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Measurements of Reynolds stress profiles in unstratified tidal flow

M.T. Stacey·Stephen G. Monismith·J.R. Burau
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Abstract

In this paper we present a method for measuring profiles of turbulence quantities using a broadband acoustic doppler current profiler (ADCP). The method follows previous work on the continental shelf and extends the analysis to develop estimates of the errors associated with the estimation methods. ADCP data was collected in an unstratified channel and the results of the analysis are compared to theory. This comparison shows that the method provides an estimate of the Reynolds stresses, which is unbiased by Doppler noise, and an estimate of the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) which is biased by an amount proportional to the Doppler noise. The noise in each of these quantities as well as the bias in the TKE match well with the theoretical values produced by the error analysis. The quantification of profiles of Reynolds stresses simultaneous with the measurement of mean velocity profiles allows for extensive analysis of the turbulence of the flow. In this paper, we examine the relation between the turbulence and the mean flow through the calculation of u * , the friction velocity, and C d the coefficient of drag. Finally, we calculate quantities of particular interest in turbulence modeling and analysis, the characteristic lengthscales, including a lengthscale which represents the stream-wise scale of the eddies which dominate the Reynolds stresses.

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Journal of Geophysical Research C: OceansArticle

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BibTeXRIS

M.T. Stacey, Stephen G. Monismith, J.R. Burau. 1999-05-15. Measurements of Reynolds stress profiles in unstratified tidal flow. https://doi.org/10.1029/1998jc900095

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