Warnemünde Turbulence Days 2013

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(11.08.2013 - 15.08.2013)

 

“Turbulent processes below the mesoscale”

 

The WTD workshops are devoted to the observation, interpretation, and modelling of oceanic turbulence and its interaction with physical and ecosystem parameters. Workshops in this series are held on a biannual basis, and are characterised by their active working atmosphere with a relatively small number of invited speakers, and a comfortable time frame for presentations and discussion. In 2013, the WTD will be held again on the beautiful island of Vilm, a nature reserve in the Western Baltic Sea.

 

Submesoscale dynamics, i.e. the dynamics of stratified flow at finite Rossby numbers, are relevant and interact with many interesting hydrodynamic processes, e.g. upwelling/downwelling, fronts, filaments, surface and internal waves, Langmuir Circulation and convective plumes in oceans, shelf seas, fjords and lakes. Submesoscale processes also have substantial impacts on the marine ecosystem, for example near the surface by governing mixed-layer depth, advective and diffusive nutrient transports, and plankton cycling. In the interior of stratified basins submesoscale dynamics may lead to lateral intrusions of water masses with different physical and biogeochemical properties. Near the sea bed, submesoscale spatio-temporal patterns of shear stress may interact with sediment properties including benthic flora and fauna.

 

However, compared to e.g. small-scale or large-scale geostrophic turbulence, the theoretical understanding of submesoscale dynamics is not as advanced, and it is one aim of the workshop to shed more light onto this complex physical environment. Presentations of field observations, laboratory and numerical experiments, and theoretical studies from different disciplines (including oceanography, atmospheric sciences, physics and applied math) are invited.