Environmental, Industrial and Climatological Impacts of Internal Gravity Waves

所有天然存在的流体都是分层的，这意味着它们的有效密度随高度而降低。这种减少可能是迅速和局部的，如在海洋中的温跃层或在大气逆温中。也可以是渐进的，就像在平流层一样。在这种分层流体中传播的是由于浮力而移动的内波。由于它们会输送能量和动量，并在破裂时引起湍流，因此海浪对气候、环境、空中交通、渔业、海上石油和其他行业都有重要影响。然而，相对而言，人们对局域内波的动力学知之甚少。通过三个相互关联的研究流，我建议进行实验室实验和数值模拟，以建立大气和海洋内波包的演变和分解的预测模型。

All naturally occurring fluids are stratified, meaning that their effective density decreases with height. The decrease can be rapid and localized, as at a thermocline in the ocean or at an atmospheric inversion. Or it can be gradual, as in the stratosphere. Propagating within such stratified fluids are internal waves, which move due to buoyancy forces. Because they transport energy and momentum and cause turbulence where they break, the waves have important consequences for climate, environment, air traffic, fisheries, offshore oil and other industries. However, relatively little is known about the dynamics of localized internal waves. Through three interrelated research streams, I propose to perform laboratory experiments and numerical simulations to develop predictive models for the evolution and breakdown of atmospheric and oceanic internal wave packets.