Internship and thesis proposals
Modelling turbulence in oceans and atmospheres

Domaines
Hydrodynamics/Turbulence/Fluid mechanics

Type of internship
Théorique, numérique
Description
Turbulence is one of the most common physical phenomena occurring in nature. It is responsible for transferring energy from the large scale to the small scale. When the forcing and dissipation scales are well separated, the emerging physical phenomenon is universal. In geophysical systems, such as oceans and atmospheres, in addition to hydrodynamic turbulence, other ingredients add up. Planets are rotating, which creates inertial waves due to the Coriolis force. Oceans are stratified, leading to the propagation of internal waves due to buoyancy. Inertial and internal waves are unlike common waves: they propagate and disperse in orthogonal directions, interact nonlinearly, and are highly anisotropic. Understanding the role of internal and inertial waves in turbulent oceans and atmospheres is one of the main challenges and sources of incertitudes in the large-scale modelling of climate.  Scale separation in such geophysical systems is so huge that one needs to make drastic assumptions in their modelling. In this internship we propose to use a novel and rich approach to model turbulent flows based on a Log-Lattice description of fluid equations. Such models allow for the use of a laptop computer to simulate turbulent flows with enormous scale separations. The internship will address how internal and inertial waves interact within this model, how they modify energy transfers, and provide hints on their relevance for mixing in the ocean.

Contact
Giorgio Krstulovic
Laboratory : Laboratoire J.L. Lagrange - UM37293
Team : Equipe Turbulence Fluide et Plasma
Team Website
/ Thesis :    Funding :