Research project: Transition and turbulence in breaking gravity waves
When a density stratified atmospheric wind crosses a mountain range, a sequence of lee-waves is often produced. One or more of these may steepen and then break. We have been studying the resulting turbulent patch, which can lead to serious aircraft damage, and the transition processes leading to it. Much of the work is in collaboration with a colleague at the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Royal Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia.