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Molecular sublayers beneath the air‐sea interface relative to momentum, heat and gas transports
Author(s) -
Tsai Wuting,
Chen ShiMing,
Lin MeiYing,
Hung LiPing
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2003gl018164
Subject(s) - eddy , turbulence , geology , thermal , mechanics , momentum (technical analysis) , flow (mathematics) , meteorology , physics , finance , economics
Numerical simulations of the wind‐driven aqueous turbulent flow and the underlying heat and dissolved gas transports are conducted with sufficiently fine grid resolution to resolve the molecular sublayers immediately beneath the air‐water interface. The simulated mean distributions of velocity, temperature and gas concentration all exhibit exponential profiles across the sublayers in accordance with the theoretical postulation of Liu and Businger [1975] which they derived on the basis of the conceptual surface renewal model. The numerical results identify two major coherent renewal processes within the flow: intermittent upwellings induced by uprising horseshoe‐like eddies in the well‐mixed region, and elongated, high‐speed, cool streaks within the sublayer reflecting the cool‐skin thermal structure.