Journal article

Turbulent Mixing due to Surface Waves Indicated by Remote Sensing of Suspended Particulate Matter and Its Implementation into Coupled Modelling of Waves, Turbulence, and Circulation

Andrey Pleskachevsky, Mikhail Dobrynin, Alexander V Babanin, Heinz Guenther, Emil Stanev

JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY | AMER METEOROLOGICAL SOC | Published : 2011

Abstract

This paper studies the impact of the surface waves on the turbulent mixing. The satellite observations of suspended particulate matter (SPM) at the ocean surface as an indicator of turbulent quantities of the flow are used. In a water column, SPM builds a vertical profile depending on settling velocities of the particles and on vertical mixing processes; thus, SPM is a perfect marker to study the turbulent quantities of the flow. Satellite observations in the North Sea show that surface SPM concentrations, in locations of its deposition, grow rapidly and build plume-shaped, long (many kilometers) uninterrupted and consistent structures during a storm. Also, satellites reveal that SPM rapidly..

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Grants

Awarded by Woodside Energy Ltd.


Funding Acknowledgements

This study was supported by German Aerospace Centre DLR, GKSS Research Centre, Germany (BMBF project "Cli-Wa-Coas: Climate change, wind-wave interaction and anthropogenic impact on coastal processes") and Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Sea (ICBM), University of Oldenburg, Germany (project "Biogeochemistry of watts: Synergy of observational data and 3D models: Dynamics and suspended matter transport"). AVB gratefully acknowledges financial support of the Australian Research Council and Woodside Energy Ltd. through Grant LP0883888.