Confronting Grand Challenges in environmental fluid mechanics

Abstract

Environmental fluid mechanics underlies a wealth of natural, industrial, and, by extension, societal challenges. In the coming decades, as we strive towards a more sustainable planet, there are a wide range of Grand Challenge problems that need to be tackled, ranging from fundamental advances in understanding and modeling of stratified turbulence and consequent mixing, to applied studies of pollution transport in the ocean, atmosphere, and urban environments. A workshop was organized in the Les Houches School of Physics in France in January 2019 with the objective of gathering leading figures in the field to produce a road map for the scientific community. Five subject areas were addressed: multiphase flow, stratified flow, ocean transport, atmospheric and urban transport, and weather and climate prediction. This article summarizes the discussions and outcomes of the meeting, with the intent of providing a resource for the community going forward.