Under light wind conditions, the alternation of daytime
heating and nighttime cooling creates a characteristic
response in the oceanic boundary layer known as the diurnal
cycle. The Mellor/Yamada Level II turbulence closure model is
used to analyze this response pattern.
The diurnal cycle has three phases. During morning and
early afternoon, radiative solar heating produces stable stratification
in the upper ocean, which inhibits the vertical
transport of heat and momentum. Mean current speed at the
surface increases as the effects of wind stress become confined
to a shallow layer. This diurnal jet produces a mixed layer in
the second phase, where turbulence generated by the vertical
velocity shear balances the stabilizing buoyancy flux. At
night, wind mixing and convective overturning due to surface
cooling rapidly deepen the surface mixed layer during the third
phase. / Graduation date: 1986
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/28017 |
| Date | 19 September 1985 |
| Creators | Halliwell, Vicki M. |
| Contributors | Richman, James G. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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