Objective The mass, momentum and chemical exchanges that take place at the surface of the ocean are of enormous climatic importance. These processes depend strongly on the characteristics of the flow just beneath the surface, and in particular on the nature of the turbulence there. For these reasons the study of turbulence at a water-air free surface is receiving growing attention, and the last 12 months have seen some significant advances towards the formulation of a framework of an understanding. Before further progress can be made however, dedicated laboratory measurements are required. Scarcely any suitable data are available in the literature, and it is the aim of this project to obtain data specifically to explore the concepts that have been recently proposed. Systematic measurements will be made in turbulent steady and unsteady free surface flows by a variety of techniques, some of them novel and requiring further development. The outcome will be an identification of the turbulence and free surface motion in a range of conditions characterized by the length scale and intensity of displacements of the water surface, and the length scale and intensity of the turbulence just beneath the surface. These results will help to validate existing basic models of the flow, and will identify the dominant features that must be correctly represented in more detailed numerical models yet to be developed. The applicant will acquire experience of advanced laboratory techniques in the study of breaking waves and he will improve and exchange knowledge on optical measurement techniques (LDA, PIV) and acoustic measurements. Interaction with the large research community at Southampton concerned with maritime applications, encompassing the Ship Science group, the Department of Oceanography, and the Southampton Oceanography Centre as well as the growing research group in fluid mechanics in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, will provide diverse opportunities for contributing to multi-disciplinary research projects in this field. The applicant will bring his experience in flow visualization and the direct measurement of turbulence length scales. Fields of science engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringnatural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesoceanography Programme(s) FP5-HUMAN POTENTIAL - Programme for research, technological development and demonstration on "Improving the human research potential and the socio-economic knowledge base" (1998-2002) Topic(s) Data not available Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme RGI - Research grants (individual fellowships) Coordinator UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON EU contribution No data Address HIGHFIELD SO17 1BJ SOUTHAMPTON United Kingdom See on map Total cost No data
