Amrapalli Garanaik

Research

I am a fluid dynamicist and physical oceanographer focused on the physics of small-scale turbulence and mixing in geophysical and environmental flows. My research combines a hierarchy of approaches—including Earth system modeling, direct numerical simulation (DNS), and large eddy simulation (LES)—integrated with theory and observational data. By bridging these methods, I investigate multi-scale interactions and develop subgrid-scale parameterizations to improve our understanding of turbulent mixing and their impacts on our Earth system.

New boundary layer scheme for Earth system models

We developed a new physically-motivated mixing scheme for OSBL turbulence by implimenting it in Model for Prediction Across Scales (MPAS-Ocean), the ocean component of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM). Results show that the proposed mixing scheme can simulate the OSBL physics due to byoyancy, wind, and wave forcing efficiently suggesting its potential use in GCMs to help reduce model biases. Read more...

Stratified turbulence through Direct Numerical Simulations

This study performs DNS of stably stratified turbulence to better understand flow dynamics & mixing, prodives physics-based improved parameterizations of diapycnal mixing and infering it with measurable quantities providing implications for practical applications. Read more [1], [2], [3]...

Air-sea interaction through satellite observation and in-situ data

My work in NASA's Sub-Mesoscale Ocean Dynamic Experiments (S-MODE), as a member of air-sea interaction working group and velocity working group within this multi-institutional collaborating project focuses understanding flux estimates and associated SST and ocean current response for improving ocean-atmosphere coupled model by better representing the air-sea fluxes. I have also paricipated in ASIRI prohject to study subsurface mixing in BoB. Read more

Large eddy simulations of Ocean on GPU platform

This study explores ocean simulatins by running LES (Oceananigans.jl) on different GPU platform, including NVIDIA-GPUs, A100, V100, H100, and on Grace hopper at Oregon State University providing avenues for high-resolution simulations. Read more

Mesoscale mixing through Lagrangian approch in high-rez Ocean model

In this study, we employed Lagrangian, in Situ, Global, High-performance Particle Tracking (LIGHT) package in high-resolution (eddy-resolving) Model for Prediction Across Scales (MPAS-Ocean), the ocean component of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) to develop better parameterizations of isopycnal diffusivity. Read more...

Experimental Fluid Mechanics

This work involves the study of turbulent open-channel flows using Acoustic Doppler Velocimetry (ADV) and Laser Doppler Anemometry (LDA). The experiments are conducted in a recirculating flume at Colorado State University and interesting findings about sensor assessment are presented with implications for practical applications. Read more...