevant to buoyancy-driven flows in littoral regions. An improved scaling analysis is carried out to reveal more detailed features of the flow than a previously reported analysis. Two critical functions of the Rayleigh number with respect to the horizontal position are derived from the scaling for identifying the distinctness and stability of the thermal boundary layer. Four flow scenarios are possible, depending on the bottom slope and the maximum water depth. For each flow scenario, the flow domain may be composed of multiple subregions with distinct thermal and flow features, depending on the Rayleigh number. The dividing points between neighbouring subregions are determined by comparisons of the critical functions of the Rayleigh number with the global Rayleigh number. Position-dependent scales have been established to quantify the flow properties in different subregions. The different flow regimes for the case with relatively large bottom slopes and shallow waters are examined in detail. The present scaling results are verified by numerical simulations.

Unsteady near-shore natural convection induced by surface cooling

Natural convection in calm near-shore waters induced by daytime heating or nighttime cooling plays a significant role in cross-shore exchanges with significant biological and environmental implications. Having previously reported an improved scaling analysis on the daytime radiation-induced natural convection, the authors present in this paper a detailed scaling analysis quantifying the flow properties at varying offshore distances induced by nighttime surface cooling. Two critical functions of offshore distance have been derived to identify the distinctness and the stability of the thermal boundary layer. Two flow scenarios are possible depending on the bottom slope. For the relatively large slope scenario, three flow regimes are possible, which are discussed in detail. For each flow regime, all the possible distinctive subregions are identified. Two different sets of scaling incorporating the offshore-distance dependency have been derived for the conduction-dominated region and stable-convection-dominated region respectively. It is found that the scaling for flow in the stable-convection-dominated region also applies to the time-averaged mean flow in the unstable region. The present scaling results are verified by numerical simulations.

The Influence of Fetch on the Response of Surface Currents to Wind Studied by HF Ocean Surface Radar

The momentum transfer from wind to sea generates surface currents through both the wind shear stress and the Stokes drift induced by waves. This paper addresses issues in the interpretation of HF radar measurements of surface currents and momentum transfer from air to sea. Surface current data over a 30-day period from HF ocean surface radar are used to study the response of surface currents to wind. Two periods of relatively constant wind are identified—one for the short-fetch condition and the other for the long-fetch condition. Results suggest that the ratio of surface current speed to wind speed is larger under the long-fetch condition, while the angle between the surface current vector and wind vector is larger under the short-fetch condition. Data analysis shows that the Stokes drift dominates the surface currents under the long-fetch condition when the sea state is more mature, while the Stokes drifts and Ekman-type currents play almost equally important roles in the total currents under the short-fetch condition. The ratios of Stokes drift to wind speed under these two fetch conditions are shown to agree well with results derived from the empirical wave growth function. These results suggest that fetch, and therefore sea state, significantly influences the total response of surface current to wind in both the magnitude and direction by variations in the significance of Stokes drift. Furthermore, this work provides observational evidence that surface currents measured by HF radar include Stokes drift. It demonstrates the potential of HF radar in addressing the issue of momentum transfer from air to sea under various environmental conditions.

Sea surface temperature as a tracer to estimate cross‐shelf turbulent diffusivity and flushing time in the Great Barrier Reef lagoon

Accurate parameterization of spatially variable diffusivity in complex shelf regions such as the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) lagoon is an unresolved issue for hydrodynamic models. This leads to large uncertainties to the flushing time derived from them and to the evaluation of ecosystem resilience to terrestrially derived pollution. In fact, numerical hydrodynamic models and analytical cross-shore diffusion models have predicted very different flushing times for the GBR lagoon. Nevertheless, scarcity of in situ measurements used previously in the latter method prevents derivation of detailed diffusivity profiles. Here detailed cross-shore profiles of diffusivity were calculated explicitly in a closed form for the first time from the steady state transects of sea surface temperature for different sections of the GBR lagoon. We find that diffusivity remains relatively constant within the inner lagoon (<~20 km) where tidal current is weak, and increases linearly with sufficiently large tidal amplitude in reef-devoid regions, but increases dramatically where the reef matrixes start and fluctuates with reef size and density. The cross-shelf profile of steady state salinity calculated using the derived diffusivity values agrees well with field measurements. The calculated diffusivity values are also consistent with values derived from satellite-tracked drifters. Flushing time by offshore diffusion is of the order of 1 month, suggesting the important role of turbulent diffusion in flushing the lagoon, especially in reef-distributed regions. The results imply that previous very large residence times predicted by numerical hydrodynamic models may result from underestimation of diffusivity. Our findings can guide parameterization of diffusivity in hydrodynamic modeling.