Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

SS23 In Transition: Biomechanics of Sensory Perception (Disciplinary Connections)

Date: Thursday, February 15, 2001, Time: 2:00:00 PM

Location: Acoma/Zuni/Tesuque

Webster, D, R, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, USA, dwebster@ce.gatech.edu

THE FLUID MECHANICS OF CHEMOSENSORY-MEDIATED FORAGING

A fundamental impediment to understanding chemosensory-mediated behavior in turbulent flows is a lack of knowledge about the chemical signal. Major advances in understanding chemosensory-mediated foraging can only be achieved through an appreciation of the spatial and temporal variation of concentration fields. The purpose of this study is to quantify the concentration field of a chemical odor plume in a turbulent boundary layer and the information content available to a chemosensory-mediated forager. Instantaneous concentration fields of a chemical plume released in a fully-developed turbulent open channel flow are measured using planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF). The usefulness of several chemosensory cues will be discussed including bilateral comparison. A spatial correlation function in the spanwise direction is a dramatic indicator of the relative position of the centerline and distance from the source. The relative direction of the plume centerline can be estimated from an instantaneous bilateral comparison provided the sensors are separated by a distance that is relatively large compared to the spanwise integral length scale based on the spatial correlation function.

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Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

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