Energetics and similarity theory in the wave-affected atmospheric boundary layer

Here we examine the magnitude of the production and consumption terms of the turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) budget equation using observational data. This data is from two periods, each containing two months of continuous observations collected at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s (WHOI) Buzzards Bay Air-Sea Interaction Tower (BB-ASIT). BB-ASIT held a vertical co-located array of over 30 sensors spanning the ocean and the atmosphere, and twelve of those sensors are used in this analysis to examine atmospheric fluxes occurring within the wave-affected boundary layer (WBL). Using Monin-Obukhov (MO) Similarity Theory, we analyzed the fluxes and energy balance under different atmospheric stability conditions. Through a comparison of non-dimensional data with the universal functions given in Edson and Fairall (1998), we determined that the Edson and Fairall (1998)’s functions likely overestimate the shear and dissipation occurring within 5 m of the sea surface. Additionally, after quantifying the TKE production (shear production and buoyancy) and the TKE consumption (dissipation rate) we found that the production of TKE often exceeds the consumption of TKE in the WBL during high wind conditions, resulting in a dissipation deficit. We proposed wave-coherent pressure-work as another TKE consumption term that could offset this deficit, as theorized by Janssen (1999), and found that the wavecoherent pressure-work consumes a significant amount of TKE, but not enough to fully close the TKE budget equation. Future works should continue to examine how wave-coherent processes may contribute to fully closing the TKE budget equation within the WBL.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Keefe, Oaklin R.

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Zippel, Seth F.
• Scully, Malcolm E.

• Turbulence
• Marine boundary layer
• Similarity theory

Statement dc:rights

• ©2024 Oaklin R. Keefe. The author hereby grants to MIT and WHOI a nonexclusive, worldwide, irrevocable, royalty-free license to exercise any and all rights under copyright, including to reproduce, preserve, distribute and publicly display copies of the thesis, or release the thesis under an open-access license.

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

DOI

10.1575/1912/67609

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:darchive.mblwhoilibrary.org:1912/67609