The Direct Estimation of Near-Bottom Turbulent Fluxes in the Presence of Energetic Wave Motions

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Abstract
Velocities produced by energetic waves can contaminate direct covariance estimates of near-bottom turbulent shear stress and turbulent heat flux. A new adaptive filtering technique is introduced to minimize the contribution of wave-induced motions to measured covariances. The technique requires the use of two sensors separated in space and assumes that the spatial coherence scale of the waves is much longer than the spatial coherence scale of the turbulence. The proposed technique is applied to an extensive set of data collected in the bottom boundary layer of the New England shelf. Results from the oceanic test demonstrate that the technique succeeds at removing surface-wave contamination from shear stress and heat flux estimates using pairs of sensors separated in the vertical dimension by a distance of approximately 5 times the height of the lower sensor, even during the close passage of hurricanes. However, the technique fails at removing contamination caused by internal motions that occur oc... Abstract Velocities produced by energetic waves can contaminate direct covariance estimates of near-bottom turbulent shear stress and turbulent heat flux. A new adaptive filtering technique is introduced to minimize the contribution of wave-induced motions to measured covariances. The technique requires the use of two sensors separated in space and assumes that the spatial coherence scale of the waves is much longer than the spatial coherence scale of the turbulence. The proposed technique is applied to an extensive set of data collected in the bottom boundary layer of the New England shelf. Results from the oceanic test demonstrate that the technique succeeds at removing surface-wave contamination from shear stress and heat flux estimates using pairs of sensors separated in the vertical dimension by a distance of approximately 5 times the height of the lower sensor, even during the close passage of hurricanes. However, the technique fails at removing contamination caused by internal motions that occur oc...

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