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Research Interests
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The ocean and the atmosphere are basically two shallow layers of fluid around a large sphere, Earth. The motion of these layers is most often reduced to well-localized processes which are studied in detail by oceanographers and meteorologists. The main difficulty is that the dynamics of the earth "fluid continuum" is not the sum of the particular processes. The whole system is indeed fundamentally chaotic and a "predictability" time scale depending essentially on the "degree" of non-linearity of the mechanisms involved must necessarily be associated to any study...
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Schematic representation of the internal tide generation, propagation and dissipation |
My research activities are basically dedicated to the understanding of the dynamics of this fluid continuum, but rather than concentrating on a particular mechanism, I chose to concentrate on the energy and enstrophy cascades that maintain this complex dynamics with a particular focus on the role of the ocean internal waves in these energy transfers. |
To reach this objective, we have developped in our Coastal Ocean Team a free-surface energy-conserving non-hydrostatic numerical model (SYMPHONIE-NH).
Numerical modelling of internal tides:
- Modelling of MINT-94 campaign (Bay
of Biscay,N-E Atlantics) (I. Pairaud Ph-D thesis),
- Ensemble Modelling of the Gulf
of Lions (NW-Mediterranean),
- Energetics of internal tide generation,
propagation and dissipation over a ridge (J. Floor Ph-D thesis),
- Dynamics and energetics of non-linear
internal waves.
Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of laboratory experiments :
(collaboration with A. Paci (CNRM/GAME - Météo-France/CNRS))
-Energy transfers associated to internal
tides generated over ocean ridges (J. Floor and Y. Dossmann Ph-D thesis).
Numerical developments:
- Energy balance and evaluation of transfers,
- Non-hydrostatic algorithm implemented in SYMPHONIE-NH,
- Variational initialization and forcing of numerical models (VIFOP).
Diagnostic tools:
- Matlab-GUI Netcdf graphic interface (SVIEW),
- Matlab-GUI kinematic and potential energy interface (SVIEW-Energy),
- WEof online analysis coupling wavelet
and principal component analysis.