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The evolution of disturbances in an Ekman boundary layer

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2006

G. F. Spooner  and
W. O. Criminale
G. F. Spooner
Affiliation:
Department of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, U.S.A.
W. O. Criminale
Affiliation:
Department of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, U.S.A. Also at Applied Mathematics Group, Geophysics Program, University of Washington, Seattle.
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Abstract

A linear model of a wave packet in a laminar Ekman boundary layer is proposed for tracing the development of an initially localized pulsed perturbation at the boundary. The model disturbance was built up from a linear combination of growing modes summed numerically over all wavenumbers and frequencies. The input spectrum was assumed to be flat so that there was no biasing at any wavenumber or frequency and the evolution was calculated on the basis of linear-stability theory. The wave packet generated by the summation of modes developed uniformly downstream of the disturbance source location and, depending upon the choice of the Reynolds number, vividly displayed results representative of the different kinds of instabilities that are present in the Ekman layer. Outputs in the form of perspective plots are given in order to explain the evolution of the packet into either a single wave patch or a sum of individual wave patches.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 115 , February 1982 , pp. 327 - 346
Copyright
© 1982 Cambridge University Press

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