Document Type

Response or Comment

Publication Date

6-2017

DOI

10.1175/JTECH-D-16-0091.1

Publication Title

Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology

Volume

34

Issue

6

Pages

1387-1390

Abstract

Greene et al. revisit the suggestion that the turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate could be estimated through a "large-eddy estimate," employing acoustic measurements of velocity fields associated with the largest energy-containing scales of ocean turbulence. While the large-eddy estimate as originally proposed used vertical velocity and a vertical eddy length scale, Greene et al. chose instead to substitute a horizontal length scale for the latter. This comment argues that combining a horizontal scale for length with a vertical velocity scale produces a large-eddy estimate of the dissipation rate that is accurate only if the energy-containing eddies are isotropic, and that this condition is highly unlikely in naturally occurring ocean turbulence, subject as it is to influences of stratification, vertical shear, and/or the presence of horizontal boundaries. The problem is documented using data from a large-eddy simulation of Langmuir supercells. © 2017 American Meteorological Society.

Original Publication Citation

Gargett, A. E. (2017). Comment on "using an ADCP to estimate turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate in sheltered coastal waters". Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 34(6), 1387-1390. doi:10.1175/JTECH-D-16-0091.1

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