NSF Org:	OCE Division Of Ocean Sciences
Recipient:	UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
Initial Amendment Date:	March 8, 2001
Latest Amendment Date:	March 8, 2001
Award Number:	0095971
Award Instrument:	Standard Grant
Program Manager:	Eric C. Itsweire OCE  Division Of Ocean Sciences GEO  Directorate for Geosciences
Start Date:	March 15, 2001
End Date:	February 29, 2004 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount:	$268,839.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date:	$268,839.00
Funds Obligated to Date:	FY 2001 = $268,839.00
History of Investigator:	Peter Rhines (Principal Investigator) rhines@ocean.washington.edu
Recipient Sponsored Research Office:	University of Washington 4333 BROOKLYN AVE NE SEATTLE WA  US  98195-1016 (206)543-4043
Sponsor Congressional District:	07
Primary Place of Performance:	University of Washington 4333 BROOKLYN AVE NE SEATTLE WA  US  98195-1016
Primary Place of Performance Congressional District:	07
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI):	HD1WMN6945W6
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s):	PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY
Primary Program Source:	01000102DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s):	0000, OTHR
Program Element Code(s):	161000
Award Agency Code:	4900
Fund Agency Code:	4900
Assistance Listing Number(s):	47.050

ABSTRACT

0095971/Rhines

The project addresses two questions associated with the spin-up of
rotating, stratified fluids like the ocean. The first concerns the
effect of nonlinear coupling between the Ekman pumping induced by wind
stress curl and the vorticity of the interior geostrophic flow generated
by the Ekman pumping. The second concerns the generation of convective
and inertial instabilities by the advection of horizontal density
gradients in the Ekman layer by Ekman fluxes, together with the vertical
mixing these instabilities produce. The work consists of the
development and study of analytical and numerical models of
three-dimensional representations of these phenomena together with
experiments to reproduce these phenomena in the laboratory and to test
the theoretical and numerical predictions. Numerical simulations will
be extended to a model of coastal upwelling. The work builds on
two-dimensional theoretical and numerical models of these
processes.

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