Experimental and numerical investigation of internal gravity waves excited by turbulent penetrative convection in water around its density maximum

Abstract

This study is devoted to the experimental and numerical analysis of the excitation of gravity waves by turbulent convection. This situation is representative of many geophysical or astrophysical systems such as the convective bottom layer of the atmosphere that radiates internal waves in the stratosphere, or the interaction between the convective and the radiative zones in stars. In our experiments, we use water as a working fluid as it possesses the remarkable property of having a maximum density at 4 °C. Therefore, when establishing on a water layer a temperature gradient between 0 °C at the bottom and room temperature at the top, a turbulent convective region appears spontaneously under a stably stratified zone. In these conditions, gravity waves are excited by the convective fluid motions penetrating the stratified layer. Although this type of flow, called penetrative convection, has already been described, we present here the first velocity field measurement of wave emission and propagation. We show in particular that an intermediate layer that we call the buffer layer emerges between the convective and the stratified zones. In this buffer layer, the angle of propagation of the waves varies with the altitude since it is slaved to the Brunt-Väisälä frequency which evolves rapidly between the convective and the stratified layer. A minimum angle is reached at the end of the buffer layer. Then we observe that an angle of propagation is selected when the waves travel through the stratified layer. We expect this process of wave selection to take place in natural situations. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013.