Direct estimation of the Reynolds stress vertical structure in the nearshore

Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2007. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology 24 (2007): 102-116, doi:10.1175/JTECH1953.1.Measurements of the vertical Reynolds stress components in the wave-dominated nearshore are required to diagnose momentum and turbulence dynamics. Removing wave bias from Reynolds stress estimates is critical to a successful diagnosis. Here two existing Reynolds stress estimation methods (those of Trowbridge, and Shaw and Trowbridge) for wave-dominated environments and an extended method (FW) that is a combination of the two are tested with a vertical array of three current meters deployed in 3.2-m water depth off an ocean beach. During the 175-h-long experiment the instruments were seaward of the surfzone and the alongshore current was wind driven. Intercomparison of Reynolds stress methods reveals that the Trowbridge method is wave bias dominated. Tests of the integrated cospectra are used to reject bad Reynolds stress estimates, and the Shaw and Trowbridge estimates are rejected more often than FW estimates. With the FW method, wave bias remains apparent in the cross-shore component of the Reynolds stress. However, the alongshore component of Reynolds stress measured at the three current meters are related to each other with a vertically uniform first EOF containing 73% of the variance, indicating the presence of a constant stress layer. This is the first time the vertical structure of Reynolds stress has been measured in a wave-dominated environment. The Reynolds stress is, albeit weakly, related to the wind stress and a parameterized bottom stress. Using derived wave bias and bottom stress parameterizations, the effect of wave bias on Reynolds stress estimates is shown to be weaker for more typical surfzone conditions (with both stronger waves and currents than those observed here).Funded by NSF, ONR, and NOPP

An experimental and theoretical investigation of plane-stress fracture of 2024-T351 aluminum alloy

Plane-stress fracture behavior of precracked aluminum alloy

Vertical structure of dissipation in the nearshore

Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2007. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Physical Oceanography 37 (2007): 1764-1777, doi:10.1175/jpo3098.1.The vertical structure of the dissipation of turbulence kinetic energy was observed in the nearshore region (3.2-m mean water depth) with a tripod of three acoustic Doppler current meters off a sandy ocean beach. Surface and bottom boundary layer dissipation scaling concepts overlap in this region. No depth-limited wave breaking occurred at the tripod, but wind-induced whitecapping wave breaking did occur. Dissipation is maximum near the surface and minimum at middepth, with a secondary maximum near the bed. The observed dissipation does not follow a surfzone scaling, nor does it follow a “log layer” surface or bottom boundary layer scaling. At the upper two current meters, dissipation follows a modified deep-water breaking-wave scaling. Vertical shear in the mean currents is negligible and shear production magnitude is much less than dissipation, implying that the vertical diffusion of turbulence is important. The increased near-bed secondary dissipation maximum results from a decrease in the turbulent length scale.Funding was provided by NSF and ONR

Effects of wave rollers and bottom stress on wave setup

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2007. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 112 (2007): C02003, doi:10.1029/2006JC003549.Setup, the increase in the mean water level associated with breaking waves, observed between the shoreline and about 6-m water depth on an ocean beach is predicted well by a model that includes the effects of wave rollers and the bottom stress owing to the mean flow. Over the 90-day observational period, the measured and modeled setup are correlated (squared correlation above 0.59), and agree within about 30%. Although rollers may affect setup significantly on beaches with large amplitude (several meters high) sandbars and may be important in predicting the details of the cross-shore profile of setup, for the data discussed here, rollers have only a small effect on the amount of setup. Conversely, bottom stress (calculated using eddy viscosity and undertow formulations based on the surface dissipation, and assuming that the eddy viscosity is uniform throughout the water column) significantly affects setup predictions. Neglecting bottom stress results in underprediction of the observed setup in all water depths, with maximum underprediction near the shoreline where the observed setup is largest.Funding was provided by the Office of Naval Research, the National Science Foundation, and the Army Research Office