Structure of thermal convection development based on inhomogeneous water surface cooling

The generation and development of thermal convection based on inhomogeneous water surface cooling were examined by hydraulic and numerical experiments to examine the characteristics of thermal convection in a closed water body with aquatic plants. A visualization experiment revealed the structural characteristics of a whirlpool when thermal convection was generated quantitatively by using PIV analysis. Then, a water temperature measurement experiment demonstrated that a steady cold water mass generated based on the heat flux transport from the water surface increases. This explained each of the three stages in the convection development process. Moreover, aquatic plants, which grow thickly on the water surface, cause not only vertical but also horizontal flows based on the density difference with the water surface that is not covered by plants, and thus change the development process of the convection cell.