TRR 181 seminar: Hans Burchard - "Knudsen and Total Exchange Flow relations for mixing"

The TRR 181 seminar is held by Hans Burchard (Leibniz-Institut für Ostseeforschung Warnemünde) on

Knudsen and Total Exchange Flow relations for mixing

at Institut für Ostseeforschung Warnemünde Rostock on May 31st at 10am,  street, room ( floor). 

*Abstract*

The well-known Knudsen and Total Exchange Flow (TEF) theories are derived from the conservation laws of mass and salt by means of application of Gauss' theorem to the volume of a confined estuarine or marginal sea basin. These theories provide quantifications of exchange flow across an open boundary to the adjacent ocean in terms of bulk values (Knudsen theory: inflow and outflow volume or salinity) or with resolution in salinity space (TEF: profiles of volume and salt flux in salinity coordinates). In the present study, these theories are extended towards mixing of salinity, defined as the decay of salinity variance due to turbulent mixing. These new Knudsen and TEF relations for mixing are derived by applying Gauss' theorem to the salinity variance equation. As a result, long-term average mixing in estuaries and marginal seas can be estimated by simply considering inflowing and outflowing salinities at the open boundary as well as net freshwater run-off.