The long-term goal of the Oceanic Planetary Boundary Layer (OBPL) Laboratory at the Naval Postgraduate School is to understand the role of oceanic turbulent boundary layers in modifying physical and biogeochemical properties in the global oceans.

We are currently focusing on two major research projects:

Simulation of Convection

• The simulation of convection using a large-eddy simulation (LES) model (Click here for convection movie) in the polar and Mediterranean seas with the goal of developing parameterizations of this process for inclusion in primitive equation models for basin-to-global-scale circulation.

  Manuscript entitled "Thermobaric Convection" available here

• Results from our modeling work in the Labrador Sea Convection Experiment

• Polar Sea Convective Instabilities Project

• Coastal ocean plumes. Click here to see a 26-day animation of a dense plume flowing from a source at the top of the continental shelf break. The slope is 1% downward toward the right, and the region depicted is 400 km on a side. Notice the 80-km wavelength in the breaking away secondary plumes. This scale is about 6 Rossby radii.

Tropical Ocean Mixed Layer System

As part of the TOGA COARE (Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere - Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Response Experiment), we are examining the response of the tropical and equatorial turbulent boundary layer system to unsteady atmospheric forcing on time scales of diurnal to annual.

In support of these projects, the OPBL Lab has developed a suite of numerical models:

Links:

• Oceanography Department at NPS

• Naval Postgraduate School (NPS)

Please send all comments to the opbl_group

Last review: February 2003
Disclaimer
Privacy and Security Notice