Flow-ridge interaction

Instabilities and Turbulent Mixing in the Strong and Unsteady Flows Over a Sill
Motivated by a sequence of field experiments, we employed a two-dimensional ocean model implemented in MITgcm to investigate the mixing processes occurring in the vicinity of the sill. Our primary focus was to understand the fundamental mechanisms of mixing, taking into account the energetic passage of the Kuroshio current across the sill and the associated variations induced by the M2 tide. During the flood tide, lee waves are generated, subsequently undergoing disruption due to the presence of Kelvin-Helmholtz instability during various tidal phases. The figure on the left illustrates an idealized scenario where tidal currents move back and forth, generating lee waves and shear instabilities along sharp density interfaces. These findings offer valuable insights into the evolution of flow dynamics and provide predictions for different tidal phases observed in the field.
Instabilities and Turbulent Mixing in the Strong and Unsteady Flows Over a Sill
Oil Spill Modeling and Strategies
Driven by the 1994 oil spill in the Philippine Sea, visible in SAR imagery, this project focuses on understanding and predicting oceanic oil spills. We implemented a 3D nested model utilizing open boundary conditions from HYCOM velocity and temperature fields, and incorporated modulation by the barotropic tide with data from OSU TPXO. A passive tracer was released from the southern boundary, where marine traffic is most concentrated. Results indicate that the oil spill remained trapped for over 10 hours near Green Island due to island wakes creating reverse flow downstream, aligning with historical incidents where oil was found on the northern shores. The long-term goal is to develop an interface that automatically collects HYCOM and tidal data for specific times and locations, enabling high-resolution simulations to predict future or analyze past oil spill events. This project aims to provide cutting-edge solutions for industry challenges in environmental monitoring and disaster response.
Oil Spill Modeling and Strategies