Laborhalle 3D - Foyer

M.Sc. Costanza Rodda, Netherland Institute for Sea Research, NL

Mon, Jul. 6th 2015, 11:00 am

The ocean in a tank: numerical simulations on the wave-mean flow interactions in a rotating box

Abstract

Internal waves are a pervasive phenomenon in the ocean, which has to be taken in account when we want to study the pattern of large-scale circulation. The internal wave activity may provide strong perturbations to the current velocities.
In order to study better these interactions, we have been performing a series of numerical simulations, using the software “Gerris”. In our simulations we focus on inertial waves, so we idealise our rotating fluid as homogeneous in density. The aim of the analysis of the data obtained from numerical simulations, and the comparison with laboratory experiments results, is to figure out what is the effect of the rotation on the flow rate and if the inertial waves loose their energy or, instead, they organise themselves along eigenmodes. Moreover we want to figure out what is the role of the shape and the orientation, respect to the rotation axis, of the container and, finally, if the energy can focus along patterns forming wave attractors.