Comment on 'Wave-turbulence interaction and its induced mixing in the upper ocean' by Huang and Qiao

摘要

The interaction of surface gravity waves with the ocean below has been the subject of numerous investigations over the past century. However, for the most part, studies focused on wave/mean current interactions. Wave-turbulence interactions were more or less ignored (with a few exceptions mentioned below), because of the mistaken belief that the principally irrotational wave motions cannot possibly generate vortical turbulence except through processes such as wave breaking. However, pioneering theoretical studies by Kitaigorodskii and Lumley [1983] and Kitaigorodskii et al. [1983] and field observations by Anis and Moum [1995] brought wave-turbulence interactions to the forefront. Turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) dissipation measurements in the upper ocean made by Anis and Moum [1995] conclusively demonstrated the enhanced dissipation rates by wave breaking near the surface and by wave-turbulence interactions well below the surface, which were a significant departure from dissipation rates obtained from the traditional law of the wall. While they did suggest a model for wave-turbulence interaction-driven dissipation rate (more on this below), no mention was ever made of Langmuir circulation or Langmuir turbulence as the mechanism for such interactions.