We report an experimental and numerical study of turbulent fluid motion in a free surface. The flow is realized experimentally on the surface of a tank filled with water stirred by a vertically oscillating grid positioned well below the surface. The effect of surface waves appears to be negligible so that the flow can numerically be realized with a flat surface and stress-free boundary conditions. The surface flow is unconventional in that it is not incompressible and neither energy nor enstrophy are conserved. Nevertheless, according to both experiment and numerical simulation, the second order structure function $S_2\mathrm{}\left(R\right)\mathrm{}$ scales essentially as for a three-dimensional system. However, the surface flow seems to be more intermittent.

• Received 6 February 2001

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.63.065303