Abstract
The dynamics of a drift flow in the near-surface water layer driven by a turbulent air wind is investigated by direct numerical simulation (DNS). Comparatively low (up to 2 × 104) bulk Reynolds numbers of the air-flow are considered when the air boundary layer is turbulent but velocity fluctuations in the water are sufficiently small and the water surface remains aerodynamically smooth. It is shown that a drift flow develops in the near-surface water layer, and its velocity grows monotonically with time. At long times, an instability develops which leads to a saturation of the growth of the drift velocity. A threshold Reynolds number is defined in DNS under which the drift flow becomes unstable, and a parameterization of the surface drift velocity is formulated in terms of the air-flow friction velocity.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Numerical calculations were performed on the Institute of Applied Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, cluster (State Task no. 0030-2019-0020).
Funding
The development of numerical algorithms was supported by Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project no. 20-05-00322. The processing and theoretical analysis of the results were carried out with the support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project no. 21-55-52005.
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Druzhinin, O.A. On the Dynamics of a Drift Flow Under Low Wind. Izv. Atmos. Ocean. Phys. 57, 650–658 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001433821060049
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001433821060049