Convection Studies

• Main Author: Foster, Theodore D.
• Other Authors: CALIFORNIA UNIV SANTA CRUZ
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1993
• Subjects: Physical and Dynamic Oceanography; Numerical Mathematics; Fluid Mechanics; *CONVECTION; *MIXED LAYER(MARINE); SIMULATION; OCEAN SURFACE; MODELS; LAYERS; HEAT FLUX; INSTABILITY; THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER; MIXING; DEPTH; TWO DIMENSIONAL; COMPARISON; BOUNDARY LAYER; *NUMERICAL MODELS; OCEANIC MIXING; RAYLEIGH NUMBERS; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA265578; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA265578

An experimental and theoretical investigation of convection at high Rayleigh numbers was carried out with the goal of trying to understand the role that convection plays in oceanic mixing processes. Numerical models were constructed that solved the two-dimensional Navier-Stokes and heat conduction equations under the same conditions as those experiments on constant heat-flux convection and for the cabling instability. For constant heat flux it was found that at high Rayleigh numbers there were two length scales, the thickness of the thermal boundary layer and the total depth of the fluid layer. This seems to be consistent with the thermal patterns, which had a length scale approximately the mixed layer depth, at the ocean surface found using an infrared scanner from an airplane. The cabling simulations seem to be fairly accurate representations of the laboratory experiments. The comparison of the cabling instability to oceanic phenomena is continuing, but preliminary results seem to indicate that it may be important in the Antarctic.