Internal Gravity Waves in a Stratified Medium with Model Shear Flow Distributions

2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
pp. 631-635
Author(s):  
V. V. Bulatov ◽  
Yu. V. Vladimirov
Keyword(s):  
Shear Flow ◽  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Internal Gravity Waves ◽  
Stratified Medium

Resonant wave interactions in a stratified shear flow

1988 ◽  
Vol 190 ◽  
pp. 357-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Grimshaw
Keyword(s):  
Shear Flow ◽  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Critical Level ◽  
Internal Gravity Waves ◽  
Wave Interactions ◽  
Resonant Wave ◽  
Resonant Interactions ◽  
Stratified Shear Flow ◽  
Weak Resonance ◽  
Background Shear

Resonant interactions between triads of internal gravity waves propagating in a shear flow are considered for the case when the stratification and the background shear flow vary slowly with respect to typical wavelengths. If ωn, kn(n = 1, 2, 3) are the local frequencies and wavenumbers respectively then the resonance conditions are that ω1 + ω2 + ω3 = 0 and k1 + k2 + k3 = 0. If the medium is only weakly inhomogeneous, then there is a strong resonance and to leading order the resonance conditions are satisfied globally. The equations governing the wave amplitudes are then well known, and have been extensively discussed in the literature. However, if the medium is strongly inhomogeneous, then there is a weak resonance and the resonance conditions can only be satisfied locally on certain space-time resonance surfaces. The equations governing the wave amplitudes in this case are derived, and discussed briefly. Then the results are applied to a study of the hierarchy of wave interactions which can occur near a critical level, with the aim of determining to what extent a critical layer can reflect wave energy.

Propagation of internal gravity waves in fluids with shear flow and rotation

1967 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 439-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter L. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Angular Momentum ◽  
Shear Flow ◽  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Shear Flows ◽  
Internal Gravity Waves ◽  
Vertical Transport ◽  
Wave Frequency ◽  
Slow Rotation ◽  
Critical Levels ◽  
Rotating System

In a rotating system, the vertical transport of angular momentum by internal gravity waves is independent of height, except at critical levels where the Doppler-shifted wave frequency is equal to plus or minus the Coriolis frequency. If slow rotation is ignored in studying the propagation of internal gravity waves through shear flows, the resulting solutions are in error only at levels where the Doppler-shifted and Coriolis frequencies are comparable.

scholarly journals Momentum and Energy Transport by Gravity Waves in Stochastically Driven Stratified Flows. Part I: Radiation of Gravity Waves from a Shear Layer

2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (5) ◽  
pp. 1509-1529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolaos A. Bakas ◽  
Petros J. Ioannou
Keyword(s):  
Shear Flow ◽  
Shear Layer ◽  
Gravity Wave ◽  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Wave Energy ◽  
Energy Transport ◽  
Wave Spectrum ◽  
Internal Gravity Waves ◽  
Wave Interference ◽  
Wide Range

Abstract In this paper, the emission of internal gravity waves from a local westerly shear layer is studied. Thermal and/or vorticity forcing of the shear layer with a wide range of frequencies and scales can lead to strong emission of gravity waves in the region exterior to the shear layer. The shear flow not only passively filters and refracts the emitted wave spectrum, but also actively participates in the gravity wave emission in conjunction with the distributed forcing. This interaction leads to enhanced radiated momentum fluxes but more importantly to enhanced gravity wave energy fluxes. This enhanced emission power can be traced to the nonnormal growth of the perturbations in the shear region, that is, to the transfer of the kinetic energy of the mean shear flow to the emitted gravity waves. The emitted wave energy flux increases with shear and can become as large as 30 times greater than the corresponding flux emitted in the absence of a localized shear region. Waves that have horizontal wavelengths larger than the depth of the shear layer radiate easterly momentum away, whereas the shorter waves are trapped in the shear region and deposit their momentum at their critical levels. The observed spectrum, as well as the physical mechanisms influencing the spectrum such as wave interference and Doppler shifting effects, is discussed. While for large Richardson numbers there is equipartition of momentum among a wide range of frequencies, most of the energy is found to be carried by waves having vertical wavelengths in a narrow band around the value of twice the depth of the region. It is shown that the waves that are emitted from the shear region have vertical wavelengths of the size of the shear region.

Resonant amplification of internal gravity waves in shear flow

1989 ◽  
Vol 32 (10) ◽  
pp. 898-907
Author(s):  
Yu. I. Troitskaya ◽  
A. L. Fabrikant
Keyword(s):  
Shear Flow ◽  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Internal Gravity Waves

On the shape and breaking of finite amplitude internal gravity waves in a shear flow

1978 ◽  
Vol 85 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. A. Thorpe
Keyword(s):  
Shear Flow ◽  
Internal Waves ◽  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Second Harmonic ◽  
Mixing Layer ◽  
Phase Speed ◽  
Internal Gravity Waves ◽  
Finite Amplitude ◽  
Depth Interval ◽  
Plane Shear

This paper is concerned with two important aspects of nonlinear internal gravity waves in a stably stratified inviscid plane shear flow, their shape and their breaking, particularly in conditions which are frequently encountered in geophysical applications when the vertical gradients of the horizontal current and the density are concentrated in a fairly narrow depth interval (e.g. the thermocline in the ocean). The present theoretical and experimental study of the wave shape extends earlier work on waves in the absence of shear and shows that the shape may be significantly altered by shear, the second-harmonic terms which describe the wave profile changing sign when the shear is increased sufficiently in an appropriate sense.In the second part of the paper we show that the slope of internal waves at which breaking occurs (the particle speeds exceeding the phase speed of the waves) may be considerably reduced by the presence of shear. Internal waves on a thermocline which encounter an increasing shear, perhaps because of wind action accelerating the upper mixing layer of the ocean, may be prone to such breaking.This work may alternatively be regarded as a study of the stability of a parallel stratified shear flow in the presence of a particular finite disturbance which corresponds to internal gravity waves propagating horizontally in the plane of the flow.

scholarly journals Phase Structure of Internal Gravity Waves in the Ocean with Shear Flows

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
V. V. Bulatov ◽  
Yu. V. Vladimirov ◽  
I. Yu. Vladimirov ◽  
◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Shear Flow ◽  
Spectral Problem ◽  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Analytical Solutions ◽  
Numerical Solutions ◽  
Internal Gravity Waves ◽  
Buoyancy Frequency ◽  
Flow Profile ◽  
Wave Fields ◽  
Background Shear

Purpose. The description of the internal gravity waves dynamics in the ocean with background fields of shear currents is a very difficult problem even in the linear approximation. The mathematical problem describing wave dynamics is reduced to the analysis of a system of partial differential equations; and while taking into account the vertical and horizontal inhomogeneity, this system of equations does not allow separation of the variables. Application of various approximations makes it possible to construct analytical solutions for the model distributions of buoyancy frequency and background shear ocean currents. The work is aimed at studying dynamics of internal gravity waves in the ocean with the arbitrary and model distributions of density and background shear currents. Methods and Results. The paper represents the numerical and analytical solutions describing the main phase characteristics of the internal gravity wave fields in the stratified ocean of finite depth, both for arbitrary and model distributions of the buoyancy frequency and the background shear currents. The currents are considered to be stationary and horizontally homogeneous on the assumption that the scale of the currents' horizontal and temporal variability is much larger than the characteristic lengths and periods of internal gravity waves. Having been used, the Fourier method permitted to obtain integral representations of the solutions under the Miles – Howard stability condition is fulfilled. To solve the vertical spectral problem, proposed is the algorithm for calculating the main dispersion dependences that determine the phase characteristics of the generated wave fields. The calculations for one real distribution of buoyancy frequency and shear flow profile are represented. Transformation of the dispersion surfaces and phase structures of the internal gravitational waves’ fields is studied depending on the generation parameters. To solve the problem analytically, constant distribution of the buoyancy frequency and linear dependences of the background shear current on depth were used. For the model distribution of the buoyancy and shear flow frequencies, the explicit analytical expressions describing the solutions of the vertical spectral problem were derived. The numerical and asymptotic solutions for the characteristic oceanic parameters were compared. Conclusions. The obtained results show that the asymptotic constructions using the model dependences of the buoyancy frequency and the background shear velocities’ distribution, describe the numerical solutions of the vertical spectral problem to a good degree of accuracy. The model representations, having been applied for hydrological parameters, make it possible to describe qualitatively correctly the main characteristics of internal gravity waves in the ocean with the arbitrary background shear currents.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document