Collaborative Research: Modeling Internal Waves from Cradle to Grave

这个项目将使用一套嵌套的非常高分辨率的模型来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分层海洋内部产生、耗散和混合湍流的主要原因。就能量级联优先占据的规模而言，尖端的单向嵌套方法将真实地代表这些能量级联。其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内热量和碳储存和运输的模型的必要步骤。该项目将涉及从针对代表性不足的少数族裔的当地项目招聘的高中和本科生实习生，重点是获得操纵、分析和可视化大型数据集的经验。昆泽是西雅图太平洋科学中心的科学交流研究员，皮乐龙是MPOWIR的导师，MPOWIR是一个由NSF赞助的项目，旨在指导和留住海洋研究领域的早期职业女性。该项目通过考虑近惯性内波是否直接产生小尺度、近各向同性湍流，或者它们是否首先产生大尺度各向异性湍流，进而产生小尺度湍流，来解决近惯性内波与日周期混合如何联系的基本问题。通过斜压反气旋的折射和捕获、向下辐射进入反斜压跃层、涡底临界层放大、产生湍流的不稳定以及引起耗散的叶栅，能量级联将被追踪到地面混合层中的风强迫近惯性波。这套协调的模拟将产生一个动态耦合的流场，包括中尺度涡旋、亚中尺度细丝、近惯性和更高频率的内波、剪切驱动的不稳定性和亚Ozmidov尺度上的各向同性湍流运动，从而使从海洋现实的能量级联从中尺度到湍流尺度得以详细研究。这项工作将测试将不同的运动尺度联系在一起的动力学假设，这些假设在独立的模拟中是不可行的。该项目将通过REU计划招收本科生，旨在增加成功准备从事地球和海洋科学职业道路的学生的多样性。教育目标将侧重于获得处理、分析和可视化大型数据集的经验。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.