The effects of earth's rotation on the late submarine wake

Abstract

Detection and tracking of submarines by acoustic means alone has become increasingly difficult due to quieter submarines, which underscores the need for non-acoustic detection methods. One hydrodynamic method available is through wake detection and the tracking of the resulting vortices created by the turbulence. Until now, it has been assumed that these vortices have large enough Rossby numbers such that the rotation of the Earth can be ignored. This study examines the vortices that persist in the late submarine wake and explores the effects of rotation on the detectable characteristics of these wakes. Numerical simulations were used to model the vortices in the late submarine wake with and without rotation. Comparisons between these results have shown that the direction of rotation of vortices in the late submarine wake are affected by the rotation of the Earth and that Coriolis force must be taken into account.