A circulation description of a rip current neck

This paper considers wave-driven rip currents from a circulation–vorticity point of view. A highly simplified description of rip currents using continuous generation of point vortices at fixed locations is found to have a wide range of applicability around the rip neck. Rip scaling becomes straightf...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of fluid mechanics Vol. 497; pp. 225 - 234
Main Author KENNEDY, A. B.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 25.12.2003
Subjects
Coastal oceanography, estuaries. Regional oceanography
Dynamics of the ocean (upper and deep oceans)
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Physics of the oceans
Rip current
Current wave interaction
Computational fluid dynamics
Wave packet
Sea current
Topography
Vorticity
Numerical simulation
Alongshore circulation
Wave breaking
Coastal zone
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Summary:This paper considers wave-driven rip currents from a circulation–vorticity point of view. A highly simplified description of rip currents using continuous generation of point vortices at fixed locations is found to have a wide range of applicability around the rip neck. Rip scaling becomes straightforward, and is seen to collapse to a single form. Numerical experiments with this simplified system have the ability to predict well startup transients including previously unexplained peaks, and frequency-dependent effects of wave groups on rip currents. Quantitative mean currents in the rip neck are represented moderately well by this theory.
Bibliography:istex:9D55C79CB54C2ACE7B65F139B6CAE7137DBE8ECE
ark:/67375/6GQ-45T090V7-Q
PII:S0022112003006827
ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 23
ISSN:0022-1120
1469-7645
DOI:10.1017/S0022112003006827