SEMINAR: CWR Presents:

Velocity structure and mixing within oscillatory bottom boundary layers (BBLs) are important for parameterization of bottom friction in numerical models, loading on near-seabed structures, sediment transport, and mass transfer of nutrients and pollutants between water column and sediment. Despite its relevance to many problems, attention is rarely paid to oscillatory BBL dynamics on a slope in oceans and lakes.

In this talk, I will present the results of my recent attempts to obtain a fundamental understanding on rotating stratified oscillatory BBLs on a slope. An analytical model has been developed for capped rotating BBLs on horizontal bottom. Major obstacles for an extension to sloping bottom are the characterization of mixing under shear-induced periodic stratification in a simple model, and non-hydrostaticity on a steep slope.

I attempt to solve the former by applying a combination of mixing length model and Richardson number-based mixing parameterization, obtained by reanalyzing existing data of homogeneous stratified shear flows, to statically stable BBLs.