Collaborative Research: Modeling Internal Waves from Cradle to Grave

该项目将使用一套嵌套的非常高分辨率模型，研究在海洋表面产生的近惯性内波的演变。内部重力波被认为是造成分层海洋内部湍流产生、消散和混合的主要原因。最先进的单向嵌套方法将现实地表示能量级联，就这些级联优先占据的尺度而言。目的是检验各向同性与各向异性湍流和耗散的重要性，这将改变对混合的理解。这是告知和改进海洋中热量和碳储存和运输模型的必要步骤。该项目将包括从针对代表性不足的少数族裔的当地项目中招募的高中生和本科生实习生，重点是获取操纵、分析和可视化大型数据集的经验。Co-I Kunze是西雅图太平洋科学中心的科学传播研究员，PI Lelong是MPOWIR的导师，MPOWIR是美国国家科学基金会资助的一个项目，旨在指导和留住海洋研究界的早期职业女性。该项目通过考虑近惯性内波是直接产生小尺度的、几乎各向同性的湍流，还是首先产生大尺度的各向异性湍流，进而产生小尺度的湍流，解决了近惯性内波是如何与横旋混合相联系的基本问题。能量梯级将从表面混合层的风强迫近惯性波开始，经过斜压反气旋的折射和捕获，向下辐射到斜斜，在涡底的临界层放大，不稳定产生湍流，以及梯级的消散。协调的模拟集将产生一个由中尺度涡旋、亚中尺度细丝、近惯性和高频内波、剪切驱动的不稳定性和亚奥兹米多夫尺度的各向同性湍流运动组成的动力耦合流场，从而可以详细研究从中尺度到湍流尺度的海洋学上真实的能量级联。这项工作将测试动力学假设，这些假设将不同的运动尺度联系起来，而这些运动尺度在单独的模拟中是无法解决的。该项目将通过REU项目招收本科生，旨在增加学生的多样性，成功地为追求地球和海洋科学的职业道路做好准备。教育目标将侧重于获得大数据集的操作、分析和可视化方面的经验。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will examine the evolution of near inertial internal waves generated at the ocean surface, using a suite of nested very high resolution models. Internal gravity waves are thought to be responsible for the bulk of turbulence production, dissipation and mixing in the stratified ocean interior. The cutting-edge one-way nesting approach would represent energy cascades realistically, in terms of the scales those cascades preferentially occupy. The goal is to examine the importance of isotropic vs. anisotropic turbulence and dissipation, which will transform the understanding of mixing. This is a necessary step to inform and improve modeling of heat and carbon storage and transport within the ocean. The project will involve high school and undergraduate interns recruited from local programs targeting under-represented minorities, focusing on gaining experience in manipulating, analyzing and visualizing large datasets. Co-I Kunze is a Science Communication Fellow at the Seattle Pacific Science Center and PI Lelong is a mentor with MPOWIR, an NSF-sponsored program to mentor and retain early career women in the oceanographic research community.The project addresses the fundamental question of how near-inertial internal waves are connected to diapycnal mixing by considering whether they directly produce small scale, nearly isotropic turbulence or whether they first create large-scale anisotropic turbulence that in turn creates small-scale turbulence. The energy cascade would be tracked from wind-forced near-inertial waves in the surface mixed-layer through refraction and trapping in a baroclinic anticyclone, downward radiation into the pycnocline, critical-layer amplification at the vortex base, instability producing turbulence, and the cascade to dissipation. The coordinated set of simulations will produce a dynamically-coupled flow field consisting of mesoscale eddies, submesoscale filaments, near-inertial and higher frequency internal waves, shear-driven instabilities, and isotropic turbulent motions at sub-Ozmidov scales, allowing an oceanographically realistic energy cascade from the meso- to turbulent scales to be studied in detail. The work will test dynamical hypotheses linking disparate scales of motion that cannot be feasibly addressed in stand-alone simulations. The project will recruit undergraduate students through REU programs designed to increase the diversity of students successfully prepared to pursue Earth and ocean sciences career pathways. The educational goals will focus on gaining experience in the manipulation, analysis and visualization of large data sets.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.