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

PI：Hart Proposal Number：0002345为研究温跃层动力学的数值和旋转水槽实验提供了基础。基本的设置是一个旋转的水箱，上盖有一个差动的旋转，在横向边界处有冷却。上盖保持热，下盖保持冷。(还可以规定底部和侧壁的流量条件。)实验室模拟中的流动结构将作为数值模拟无法到达的范围内的参数空间的函数来检查。在初步实验中观察到的边缘流在连续分层条件下的稳定性将被研究。对季节性强迫的反应，与旋转时间尺度相比，时间尺度较长，也将被调查。预计这些实验将阐明上层海洋对风和浮力联合作用力的反应动力学，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.