A model for the estimation of the mixing zone behind large sea vessels.

One of the important tasks associated with reducing the concentration of contaminants in the sea surface layer is the determination of their mixing volume, as of the most active systems for mixing the sea surface layer are sea vessels. The wake of a ship is a highly mixed medium. The study of the wake development over time is important when evaluating the mixing of various pollutants in the wake with neutralizing chemicals. As shown in some previous works, in the wake of a vessel that crosses a contaminated surface, the concentration of harmful impurities decreases to background values; however, the problem of determining the volumetric characteristics of this wake remains. In our work, we propose a relatively simple model for assessing the characteristics of a turbulent wake in the near zone behind a vessel. Based on the actual parameters of the vessels, the parameter F= (penetration depth) / (draft) was calculated, which characterizes the potential mixing effects caused by turbulence in the wake. The proposed simple model can be used, for example, to assess the mixing of oil when it is being bottled, with chemicals, to assess possible scenarios of increasing its dilution.

Hindered Energy Cascade in Highly Helical Isotropic Turbulence.

The conventional approach to the turbulent energy cascade, based on Richardson-Kolmogorov phenomenology, ignores the topology of emerging vortices, which is related to the helicity of the turbulent flow. It is generally believed that helicity can play a significant role in turbulent systems, e.g., supporting the generation of large-scale magnetic fields, but its impact on the energy cascade to small scales has never been observed. We suggest, for the first time, a generalized phenomenology for isotropic turbulence with an arbitrary spectral distribution of the helicity. We discuss various scenarios of direct turbulent cascades with new helicity effect, which can be interpreted as a hindering of the spectral energy transfer. Therefore, the energy is accumulated and redistributed so that the efficiency of nonlinear interactions will be sufficient to provide a constant energy flux. We confirm our phenomenology by high Reynolds number numerical simulations based on a shell model of helical turbulence. The energy in our model is injected at a certain large scale only, whereas the source of helicity is distributed over all scales. In particular, we found that the helical bottleneck effect can appear in the inertial interval of the energy spectrum.

Turbulent viscosity variability in self-preserving far wake with zero net momentum.

The profile of the self-preserving far wake with zero net momentum depends on the effective turbulent viscosity coefficient. The current model is based on the assumption of uniform viscosity in the wake cross section. It predicts the self-similar shape of the wake where the width W depends on the distance z from the body as W∝z(1/5) for the axisymmetric case (or z(1/4) for the plane case). The observed wake width, however, demonstrates the dependence W∝z(α) (where α≤1/5). We generalize the model of a self-preserving far wake for the case of the turbulent viscosity coefficient depending on the radius. Additional integrals of motion allow a new family of self-similar profiles with α≤1/5.

Propagation of electromagnetic waves in Kolmogorov and non-Kolmogorov atmospheric turbulence: three-layer altitude model.

Turbulence properties of communication links (optical and microwave) in terms of log-amplitude variance are studied on the basis of a three-layer model of refractive index fluctuation spectrum in the free atmosphere. We suggest a model of turbulence spectra (Kolmogorov and non-Kolmogorov) changing with altitude on the basis of obtained experimental and theoretical data for turbulence profile in the troposphere and lower stratosphere.

Behavior of structure function of refraction coefficients in different turbulent fields.

Deviations of experimental data on the effect of atmospheric turbulence on electromagnetic wave propagation from a standard Kolmogorov (or Obukhov-Kolmogorov) model are examined from the standpoint of the behavior of atmospheric passive scalar spectrum. It is pointed out that these deviations are not random and can be explained on the basis of today's ideas of passive scalar behavior in the atmosphere. This approach allows us to view electromagnetic radiation transfer in random media in a new way and to make the necessary steps for developing a generalized model of this phenomenon.

Changes in modulation transfer function and optical resolution in helical turbulent media.

We study the change in the behavior of the modulation transfer function and resolution with changing properties of a turbulent medium. It is shown that the form and the behavior of the functions under study undergo significant changes at the transition from Kolmogorov's to a helical type of turbulent medium. These changes should be taken into account in developing models of electromagnetic radiation propagation through a medium as well as in interpreting experimental data.