Large Eddy Simulation of complex sidearms subject to solar radiation and surface cooling

•Large Eddy Simulation (LES) is used to model two lake sidearms.•The sidearms are part of Lake Audrey, NJ, USA and Lake Alexandrina, SA, Australia.•Domains are created using bathymetry data.•Lateral flows are generated by the changing depth of the sidearms.•Lateral volumetric flow rates scale with Ra1/3.

Large Eddy Simulation (LES) is used to model two lake sidearms subject to heating from solar radiation and cooling from a surface flux. The sidearms are part of Lake Audrey, NJ, USA and Lake Alexandrina, SA, Australia. The simulation domains are created using bathymetry data and the boundary is modelled with an Immersed Boundary Method. We investigate the cooling and heating phases with separate quasi-steady state simulations.Differential heating occurs in the cavity due to the changing depth. The resulting temperature gradients drive lateral flows. These flows are the dominant transport process in the absence of wind. Study in this area is important in water quality management as the lateral circulation can carry particles and various pollutants, transporting them to and mixing them with the main lake body.

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