Louis-Alexandre Couston

• PhD Mechanical/Ocean Engineering
• Professor (Assistant) at Claude Bernard University Lyon 1

The meltwater mixing line (MML) model provides a theoretical prediction of near-ice water mass properties that is useful to compare with observations. If oceanographic measurements reported in a temperature–salinity diagram overlap with the MML prediction, then it is usually concluded that the local dynamics are dominated by the turbulent mixing of...

We investigate the dynamics of a fluid layer subject to a bottom heat flux and a top monotonically increasing temperature profile driving horizontal convection (HC). We use direct numerical simulations and consider a large range of flux-based Rayleigh numbers $10^6 \leq Ra_F \leq 10^9$ and imposed top horizontal to bottom vertical heat flux ratios...

We investigate the dynamics of a fluid layer subject to an imposed bottom heat flux and a top monotonically-increasing temperature profile driving horizontal convection. We use direct numerical simulations and consider a large range of flux-based Rayleigh numbers $10^6 \leq Ra_F \leq 10^9$ and imposed top horizontal to bottom vertical heat flux rat...

Recent photometric observations of massive stars show ubiquitous low-frequency ‘red noise’ variability, which has been interpreted as internal gravity waves (IGWs). Simulations of IGWs generated by convection show smooth surface wave spectra, qualitatively matching the observed red noise. Theoretical calculations using linear wave theory by Shiode...

Recent photometric observations of massive stars show ubiquitous low-frequency "red-noise" variability, which has been interpreted as internal gravity waves (IGWs). Simulations of IGWs generated by convection show smooth surface wave spectra, qualitatively matching the observed red-noise. On the other hand, theoretical calculations by Shiode et al...

The Science Case for a Titan Flagship-class Orbiter with Probes White paper #325 submitted to the Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-2032. Topics: giant planets systems; ocean worlds; other: Mission Studies by Conor Nixon, James Abshire, Andrew Ashton, Jason W. Barnes, Nathalie Carrasco, Mathieu Choukroun, Athena Coustenis, Lo...

Subglacial lakes are isolated, cold-temperature and high-pressure water environments hidden under ice sheets, which might host extreme microorganisms. Here, we use two-dimensional direct numerical simulations in order to investigate the characteristic temperature fluctuations and velocities in freshwater subglacial lakes as functions of the ice ove...

Subglacial lakes are isolated, low-temperature and high-pressure water environments hidden under ice sheets. Here, we use two-dimensional direct numerical simulations in order to investigate the characteristic temperature fluctuations and velocities in freshwater subglacial lakes as functions of the ice overburden pressure, , the water depth, , and...

Trapped beneath the Antarctic ice sheet lie over 400 subglacial lakes, which are considered to be extreme, isolated, yet viable habitats for microbial life. The physical conditions within subglacial lakes are critical to evaluating how and where life may best exist. Here, we propose that Earth's geothermal flux provides efficient stirring of Antarc...

Trapped beneath the Antarctic ice sheet lie over 400 subglacial lakes, which are considered to be extreme, isolated, yet viable habitats for microbial life. The physical conditions within subglacial lakes are critical to evaluating how and where life may best exist. Here, we propose that Earth's geothermal flux provides efficient stirring of Antarc...

Iceberg meltwater is a critical freshwater flux from the cryosphere to the oceans. Global climate simulations therefore require simple and accurate parametrizations of iceberg melting. Iceberg shape is an important but often neglected aspect of iceberg melting. Icebergs have an enormous range of shapes and sizes, and distinct processes dominate bas...

Numerous fluid systems organise into a turbulent layer adjacent to a stably stratified one, for instance, planetary atmospheres and stellar interiors. Capturing the coupled dynamics of such systems and understanding the exchanges of energy and momentum at the interface between the two layers are challenging, because of the large range of involved t...

We develop and analyse the first second-order phase-field model to combine melting and dissolution in multi-component flows. This provides a simple and accurate way to simulate challenging phase-change problems in existing codes. Phase-field models simplify computation by describing separate regions using a smoothed phase field. The phase field eli...

Iceberg meltwater is a critical freshwater flux from the cryosphere to the oceans. Global climate simulations therefore require simple and accurate parameterisations of iceberg melting. Iceberg shape is an important but often neglected aspect of iceberg melting. Icebergs have an enormous range of shapes and sizes, and distinct processes dominate ba...

We outline a flagship-class mission concept focused on studying Titan as a global system, with particular emphasis on the polar regions. Investigating Titan from the unique standpoint of a polar orbit would enable comprehensive global maps to uncover the physics and chemistry of the atmosphere, and the topography and geophysical environment of the...

We develop and analyse the first second-order phase-field model to combine melting and dissolution in multi-component flows. This provides a simple and accurate way to simulate challenging phase-change problems in existing codes. Phase-field models simplify computation by describing separate regions using a smoothed phase field. The phase field eli...

Planetary rotation organizes fluid motions into coherent, long-lived swirls, known as large-scale vortices (LSVs), which play an important role in the dynamics and long-term evolution of geophysical and astrophysical fluids. Here, using direct numerical simulations, we show that LSVs in rapidly rotating mixed convective and stably stratified fluids...

Landslides plunging into lakes and reservoirs can result in extreme wave runup at shores. This phenomenon has claimed lives and caused damage to near-shore properties. Landslide tsunamis in lakes are different from typical earthquake tsunamis in the open ocean in that (i) the affected areas are usually within the near-field of the source, (ii) the...

We show that significant water wave amplification is obtained in a water resonator consisting of two spatially separated patches of small-amplitude sinusoidal corrugations on an otherwise flat seabed. The corrugations reflect the incident waves according to the so-called Bragg reflection mechanism, and the distance between the two sets controls whe...

In order to improve our understanding of ice melting in oceans, here we report an idealized numerical study of phase changes between a solid and an adjacent turbulent, stratified shear flow. We use the phase-field method to dynamically couple the Navier-Stokes equations for the fluid with the heat equation for the solid. We investigate the evolutio...

Bowman et al. reported low-frequency photometric variability in 164 O- and B-type stars observed with K2 and TESS . They interpret these motions as internal gravity waves, which could be excited stochastically by convection in the cores of these stars. The detection of internal gravity waves in massive stars would help distinguish between massive s...

Bowman et al. (2019) reported low-frequency photometric variability in 164 O- and B-type stars observed with K2 and TESS. They interpret these motions as internal gravity waves, which could be excited stochastically by convection in the cores of these stars. The detection of internal gravity waves in massive stars would help distinguish between mas...

Planetary rotation organizes fluid motions into coherent, long-lived swirls, known as large scale vortices (LSVs). LSVs are ubiquitous in nature, and their shape and size are expected to control their effect on the dynamics and long-term evolution of geophysical and astrophysical fluids. By using high-resolution direct numerical simulations, here w...

We present three-dimensional direct numerical simulations of internal waves excited by turbulent convection in a self-consistent, Boussinesq and Cartesian model of mixed convective and stably stratified fluids. We demonstrate that in the limit of large Rayleigh number ( $Ra\in [4\times 10^{7},10^{9}]$ ) and large stratification (Brunt–Väisälä frequ...

We present three-dimensional direct numerical simulations of internal waves excited by turbulent convection in a self-consistent, Boussinesq and Cartesian model of convective--stably-stratified fluids. We demonstrate that in the limit of large Rayleigh number ($Ra\in [4\times 10^7,10^9]$) and large stratification (Brunt-V\"{a}is\"{a}l\"{a} frequenc...

We demonstrate via direct numerical simulations that a periodic, oscillating mean flow spontaneously develops from turbulently generated internal waves. We consider a minimal physical model where the fluid self-organizes in a convective layer adjacent to a stably stratified one. Internal waves are excited by turbulent convective motions, then nonli...

We demonstrate via direct numerical simulations that a periodic, oscillating mean flow spontaneously develops from turbulently generated internal waves. We consider a minimal physical model where the fluid self-organizes in a convective layer adjacent to a stably stratified one. Internal waves are excited by turbulent convective motions, then nonli...

Here we show that monochromatic long-crested corrugations on an otherwise flat seafloor can coherently scatter the energy of an oblique incident internal wave to multiple multi-directional higher-mode internal waves via a series of resonant interactions. We demonstrate that a resonance between seabed corrugations and a normally or slightly oblique...

Here, we show through a statistical analysis that rogue waves in broadband non-breaking seas are spatially asymmetric. In addition to the top-down asymmetry due to nonlinear effects, we show that the two troughs adjacent to the rogue wave crest are generally of different depths, which is unlike the conventional picture of rogue waves with symmetric...

Parametric Subharmonic Instability (PSI) is one of the most important mechanisms that transfer energy from tidally-generated long internal waves to short steep waves. Breaking of these short waves results in diapycnal mixing through which oceanic abyssal stratification is maintained. It has long been believed that PSI is strongest between a primary...

We study the dynamical regimes of a density-stratified fluid confined between isothermal no-slip top and bottom boundaries (at temperatures $T_t$ and $T_b$) via direct numerical simulation. The thermal expansion coefficient of the fluid is temperature dependent and chosen such that the fluid density is maximum at the inversion temperature $T_b>T_i>...

We study the dynamical regimes of a density-stratified fluid confined between isothermal no-slip top and bottom boundaries (at temperatures $T_t$ and $T_b$) via direct numerical simulation. The thermal expansion coefficient of the fluid is temperature dependent and chosen such that the fluid density is maximum at the inversion temperature $T_b>T_i>...

Shore protection by small seabed bars was once considered possible because seafloor undulations strongly reflect surface waves of twice the wavelength by the so-called Bragg resonance mechanism. The idea, however, proved ‘unreliable’ when it was realized that a patch of longshore seabed bars adjacent to a reflective shore could result in larger wav...

Periodic seabed undulations, such as nearshore sandbars, are known to reflect incoming surface waves of twice the wavelength by the so-called Bragg resonance mechanism. In view of this property, longshore seabed-mounted bars were proposed long ago as a means of coastal protection against the high momentum of incident oceanic waves. Many theoretical...

Here we show that the interaction of a low-mode internal wave with small oblique seabed corrugations can lead to a chain resonance of many other freely propagating internal waves with a broad range of wavenumbers and directions of propagation. The chain resonance results in a complex internal wave dynamics over the corrugated seabed that can lead t...

We show that significant water wave amplification is obtained in a water resonator consisting of two spatially separated patches of small-amplitude sinusoidal corrugations on an otherwise flat seabed. The corrugations reflect the incident waves according to the so-called Bragg reflection mechanism, and the distance between the two sets controls whe...

Landslides plunging into lakes and reservoirs can result in extreme wave runup at the shores. This phenomenon has claimed lives and caused damage to near-shore properties. Landslide tsunamis in lakes are different from typical earthquake tsunamis in the open ocean in that (i) the affected areas are usually within the near field of the source, (ii)...

Here we study Bragg resonance of surface and interfacial waves. Specifically, we show one triad resonance between two surface waves and one seabed component in a homogeneous fluid, and another triad between a surface wave, an interfacial wave and a bottom component in a two-layer density stratified fluid. Via the Bragg resonance between two surface...