Numerical study on the effects of progressive gravity waves on turbulence

Abstract

The wind-wave-ocean system, which contains complex interactive processes, is of great importance for the momentum, heat and mass transport in the atmosphere and ocean and at their interface. In this work, we perform wave-coupled phase-resolved numerical simulations to investigate the effect of progressive gravity waves on wind and ocean turbulence. Initially homogeneous turbulence under a finite-amplitude monochromatic surface wave is simulated to reveal how the wave influences the subsurface turbulence. For the interaction between wind-driven waves and shear turbulence in the ocean, new wave-phase-resolved simulation approaches are developed to capture Langmuir cells. Lastly, wind turbulence over one and two progressive waves is simulated to elucidate the dynamics of turbulence coherent structures impacted by surface waves for improved understanding of wind-wave growth mechanism.