Near-Surface Turbulence and Thermal Structure in a Wind-Driven Sea

Abstract Ocean surface turbulence at high sea states is evaluated using heat as a naturally occurring passive tracer. A freely drifting instrument with a mechanically driven temperature profiler, fixed depth thermistors, and conductivity cells was used to monitor breaking wave activity and fine-scale temperature structure within the upper 2 m of the water column. The combination of temperature profiles and independent heat flux measurements demonstrate the presence of wave-enhanced turbulence and the effects of subsurface advection due to Langmuir circulation. The turbulence length scale, extracted from the temperature profile fine structure, suggests a surface value significantly smaller than previously reported. A Prandtl-type mixing length model matched with a surface energy flux due to wave breaking and the observed turbulent length scale is consistent with the authors’ observations. Both advection and enhanced diffusion are reconciled in a two-dimensional model of the upper-ocean boundary layer, prov...

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