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ISSN Online: 2377-424X

ISBN Print: 978-1-56700-421-2

International Heat Transfer Conference 15
August, 10-15, 2014, Kyoto, Japan

Transport and Mixing Mechanisms in Littoral Waters Induced by Absorption of Radiation

Get access (open in a dialog) DOI: 10.1615/IHTC15.kn.000024
pages 437-448

Abstract

This paper provides a bibliographical review on the unsteady natural convection in littoral waters induced by daytime radiative heating and further addresses recent and ongoing related investigations. The flow under consideration is an internally heated convection with an imposed boundary forcing. The direct absorption of the incoming radiation forms a stable thermal stratification, whilst the residual radiation reaching the bottom is absorbed and released back to the water body as a boundary flux, forming a potentially unstable thermal stratification adjacent to the bottom surface. Consequently, the differential heating intrinsically imposed by the varying topography drives the cross-shore circulation (i.e. horizontal convection), and the thermoconvective instability of the potentially unstable bottom thermal boundary layer induces the depthwise circulation (i.e. vertical mixing) in the form of rising plumes. Investigations have been widely conducted via analytical, experimental, numerical and scaling approaches to characterise the flow and stability mechanisms and their dependences on controlling parameters.