Open AccessOn the critical Richardson number in stably stratified turbulence
Author(s) -
Galperin Boris,
Sukoriansky Semion,
Anderson Philip S.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
atmospheric science letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.951
H-Index - 45
ISSN - 1530-261X
DOI - 10.1002/asl.153
Subject(s) - turbulence , richardson number , scalar (mathematics) , physics , mixing (physics) , internal wave , anisotropy , stratified flow , momentum (technical analysis) , stratified flows , wavenumber , stratification (seeds) , meteorology , mechanics , mathematics , optics , geometry , quantum mechanics , finance , economics , seed dormancy , germination , botany , dormancy , biology
The critical Richardson number, Ri c , is used in studies of stably stratified turbulence as a measure of flow laminarization. The accepted range of Ri c is between 0.2 and 1. A growing body of experimental and observational data indicates, however, that turbulence survives for Ri ≫ 1. This result is supported by a new spectral theory of turbulence that accounts for strong anisotropy and waves. The anisotropization results in the enhanced horizontal mixing of both momentum and scalar. Internal wave contribution preserves vertical momentum mixing above its molecular level. In the absence of laminarization, Ri c becomes devoid of its conventional meaning. Copyright © 2007 Royal Meteorological Society