The Environmental Fluid Mechanics group at the University of Washington studies the mechanics of fluid flow as it relates to transport and mixing in rivers and estuaries, the coastal ocean, open ocean, and polar oceans. We approach scientific and engineering fluid mechanics problems using a combination of field observations, laboratory experiments, and numerical modeling. Current and recent projects in all of these areas are listed below, with the associated PI.
Rivers
We are particularly interested in the dynamics of the river-ocean interface.
- Infrared imaging of instability at a plume front (Chris Chickadel, Alex Horner-Devine)
- Duwamish River estuary (Alex Horner-Devine)
- Merrimack River plume (MA)
- Wave-supported gravity currents
- River plume dynamics
- Sediment dispersal in river plumes
- Coherent structures and the distribution of age
- Coherent structures in estuaries
- The Cascadia Coastlines and Peoples Hazards Research Hub (Alex Horner-Devine, Christie Hegermiller)
Coasts
- Hurricane coastal impacts project (Jim Thomson, Jake Davis)
- Sediment transport on mixed sand and gravel beaches (Alex Horner-Devine)
- Fish Passage (Alex Horner-Devine)
- Transient rip current formation and evolution (Nirnimesh Kumar, Melissa Moulton)
- Ferry ADCP measurements (Jim Thomson)
Open Ocean
- Spectral energy dissipation of wave breaking in mixed seas (Jim Thomson)
- Ambient noise and tidal energy in Admiralty Inlet, Puget Sound, WA (Jim Thomson)
- Waves at Ocean Weather Station Papa (Jim Thomson and Morteza Derakhti)
- Bubble exchange in the Labrador Sea (BELS) experiment (Kee Onn Fong and Craig McNeil)
Polar
We seek to improve understanding of waves and near-surface turbulent mixing processes in the Arctic & Southern Oceans. Recent projects have included:
- Marginal Ice Zone Program (Jim Thomson and Seth Zippel)
- Sea State and Boundary Layer Physics of the Emerging Arctic Ocean (Jim Thomson and Maddie Smith)
- Wave Glider in the Southern Ocean (Jim Thomson)
- Stratified Ocean Dynamics of the Arctic (Jim Thomson)
- Coastal Ocean Dynamics in the Arctic (Jim Thomson, Nirni Kumar, and Lucia Hosekova)