Plumes in stratified environments

This research presents the results of two interrelated sets of experiments examining the dynamics of plumes and fountains in two-layer and continuously stratified environments.The second study presents experimental results of the generation of internal gravity waves by a turbulent buoyant plume impinging upon the interface between a uniform density layer of fluid and a linearly stratified layer. The wave field is observed and its properties measured non-intrusively using axisymmetric Schlieren. In particular, we determine the fraction of the energy flux associated with the plume at the neutral buoyancy level that is extracted by the waves. On average, this was found to be approximately 4 per cent. Within the limits of the experimental parameters, the maximum vertical displacement amplitude of waves were found to depend linearly upon the maximum penetration height of the plume beyond the neutral level. The frequency of the waves was found to lie in a narrow range relative to the buoyancy frequency. The results are used to interpret the generation of waves in the atmosphere by convective storms impinging upon the tropopause via the mechanical oscillator effect.The first study examines the evolution of an axisymmetric turbulent fountain in a two-layer stratified environment. Interacting with the interface, the fountain is observed to exhibit three regimes of flow. It may penetrate the interface but nonetheless return to the source where it spreads as a radially propagating gravity current the return flow may be trapped at the interface where it spreads as a radially propagating intrusion or it may do both. These regimes have been classified using empirically determined regime parameters which govern the relative initial momentum of the fountain and the relative density difference of the fountain and the ambient fluid. The maximum vertical distance travelled by the fountain in a two-layer fluid has been theoretically determined by extending the theory developed for fountains in a homogeneous environment. The theory compares favourably with experimental measurements. We have also developed a theory to analyse the initial speeds of the resulting radial currents. We found that the currents exhibited two different regimes of flow.