Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles
Coherent Structures at the Ocean Surface in Convectively Unstable Conditions
ORCID
0000-0001-6519-1547
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Nature
ISSN
0028-0836
Publication Date
7-12-1990
Abstract
The turbulent boundary layer at the ocean surface has some dynamical similarities to the atmospheric boundary layer. The atmospheric turbulent boundary layer may exhibit not only random fluctuations but also spatially coherent, organized motion. Thorpe conjectured that such organized motion should also be found in the upper ocean boundary layer in convectively unstable conditions. Here I report on observations made in the tropical Atlantic Ocean which confirm this view. Horizontal temperature profiles obtained at a depth of 2m at night revealed ramp-like structures. Vertical velocity profiles in the upper few metres of the ocean was determined using a free-rising profiler, and exhibited abrupt changes corresponding to sudden changes in temperature. These features are known to be characteristic of spatially coherent, organized motions in turbulent boundary layers.
DOI
10.1038/346157a0
Volume
346
Issue
6280
First Page
157
Last Page
160
NSUWorks Citation
Alexander Soloviev. 1990. Coherent Structures at the Ocean Surface in Convectively Unstable Conditions .Nature , (6280) : 157 -160. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facarticles/646.
Comments
©1990 Nature Publishing Group