Free-surface dynamics in the presence of submerged canopies

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Abstract/Contents

Abstract
Seagrasses modify the flow of fluid through and around them at many scales and can completely alter their surrounding fluid environment. This thesis focuses on two cases of the hydrodynamics of canopies in the presence of free surfaces: first, on the free-surface expression of a canopy-generated shear instability; and second, on the role of vegetation in coastal protection in wave-dominated regions. In the first portion, I focus on a new tool and hydrodynamic framework for the remote detection and characterization of submerged ecosystems. Coherent fluid structures shed by the canopy impact the water surface; in the laboratory, we obtained snapshots of the water surface slope over time, showing the emergence of these vortices at the water surface, their propagation downstream, and the length scale of the structures. This imaging method was then used in conjunction with subsurface velocity measurements to make connections between the free surface and interior flow properties, suggesting that a canopy leaves a signature on the water surface that is indicative both of what is beneath the water surface, as well as how it is altering the flow. The final portion of this thesis details laboratory experiments studying the protective benefits of coastal vegetation in altering undertow, turbulence, and free-surface behavior on a sloping beach. Vegetation can redirect or attenuate the undertow current and reduce wave-induced cross-shore transport of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE), suggesting that vegetation may help retain sediment onshore in coastal areas.

Description

Type of resource text
Form electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource
Extent 1 online resource.
Place California
Place [Stanford, California]
Publisher [Stanford University]
Copyright date 2018; ©2018
Publication date 2018; 2018
Issuance monographic
Language English

Creators/Contributors

Author Mandel, Tracy L
Degree supervisor Koseff, Jeffrey Russell
Thesis advisor Koseff, Jeffrey Russell
Thesis advisor Ouellette, Nicholas (Nicholas Testroet), 1980-
Thesis advisor Suckale, Jenny
Degree committee member Ouellette, Nicholas (Nicholas Testroet), 1980-
Degree committee member Suckale, Jenny
Associated with Stanford University, Civil & Environmental Engineering Department.

Subjects

Genre Theses
Genre Text

Bibliographic information

Statement of responsibility Tracy L. Mandel.
Note Submitted to the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department.
Thesis Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2018.
Location electronic resource

Access conditions

Copyright
© 2018 by Tracy Mandel
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).

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