Effect of Floating Water Plants on Wind-Induced Flow in a Closed Water Body

Abstract

In some closed water bodies with little inilow and outflow, a flow is loose. So it has the different hydraulic characteristics from a river or an irrigation canal. When there is no disturbance, fluid is stratified based on vertical density distribution. In these bodies, the main dynamics of the water environmental substance depends on a mechanical disturbance, which is induced by the wind current on the water surface, and a thermal disturbance, which is induced by convective flow. We especially considered the mechanical disturbance based on the wind-induced flow. The previous study, which studied about the closed water body with floating water plants reported that the existence of the floating water plants may shorten the fetch and affect the dynamics of a density interface. Thereat in our study, we experimentally studied the relationship between the gregarious density of the floating water plants and the wind-induced flow in the closed water body. The result indicated that when the gregarious density of the floating water plants on the water surface becomes small, the values of the turbulent characteristics variables in the upper layer increase. This study clarifred that vegetation density affects the entrainrnent phenomenon in a stratifred water body.