The Great Lakes are the world’s largest surface freshwater resource, and as such it is important to understand the physical dynamics of these systems in order to develop robust models that can aid in their management. In particular, transport and mixing of substances by waves, currents, and turbulence are important to a wide range of issues in the Great Lakes including water quality, aquatic ecosystem dynamics, water availability, shoreline erosion, and climate change.
Cary Troy,
Purdue University
In this talk I provide an overview of Great Lakes physical processes as they manifest themselves in Lake Michigan, using a collection of field observations taken during my time at Purdue and highlighting the issues that motivated the work. Features highlighted will include the annual cycle of thermal stratification and turbulent mixing, large-scale circulation and dispersion, wind-driven barotropic and baroclinic seiches, boundary layer dynamics, and nearshore waves. Recent work on nearshore waves and sediment transport will also be briefly introduced.
Originally from the Chicago area, Dr. Cary Troy runs the Great Lakes Coastal Processes Laboratory at Purdue University, which investigates fundamental hydrodynamic processes that have engineering and ecological applications. The lab has two main lines of inquiry: (1) mixing, turbulence, and dispersion; (2) coastal engineering. Dr. Troy received his B.S. from the University of Illinois in 1995, M.S. from Stanford University in 1997, and Ph.D. from Stanford University in 2003.
At Purdue University since 2007, he has maintained a geographic focus on the Laurentian Great Lakes and examined a wide range of physical processes, ranging from deep-water turbulence to shoreline erosion. Dr. Troy has also conducted pedagogical research, and teaches courses in the areas of hydraulics and hydrology, environmental fluid mechanics, coastal engineering, and basic water science.