2011 Volume 67 Issue 2 Pages I_589-I_598
It is well known that wind-induced water waves generate formations of Langmuir circulation. This phenomenon is observed together with the high-speed and low-speed streaks, i.e., the convergence and divergence zones, respectively. Mass and momentum are transported significantly from the divergence zone toward the convergence zone, and consequently, strong downflows appear in the convergence zone. So, it is very important to study hydrodynamic properties of Langmuir circulation in natural lakes and ocean. In this study, stereoscopic PIV measurements were conducted in order to reveal the distributions of all thee components of velocity vectors. These experiments allowed us to investigate 3-D turbulent structure under the water waves and generation mechanism of large-scale circulations.
