Resolvent model-based analyses of coherent structures in Langmuir turbulence

We present an analysis of the coherent structures in Langmuir turbulence, a state of the ocean surface boundary layer driven by the interactions between water waves and wind-induced shear, via a resolvent framework. Langmuir turbulence is characterised by multiscale vortical structures, notably counter-rotating roll pairs known as Langmuir circulations. While classic linear stability analyses of the Craik–Leibovich equations have revealed key instability mechanisms underlying Langmuir circulations, the vortical rolls characteristic of Langmuir turbulence, the present work incorporates the turbulent mean state and varying eddy viscosity using data from large-eddy simulations (LES) to investigate the turbulence dynamics of fully developed Langmuir turbulence. Scale-dependent resolvent analyses reveal a new formation mechanism of two-dimensional circulating rolls and three-dimensional turbulent coherent vortices through linear amplification of sustained harmonic forcing. Moreover, the integrated energy spectra predicted by the principal resolvent modes in response to broadband harmonic forcing capture the dominant spanwise length scales that are consistent with the LES data. These results demonstrate the feasibility of resolvent analyses in capturing key features of multiscale turbulence–wave interactions in the statistical stationary state of Langmuir turbulence.