The laminar seabed thermal boundary layer forced by propagating and standing free-surface waves

A mathematical model is developed to investigate seabed heat transfer processes under long-crested ocean waves. The unsteady convection–diffusion equation for water temperature includes terms depending on the velocity field in the laminar boundary layer, analogous to mass transfer near the seabed. Here we consider regular progressive waves and standing waves reflected from a vertical structure, which complicate the convective term in the governing equation. Rectangular and Gaussian distributions of seabed temperature and heat flux are considered. Approximate analytical solutions are derived for uniform and trapezoidal currents, and compared against predictions from a numerical solver of the full equations. The effects of heat source profile, location and strength on heat transfer dynamics in the thermal boundary layer are explained, providing insights into seabed temperature forced convection mechanisms enhanced by free-surface waves.</jats:p

The effect of uncertain bottom friction on estimates of tidal current power

Uncertainty affects estimates of the power potential of tidal currents, resulting in large ranges in values reported for a given site, such as the Pentland Firth, UK. We examine the role of bottom friction, one of the most important sources of uncertainty. We do so by using perturbation methods to find the leading-order effect of bottom friction uncertainty in theoretical models by Garrett &amp; Cummins (2005 Proc. R. Soc. A 461 , 2563–2572. ( doi:10.1098/rspa.2005.1494 ); 2013 J. Fluid Mech. 714 , 634–643. ( doi:10.1017/jfm.2012.515 )) and Vennell (2010 J. Fluid Mech. 671 , 587–604. ( doi:10.1017/S0022112010006191 )), which consider quasi-steady flow in a channel completely spanned by tidal turbines, a similar channel but retaining the inertial term, and a circular turbine farm in laterally unconfined flow. We find that bottom friction uncertainty acts to increase estimates of expected power in a fully spanned channel, but generally has the reverse effect in laterally unconfined farms. The optimal number of turbines, accounting for bottom friction uncertainty, is lower for a fully spanned channel and higher in laterally unconfined farms. We estimate the typical magnitude of bottom friction uncertainty, which suggests that the effect on estimates of expected power lies in the range −5 to +30%, but is probably small for deep channels such as the Pentland Firth (5–10%). In such a channel, the uncertainty in power estimates due to bottom friction uncertainty remains considerable, and we estimate a relative standard deviation of 30%, increasing to 50% for small channels. </jats:p

Anomalous wave statistics following sudden depth transitions: application of an alternative Boussinesq-type formulation

AbstractRecent studies of water waves propagating over sloping seabeds have shown that sudden transitions from deeper to shallower depths can produce significant increases in the skewness and kurtosis of the free surface elevation and hence in the probability of rogue wave occurrence. Gramstad et al. (Phys. Fluids 25 (12): 122103, 2013) have shown that the key physics underlying these increases can be captured by a weakly dispersive and weakly nonlinear Boussinesq-type model. In the present paper, a numerical model based on an alternative Boussinesq-type formulation is used to repeat these earlier simulations. Although qualitative agreement is achieved, the present model is found to be unable to reproduce accurately the findings of the earlier study. Model parameter tests are then used to demonstrate that the present Boussinesq-type formulation is not well-suited to modelling the propagation of waves over sudden depth transitions. The present study nonetheless provides useful insight into the complexity encountered when modelling this type of problem and outlines a number of promising avenues for further research.</jats:p

Propagation and overturning of three-dimensional Boussinesq wavepackets with rotation

The stability and overturning of fully three-dimensional internal gravity wave packets is examined for a rotating, uniformly stratified Boussinesq fluid that is stationary in the absence of waves. We derive through perturbation theory an integral expression for the mean flow induced by upward-propagating fully localized wave packets subject to Coriolis forces. This induced Bretherton flow manifests as a dipolelike recirculation about the wave packet in the horizontal plane. We perform numerical simulations of fully localized wave packets with the predicted Bretherton flow superimposed, for a range of initial amplitudes, wave-packet aspect ratios, and relative vertical wave numbers spanning the hydrostatic and nonhydrostatic regimes. Results are compared with predictions based on linear theory of wave breaking due to overturning, convection, self-acceleration, and shear instability. We find that nonhydrostatic wave packets tend to destabilize due to self-acceleration, eventually overturning although the initial amplitude is well below the overturning amplitude predicted by linear theory. Strongly hydrostatic waves, propagating almost entirely in the horizontal, are found not to attain amplitudes sufficient to become shear unstable, overturning instead due to localized steepening of isopycnals. Results are discussed in the broader context of previous studies of one- and two-dimensional wave packets overturning and recent observations of oceanic internal waves

Stokes drift

During its periodic motion, a particle floating at the free surface of a water wave experiences a net drift velocity in the direction of wave propagation, known as the Stokes drift (Stokes 1847 Trans. Camb. Philos. Soc.8, 441-455). More generally, the Stokes drift velocity is the difference between the average Lagrangian flow velocity of a fluid parcel and the average Eulerian flow velocity of the fluid. This paper reviews progress in fundamental and applied research on the induced mean flow associated with surface gravity waves since the first description of the Stokes drift, now 170 years ago. After briefly reviewing the fundamental physical processes, most of which have been established for decades, the review addresses progress in laboratory and field observations of the Stokes drift. Despite more than a century of experimental studies, laboratory studies of the mean circulation set up by waves in a laboratory flume remain somewhat contentious. In the field, rapid advances are expected due to increasingly small and cheap sensors and transmitters, making widespread use of small surface-following drifters possible. We also discuss remote sensing of the Stokes drift from high-frequency radar. Finally, the paper discusses the three main areas of application of the Stokes drift: in the coastal zone, in Eulerian models of the upper ocean layer and in the modelling of tracer transport, such as oil and plastic pollution. Future climate models will probably involve full coupling of ocean and atmosphere systems, in which the wave model provides consistent forcing on the ocean surface boundary layer. Together with the advent of new space-borne instruments that can measure surface Stokes drift, such models hold the promise of quantifying the impact of wave effects on the global atmosphere-ocean system and hopefully contribute to improved climate projections.This article is part of the theme issue 'Nonlinear water waves'

Experimental study of the statistical properties of directionally spread ocean waves measured by buoys

Wave-following buoys are used to provide measurements of free surface elevation across the oceans. The measurements they produce are widely used to derive wave-averaged parameters such as significant wave height and peak period, alongside wave-by-wave statistics such as crest height distributions. Particularly concerning the measurement of extreme wave crests, these measurements are often perceived to be less accurate. We directly assess this through a side-by-side laboratory comparison of measurements made using Eulerian wave gauges and model wave-following buoys for randomly generated directionally spread irregular waves representative of extreme conditions on deep water. This study builds on the recent work of McAllister and van den Bremer, (2019, JPO), in which buoy measurements of steep directionally spread focused waves groups were considered. Our experiments confirm that the motion of a wave-following buoy should not significantly affect the measured wave crest statistics or spectral parameters, and that discrepancies observed for in-situ buoy data are most likely a result of filtering. This filtering occurs when accelerations that are measured by the sensors within a buoy are converted to displacements. We present an approximate means of correcting the resulting measured crest height distributions, which is shown to be effective using our experimental data

Lagrangian measurement of steep directionally spread ocean waves: second-order motion of a wave-following measurement buoy

The notion that wave-following buoys provide less accurate measurements of extreme waves than their Eulerian counterparts is a perception commonly held by oceanographers and engineers (Forristall 2000, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 30, 1931-1943). By performing a direct comparison between the two types of measurement under laboratory conditions, we examine one of the hypotheses underlying this perception and establish whether wave measurement buoys in extreme ocean waves correctly follow steep crests and behave in a purely Lagrangian manner. We present a direct comparison between Eulerian gauge and Lagrangian buoy measurements of steep directionally spread and crossing wave groups on deep water. Our experimental measurements are compared to exact (Herbers and Janssen 2016, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 46, 1009-1021) and new approximate expression for Lagrangian second-order theory derived herein. We derive simple closed-form expressions for the second-order contribution to crest height representative of extreme ocean waves, namely for a single narrowly spread wave group, two narrowly spread crossing wave groups, and a strongly spread single wave group. In the limit of large spreading or head-on crossing, Eulerian and Lagrangian measurements become equivalent. For the range of conditions we test, we find that our buoy behaves in a Lagrangian manner, and our experimental observations compare extremely well with predictions made using second-order theory. Generally, Eulerian and Lagrangian measurements of crest height are not significantly different for all degrees of directional spreading and crossing. However, second-order bound-wave energy is redistributed from super-harmonics in Eulerian measurements to sub-harmonics in Lagrangian measurement, which affects the ‘apparent’ steepness inferred from time histories and poses a potential issue for wave buoys that measure acceleration

Classical plume theory: 1937-2010 and beyond

Developing a theoretical description of turbulent plumes, the likes of which may be seen rising above industrial chimneys, is a daunting thought. Plumes are ubiquitous on a wide range of scales in both the natural and the man-made environments. Examples that immediately come to mind are the vapour plumes above industrial smoke stacks or the ash plumes forming particle-laden clouds above an erupting volcano. However, plumes also occur where they are less visually apparent, such as the rising stream of warmair above a domestic radiator, of oil from a subsea blowout or, at a larger scale, of air above the so-called urban heat island. In many instances, not only the plume itself is of interest but also its influence on the environment as a whole through the process of entrainment. Zeldovich (1937, The asymptotic laws of freely-ascending convective flows. Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz., 7, 1463-1465 (in Russian)), Batchelor (1954, Heat convection and buoyancy effects in fluids. Q. J. R. Meteor. Soc., 80, 339-358) and Morton et al. (1956, Turbulent gravitational convection from maintained and instantaneous sources. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A, 234, 1-23) laid the foundations for classical plume theory, a theoretical description that is elegant in its simplicity and yet encapsulates the complex turbulent engulfment of ambient fluid into the plume. Testament to the insight and approach developed in these early models of plumes is that the essential theory remains unchanged and is widely applied today. We describe the foundations of plume theory and link the theoretical developments with the measurements made in experiments necessary to close these models before discussing some recent developments in plume theory, including an approach which generalizes results obtained separately for the Boussinesq and the non-Boussinesq plume cases. The theory presented - despite its simplicity - has been very successful at describing and explaining the behaviour of plumes across the wide range of scales they are observed. We present solutions to the coupled set of ordinary differential equations (the plume conservation equations) that Morton et al. (1956) derived from the Navier-Stokes equations which govern fluid motion. In order to describe and contrast the bulk behaviour of rising plumes from general area sources, we present closed-form solutions to the plume conservation equations that were achieved by solving for the variation with height of Morton's non-dimensional flux parameter Γ - this single flux parameter gives a unique representation of the behaviour of steady plumes and enables a characterization of the different types of plume. We discuss advantages of solutions in this form before describing extensions to plume theory and suggesting directions for new research. © 2010 The Author. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications. All rights reserved