Skip to main content
Article
Coherent Structures at the Ocean Surface in Convectively Unstable Conditions
Nature
  • Alexander Soloviev, USSR Academy of Sciences - Moscow
ORCID
0000-0001-6519-1547
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-12-1990
Abstract

The turbulent boundary layer at the ocean surface has some dynamical similarities to the atmospheric boundary layer. The atmospheric turbulent boundary layer may exhibit not only random fluctuations but also spatially coherent, organized motion. Thorpe conjectured that such organized motion should also be found in the upper ocean boundary layer in convectively unstable conditions. Here I report on observations made in the tropical Atlantic Ocean which confirm this view. Horizontal temperature profiles obtained at a depth of 2m at night revealed ramp-like structures. Vertical velocity profiles in the upper few metres of the ocean was determined using a free-rising profiler, and exhibited abrupt changes corresponding to sudden changes in temperature. These features are known to be characteristic of spatially coherent, organized motions in turbulent boundary layers.

DOI
10.1038/346157a0
Comments

©1990 Nature Publishing Group

Citation Information
Alexander Soloviev. "Coherent Structures at the Ocean Surface in Convectively Unstable Conditions" Nature Vol. 346 Iss. 6280 (1990) p. 157 - 160 ISSN: 0028-0836
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/alexander-soloviev/20/