Active Research

Turbulence Production     |     Flow / topography interactions

Eric Kunze’s ongoing research includes collaborations on several flow/topography interaction problems including measurements of the internal wave climatology on the Oregon continental slope (with Matthew Alford and Kim Martini, APL-UW; Jonathan Nash and Sam Kelly, OSU), turbulence on the complicated shelf off Point Sur, CA (AESOP; Jody Klymak, UVic; James Girton and Samantha Brody, APL-UW) and in Monterey Submarine Canyon (James Girton and Samantha Brody, APL-UW; Erika McPhee-Shaw and Katie Morrice, Moss Landing), and the tidal flow structure over Fraser Ridge in the western Strait of Georgia, BC (Jeannette Bedard and Richard Dewey, UVic). Also HOME Nearfield measurements (Craig Lee and Tom Sanford, APL-UW).

He continues to pursue the role of zoologically-generated turbulent mixing (ZOOM, Kunze et al. 2006 Science) in the ocean in collaboration with Shani Rousseau, Richard Dewey and John Dower (UVic). Measurements in the open ocean have thus far found turbulence associated with shear-driven instabilities rather than swimming marine organisms. Measurements in Saanich Inlet, where internal wave shear is weak, find a correlation between vertical migration of the acoustic backscatter layer (krill swarms) and elevated turbulence, but not always. The reasons why turbulence generation is more intermittent than the migration are being explored.

He is also studying whether internal tides can be generated through the interaction of surface tidal currents and baroclinic geostrophic eddies with Pascale Lelong (NWRA).