The limited growth of vegetated shear layers
Author(s)
Ghisalberti, Marco; Nepf, Heidi
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In contrast to free shear layers, which grow continuously downstream, shear layers generated by submerged vegetation grow only to a finite thickness. Because these shear layers are characterized by coherent vortex structures and rapid vertical mixing, their thickness controls exchange between the vegetation and the overlying water. Experiments conducted in a laboratory flume show that the growth of these obstructed shear layers is arrested once the production of shear-layer-scale turbulent kinetic energy (SKE) is balanced by dissipation of SKE within the canopy. This equilibrium condition, along with a mixing length closure scheme, was used in a one-dimensional numerical model to predict the mean velocity profiles of the experimental shear layers. The agreement between model and experiment is very good, but field application of the model is limited by a lack of description of the drag coefficient in a submerged canopy.
Date issued
2004-07Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental EngineeringJournal
Water Resources Research
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
Citation
Ghisalberti, M. “The limited growth of vegetated shear layers.” Water Resources Research 40.7 (2004). ©2004 American Geophysical Union.
Version: Final published version
Other identifiers
W07502
ISSN
0043-1397