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Cited by 91Fluid Dynamics and Vibration AnalysisFluid Dynamics and Turbulent FlowsOceanographic and Atmospheric Processes

Wake Signature Detection

Open access
Spedding, Geoffrey R.·2014·Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics
DOI 10.1146/annurev-fluid-011212-140747
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Abstract

An accumulated body of quantitative evidence shows that bluff-body wakes in stably stratified environments have an unusual degree of coherence and organization, so characteristic geometries such as arrays of alternating-signed vortices have very long lifetimes, as measured in units of buoyancy timescales, or in the downstream distance scaled by a body length. The combination of pattern geometry and persistence renders the detection of these wakes possible in principle. It now appears that identifiable signatures can be found from many disparate sources: Islands, fish, and plankton all have been noted to generate features that can be detected by climate modelers, hopeful navigators in open oceans, or hungry predators. The various types of wakes are reviewed with notes on why their signatures are important and to whom. A general theory of wake pattern formation is lacking and would have to span many orders of magnitude in Reynolds number.

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  • At the meter scale, the flow environment is characterized by long-lived coherent vortex structures, distinct from the uniform turbulence experienced at smaller scales.

    “At this scale, the flow environment is characterized by long-lived coherent vortex structures56–58, distinct from the uniform turbulence experienced at smaller scales59,60.”

    From Sensing flow gradients is necessary for learning autonomous underwater navigation (2025) · cites this paper as [56]

    Section 2.2, Basic Phenomenology (page unavailable), describes larger vortices persisting as small-scale fluctuations dissipate, and Section 2.4, Practical Consequences (page unavailable), discusses the persistence of coherent wake patterns. These passages support the long-lived vortex structures attributed to this source, but concern particular wakes rather than establishing that the flow environment generally has this character at the meter scale. The separate comparison with uniform turbulence carries different citations in the citing sentence. (LLM, conf=0.82)

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. [14]14. Barton ED. 2009. Island wakes. In Ocean Currents: A Derivative of the Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences, ed. JH Steel, SA Thorpe, KK Turekian, pp. 470-75. New York: Academic
  2. [87]87. Riley JJ, Metcalf RW, Weissman MA. 1981. Direct numerical simulations of turbulence in homogeneously stratified fluids. In Nonlinear Properties of Internal Waves, ed. BJ West, pp. 79-112. New York: Am. Inst.

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Authors
Spedding, G. R.
Affiliations
University of Southern California (US)
Corresponding author
Spedding, Geoffrey R.
ORCID
Spedding, Geoffrey R.
Venue
Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics
Publisher
Annual Reviews
Published
2014-01-03
Volume
46
Issue
1
Pages
273-302
ISSN
  • 0066-4189 (ISSN-L)
  • 1545-4479
DOI
10.1146/annurev-fluid-011212-140747
OpenAlex
W2127378792
Cited by
91
References
121
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 3
FWCI
0.23
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Lunds Universitet
  • Office of Naval Research (N00014)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Computational Mechanics › Fluid Dynamics and Vibration Analysis
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Computational Mechanics › Fluid Dynamics and Turbulent Flows
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Oceanography › Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes
Keywords
bluff body wake, stably stratified flow, vortex arrays, vortex lifetime, oceanic islands

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