Transition to Self-Similarity of Diffusion of Tracer in Turbulent Patch

Abstract

A mixing of a passive tracer inside a turbulent patch generated by a localized short-time perturbation is studied numerically and analytically. Two kinds of an initial distribution of a tracer are considered: two-layer and continuous with constant gradient. For the turbulent patch shaped as a layer, it is shown that, regardless of details of initial distributions of a turbulent energy and dissipation, a tracer concentration evolves to self-similar regimes as time elapses. Analytical self-similar solutions to turbulent diffusion equations are found for three symmetric shapes of a turbulent patch: layer, cylinder, and sphere. Distributions of the concentration inside a patch are found to be substantially nonuniform, with a typical ratio of a concentration gradient in the middle of a patch to its initial value of about 0.5.