Experimental and Computational Studies of the Dynamics of Combined Wind and Buoyancy Driven Gyres

PI：HartProposal编号：0002345为数值和旋转罐实验提供资金，以研究温跃层动力学。 基本的设置是一个旋转的坦克与差动旋转上盖和冷却的横向边界。 上盖保持热，下盖保持冷。 (Flux也可以规定底部和侧壁处的条件）。 实验室模拟中的流动结构将作为数值模拟无法达到的范围内的参数空间的函数进行检查。 将研究在初步实验中观察到的在连续分层条件下的边缘电流的稳定性。 响应季节性强迫，时间尺度长的旋转时间尺度相比，也将进行调查。 预计这些实验将阐明上层海洋对风和浮力联合作用的反应动力学，这是物理海洋学的核心问题。

PI: HartProposal Number: 0002345Funds are provided for numerical and rotating tank experiments to investigate thermocline dynamics. The basic set-up is a rotating tank with a differentially rotating upper lid and cooling at the lateral boundaries. The upper lid is maintained hot and the lower lid is maintained cold. (Flux conditions at the bottom and sidewalls can also be prescribed.) The structure of the flow in laboratory simulations will be examined as a function of parameter space over ranges inaccessible to numerical simulation. The stability of a rim current, observed in preliminary experiments, under continuously stratified conditions will be investigated. Response to seasonal forcing, time scales long compared to the rotation time scale, will also be investigated. It is anticipated that these experiments will illuminate the dynamics of upper ocean's response to combined wind and buoyancy forcing, a question which is central to physical oceanography.