Generation mechanisms of convectively induced internal gravity waves in a three-dimensional framework

2013 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eun-Ho Choi ◽  
Hye-Yeong Chun
2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 1225-1239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew H. Alford ◽  
Andrey Y. Shcherbina ◽  
Michael C. Gregg

Abstract Shipboard ADCP and towed CTD measurements are presented of a near-inertial internal gravity wave radiating away from a zonal jet associated with the Subtropical Front in the North Pacific. Three-dimensional spatial surveys indicate persistent alternating shear layers sloping downward and equatorward from the front. As a result, depth-integrated ageostrophic shear increases sharply equatorward of the front. The layers have a vertical wavelength of about 250 m and a slope consistent with a wave of frequency 1.01f. They extend at least 100 km south of the front. Time series confirm that the shear is associated with a downward-propagating near-inertial wave with frequency within 20% of f. A slab mixed layer model forced with shipboard and NCEP reanalysis winds suggests that wind forcing was too weak to generate the wave. Likewise, trapping of the near-inertial motions at the low-vorticity edge of the front can be ruled out because of the extension of the features well south of it. Instead, the authors suggest that the wave arises from an adjustment process of the frontal flow, which has a Rossby number about 0.2–0.3.


2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
In-Sun Song ◽  
Hye-Yeong Chun

Abstract The phase-speed spectrum of momentum flux by convectively forced internal gravity waves is analytically formulated in two- and three-dimensional frameworks. For this, a three-layer atmosphere that has a constant vertical wind shear in the lowest layer, a uniform wind above, and piecewise constant buoyancy frequency in a forcing region and above is considered. The wave momentum flux at cloud top is determined by the spectral combination of a wave-filtering and resonance factor and diabatic forcing. The wave-filtering and resonance factor that is determined by the basic-state wind and stability and the vertical configuration of forcing restricts the effectiveness of the forcing, and thus only a part of the forcing spectrum can be used for generating gravity waves that propagate above cumulus clouds. The spectral distribution of the wave momentum flux is largely determined by the wave-filtering and resonance factor, but the magnitude of the momentum flux varies significantly according to spatial and time scales and moving speed of the forcing. The wave momentum flux formulation in the two-dimensional framework is extended to the three-dimensional framework. The three-dimensional momentum flux formulation is similar to the two-dimensional one except that the wave propagation in various horizontal directions and the three-dimensionality of forcing are allowed. The wave momentum flux spectrum formulated in this study is validated using mesoscale numerical model results and can reproduce the overall spectral structure and magnitude of the wave momentum flux spectra induced by numerically simulated mesoscale convective systems reasonably well.


2018 ◽  
Vol 615 ◽  
pp. A23 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Auclair-Desrotour ◽  
S. Mathis ◽  
J. Laskar ◽  
J. Leconte

Context. Oceanic tides are a major source of tidal dissipation. They drive the evolution of planetary systems and the rotational dynamics of planets. However, two-dimensional (2D) models commonly used for the Earth cannot be applied to extrasolar telluric planets hosting potentially deep oceans because they ignore the three-dimensional (3D) effects related to the ocean’s vertical structure. Aims. Our goal is to investigate, in a consistant way, the importance of the contribution of internal gravity waves in the oceanic tidal response and to propose a modelling that allows one to treat a wide range of cases from shallow to deep oceans. Methods. A 3D ab initio model is developed to study the dynamics of a global planetary ocean. This model takes into account compressibility, stratification, and sphericity terms, which are usually ignored in 2D approaches. An analytic solution is computed and used to study the dependence of the tidal response on the tidal frequency and on the ocean depth and stratification. Results. In the 2D asymptotic limit, we recover the frequency-resonant behaviour due to surface inertial-gravity waves identified by early studies. As the ocean depth and Brunt–Väisälä frequency increase, the contribution of internal gravity waves grows in importance and the tidal response becomes 3D. In the case of deep oceans, the stable stratification induces resonances that can increase the tidal dissipation rate by several orders of magnitude. It is thus able to significantly affect the evolution time scale of the planetary rotation.


1969 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 785-803 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis P. Bretherton

A train of internal gravity waves in a stratified liquid exerts a stress on the liquid and induces changes in the mean motion of second order in the wave amplitude. In those circumstances in which the concept of a slowly varying quasi-sinusoidal wave train is consistent, the mean velocity is almost horizontal and is determined to a first approximation irrespective of the vertical forces exerted by the waves. The sum of the mean flow kinetic energy and the wave energy is then conserved. The circulation around a horizontal circuit moving with the mean velocity is increased in the presence of waves according to a simple formula. The flow pattern is obtained around two- and three-dimensional wave packets propagating into a liquid at rest and the results are generalized for any basic state of motion in which the internal Froude number is small. Momentum can be associated with a wave packet equal to the horizontal wave-number times the wave energy divided by the intrinsic frequency.


1998 ◽  
Vol 375 ◽  
pp. 113-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDREAS DÖRNBRACK

The characteristics of turbulence caused by three-dimensional breaking of internal gravity waves beneath a critical level are investigated by means of high-resolution numerical simulations. The flow evolves in three stages. In the first one the flow is two-dimensional: internal gravity waves propagate vertically upwards and create a convectively unstable region beneath the critical level. Convective instability leads to turbulent breakdown in the second stage. The developing three-dimensional mixed region is organized into shear-driven overturning rolls in the plane of wave propagation and into counter-rotating streamwise vortices in the spanwise plane. The production of turbulent kinetic energy by shear is maximum. In the last stage, shear production and mechanical dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy balance.The evolution of the flow depends on topographic parameters (wavelength and amplitude), on shear and stratification as well as on viscosity. Here, only the implications of the viscosity for the instability structure and evolution in terms of the Reynolds number are considered. Smaller viscosity leads to earlier onset of convective instability and overturning waves. However, viscosity retards the onset of smaller-scale three-dimensional instabilities and leads to a reduced momentum transfer to the mean flow below the critical level. Hence, the formation of secondary overturning rolls is sustained by lower viscosity.The budgets of total kinetic and potential energies are calculated. Although the domain-averaged turbulent kinetic energy is less than 1% of the total kinetic energy, it is strong enough to form a patchy and intermittent turbulent mixed layer below the critical level.


2011 ◽  
Vol 63 (7) ◽  
pp. 847-851 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Occhipinti ◽  
Pierdavide Coïsson ◽  
Jonathan J. Makela ◽  
Sébastien Allgeyer ◽  
Alam Kherani ◽  
...  

2007 ◽  
Vol 577 ◽  
pp. 137-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
SUBHAS K. VENAYAGAMOORTHY ◽  
OLIVER B. FRINGER

High-resolution two- and three-dimensional numerical simulations are performed of first-mode internal gravity waves interacting with a shelf break in a linearly stratified fluid. The interaction of nonlinear incident waves with the shelf break results in the formation of upslope-surging vortex cores of dense fluid (referred to here as internal boluses) that propagate onto the shelf. This paper primarily focuses on understanding the dynamics of the interaction process with particular emphasis on the formation, structure and propagation of internal boluses onshelf. A possible mechanism is identified for the excitation of vortex cores that are lifted over the shelf break, from where (from the simplest viewpoint) they essentially propagate as gravity currents into a linearly stratified ambient fluid.


2002 ◽  
Vol 458 ◽  
pp. 75-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
ÁLVARO VIÚDEZ ◽  
DAVID G. DRITSCHEL

This paper discusses a potential-vorticity-conserving approach to modelling nonlinear internal gravity waves in a rotating Boussinesq fluid. The focus of the work is on the pseudo-plane motion (motion in the x, z-plane), for which we present a broad range of numerical results. In this case there are two material coordinates, the density and the y-component of the velocity in the inertial frame of reference, which are related to the x and z displacements of fluid particles relative to a reference configuration. The amount of potential vorticity within a fluid region bounded by isosurfaces of these material coordinates is proportional to the area within this region, and is therefore conserved as well. Two new potentials, defined in terms of the displacements and combining the vorticity and density fields, are introduced as new dependent variables. These potentials entirely govern the dynamics of internal gravity waves for the linearized system when the basic state has uniform potential vorticity. The final system of equations consists of three prognostic equations (for the potential vorticity and the Laplacians of the two potentials) and one diagnostic equation, of Monge–Ampère type, for a third potential. This diagnostic equation arises from the nonlinear definition of potential vorticity. The ellipticity of the Monge–Ampère equation implies both inertial and static stability. In three dimensions, the three potentials form a vector, whose (three-dimensional) Laplacian is equal to the vorticity plus the gradient of the perturbation density.Numerical simulations are carried out using a novel algorithm which directly evolves the potential vorticity, in a Lagrangian manner (following fluid particles), without diffusion. We present results which emphasize the way in which potential vorticity anomalies modify the characteristics of internal gravity waves, e.g. the propagation of internal wave packets, including reflection, refraction, and amplification. We also show how potential vorticity anomalies may generate internal gravity waves, along with the subsequent ‘geostrophic adjustment’ of the flow to a ‘balanced’ wave-less state. These examples, and the straightforward extension of the theoretical and numerical approach to three dimensions, point to a direct and accurate means to elucidate the role of potential vorticity in internal gravity wave interactions. As such, this approach may help a better understanding of the observed characteristics of internal gravity waves in the oceans.


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