CAREER: Lagrangian investigation of upper ocean turbulence

职业：上层海洋湍流的拉格朗日研究

• 批准号: 1352422
• 负责人: Tobias Kukulka
• 金额: $ 40.05万
• 依托单位: University of Delaware
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-03-01 至 2021-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1352422&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Lagrangian; investigation; upper; ocean

Turbulent processes in the upper ocean play a key role in weather and climate systems by coupling the ocean and atmosphere. Upper ocean turbulence also distributes nutrients, pollutants, plankton, and bubbles in the ocean mixed layer. The fate of chemical and biological substances in the mixed layer depends on the history of advective turbulent fluid paths. Besides being dispersive, ocean turbulence also aggregates substances to increase encounter rates between them. Upper ocean turbulence is driven by surface waves: Wave-current interactions lead to wind-aligned vortices, called Langmuir circulation (LC), and breaking waves are a source of near surface turbulent kinetic energy. Together, LC and the stochastically breaking wave field lead to complicated nonlocal and intermittent transport. To better understand the dynamics of the complex oceanic boundary layer and to educate students about upper ocean processes, the PI will carry out an interwoven research and education program. This project is a systematic Lagrangian investigation following trajectories of fluid parcels with the Research Objectives to: 1) Develop a Lagrangian analysis framework of the upper ocean with realistic surface wave effects to investigate fundamental mechanisms of fluid exchange in the presence of surface waves, 2) Examine the role of LC and breaking waves in upper ocean transport to assess systematically the accuracy of common upper ocean boundary layer parameterizations, 3) Apply the Lagrangian analysis to quantify plastic marine debris that has emerged as a major ocean pollutant and to revisit related classic ideas of particle trapping in the upper ocean. Tracks of particles will be computed from state-of-the art upper ocean large eddy simulation models with LC and breaking wave effects. As part of the Lagrangian analysis, this project will apply a new and integrative dynamic systems approach to the wave-driven upper ocean boundary layer. To directly utilize knowledge gained from this study, the PI will examine observed distributions of plastic marine debris. The project involves two related education activities that are linked to the research activities on upper ocean dynamics with the Education Objectives to: 1) Educate students about ocean physics and its role in climate change and global pollution, 2) Inspire students to pursue STEM education and careers by engaging students in problem-based learning and implementing Next Generation Science Standards, 3) Involve underrepresented students. The first educational activity will involve the PI's participation in the active education programs on marine debris at the Sea Education Association, reaching out to undergraduate students and the general public. The second education activity is centered on developing a hands-on laboratory educational unit, which will be incorporated into regular curricula of high schools with a large number of underrepresented students and also into the University of Delaware's Forum to Advance Minorities in Engineering Program, which is aimed at increasing the effective participation of minority students in engineering and other science professions. Both activities incorporate the PI's expertise in geophysical fluids dynamics, upper ocean physics, and ongoing research collaborations.Intellectual Merit: By revealing regions of attraction, repulsion, and intense mixing, the Lagrangian framework provides a natural approach to investigating turbulence that has yet to be systematically explored in the context of wave-driven upper ocean dynamics. Thus, the study bears high potential to uncover a novel, highly physical description of upper ocean turbulence that will ultimately enhance the parameterizations of turbulent transport in larger scale ocean models.Broader Impacts: The PI will advance coupled ocean-atmosphere models of weather and climate by improving the ability to parameterize air-sea fluxes and ocean turbulence. The research will facilitate communication between the ocean physics and marine debris research communities, a necessary step in effectively quantifying and ultimately managing ocean pollution. Because the topic of marine pollution is accessible to a broad audience, the project activities present a unique opportunity to educate the general public, high school minority students, undergraduate students, and graduate students about ocean turbulence and fluid dynamics in a collaborative environment with experts in upper ocean dynamics, numerical modeling, dynamic systems theory, and sea-going oceanography.

上海上的湍流过程通过耦合海洋和氛围在天气和气候系统中起关键作用。上海洋湍流还分散了海洋混合层中的营养素，污染物，浮游生物和气泡。混合层中化学和生物物质的命运取决于对流湍流路径的史。除了具有分散性外，海洋湍流还聚集了物质，以提高它们之间的遇到率。上海湍流是由表面波驱动的：波流相互作用导致风量涡流，称为Langmuir循环（LC），而断裂波是近表面湍流动能的来源。 LC和随机破裂的波场一起导致复杂的非本地和间歇性运输。为了更好地了解复杂的海洋边界层的动态，并向学生提供有关上海过程的教育，PI将执行一项交织的研究和教育计划。该项目是一项具有研究目标的轨迹的轨迹，是一个系统的Lagrangian调查：1）开发一个Lagrangian分析框架，具有逼真的表面波效应，以研究表面波的存在的基本机制；塑料海洋碎片已成为一种主要的海洋污染物，并重新审视了上海洋中粒子捕获的经典思想。颗粒的轨道将根据具有LC和破坏波效应的最先进的高海洋大型涡流模型计算出来。作为Lagrangian分析的一部分，该项目将在波动的上海边界层应用新的综合动态系统方法。为了直接利用从这项研究中获得的知识，PI将检查观察到的塑料海洋碎片的分布。该项目涉及两项相关的教育活动，这些活动与上海动态的研究活动有关：1）教育学生有关海洋物理学及其在气候变化和全球污染中的作用，2）启发学生通过使学生从事基于问题的学习和实施下一代科学标准的学生从事STEM教育和职业，3）涉及不足的学生。首次教育活动将涉及PI在海上教育协会上参与有关海洋碎片的活跃教育计划，并与本科生和公众接触。第二项教育活动集中在开发一个动手实验室教育部门，该单位将纳入普通的高中课程中，这些课程具有大量人数不足的学生，还纳入了特拉华大学的论坛，以促进少数工程课程，旨在提高少数派学生在工程和其他科学专业中的有效参与。两项活动都融合了PI在地球物理流体动力学，上海洋物理学和正在进行的研究合作方面的专业知识。智能优点：通过揭示吸引人的吸引力，排斥和强烈混合区域，拉格朗日框架为调查的自然方法提供了一种自然的方法，这些方法尚未系统地探索在波浪上的海洋驱动器上的上下文中。因此，该研究具有很高的潜力，可以揭示上海洋湍流的新颖，高度物理的描述，最终将增强大规模海洋模型中湍流传输的参数化。Broader的影响：PI将通过改善耦合的天气和气候模型来改善空气和海洋湍流。这项研究将促进海洋物理与海洋碎片研究社区之间的交流，这是有效量化并最终管理海洋污染的必要步骤。由于广泛的受众群体可以接触到海洋污染的话题，因此在协作环境中，与上海洋动力学，数值模型，动态系统理论以及海洋学的专家有关，在协作环境中，提供了一个独特的机会，可以教育公众，高中少数学生，本科生和研究生有关海洋湍流和流体动力学的机会。