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A generalized theory of flow forcing by rough topography

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2023

Timour Radko Open the ORCID record for Timour Radko [Opens in a new window]
Timour Radko*
Affiliation:
Department of Oceanography, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA 93943, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: tradko@nps.edu
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Abstract

An analytical model is developed which explores the impact of irregular sea-floor roughness on large-scale oceanic flows. The previously reported asymptotic ‘sandpaper’ theory of flow-topography interaction represents relatively swift currents and exhibits singular behaviour in the weak flow limit. The present investigation systematically spans a wider parameter space and identifies the principal dissimilarities in the topographic regulation of slow and fast currents. The fast flows are controlled by the Reynolds stresses produced by topographically generated eddies. In contrast, relatively weak flows are more affected by the eddy-induced bottom form drag. The asymptotic models for fast and slow currents are then combined to arrive at a concise description of flow forcing by small-scale topography in homogeneous and multilayer models. The proposed closure is validated by comparing corresponding topography-resolving and parametric simulations.

JFM classification

Geophysical and Geological Flows: Ocean circulation Geophysical and Geological Flows: Topographic effects
Type
JFM Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 961 , 25 April 2023 , A24
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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