The temporal variability of near-inertial internal waves in an internal tide beam

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Löb ◽  
Monika Rhein
Keyword(s):  
Internal Wave ◽  
Internal Waves ◽  
Temporal Variability ◽  
Internal Tide ◽  
Internal Tides ◽  
Inertial Waves ◽  
Energy Fluxes ◽  
Wind Event ◽  
Mode 2 ◽  
Inertial Energy

<p>Low mode internal waves in the stratified ocean are generated by the interaction between barotropic tides and seafloor topography and by the wind field in the near-inertial range. They are crucial for interior mixing and for the oceanic energy pathways, since they carry a large portion of the energy of the entire internal wave field. Long-term observations of energy fluxes of internal waves are sparse. The aim of this work is to study the temporal variability of wind generated low mode near-inertial internal waves inside an internal tide beam emanating from seamounts south of the Azores. For this, 20 months of consecutive mooring observations are used to calculate the mode 1 and mode 2 near-inertial energy fluxes as well as kinetic and potential energies. The gathered time series of near-inertial internal wave energy flux is not steady due to its intermittent forcing and is neither dominated by either mode 1 or mode 2. It shows a peak induced by a distinct strong wind event which is directly linked to wind-power input into the mixed layer north-east of the mooring location, and allows a comparison between the wind event and a background state. Furthermore, indications of non-linear interactions of the near-inertial waves with the internal tides in the form of resonant triad interaction and non-linear self-interaction have been found. This study provides new insights on the relative importance of single wind events and reinforces the assumption of a global non-uniform distribution of near-inertial energy with emphasis in regions where these events occur often and regularly. It furthermore displays its importance to be adequately incorporated into ocean general circulation models and in generating ocean mixing estimates by near-inertial waves as a similarly important component next to the internal tides.</p>

scholarly journals Modeling and Analysis of Internal-Tide Generation and Beamlike Onshore Propagation in the Vicinity of Shelfbreak Canyons

2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 834-849 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weifeng G. Zhang ◽  
Timothy F. Duda ◽  
Ilya A. Udovydchenkov
Keyword(s):  
Internal Wave ◽  
Internal Waves ◽  
Internal Tide ◽  
Propagation Model ◽  
Internal Tides ◽  
Wave Radiation ◽  
Beam Radiation ◽  
Control Simulation ◽  
Conversion Rates ◽  
The Cross

Abstract A hydrostatic numerical model with alongshore-uniform barotropic M2 tidal boundary forcing and idealized shelfbreak canyon bathymetries is used to study internal-tide generation and onshore propagation. A control simulation with Mid-Atlantic Bight representative bathymetry is supported by other simulations that serve to identify specific processes. The canyons and adjacent slopes are transcritical in steepness with respect to M2 internal wave characteristics. Although the various canyons are symmetrical in structure, barotropic-to-baroclinic energy conversion rates Cυ are typically asymmetrical within them. The resulting onshore-propagating internal waves are the strongest along beams in the horizontal plane, with the stronger beam in the control simulation lying on the side with higher Cυ. Analysis of the simulation results suggests that the cross-canyon asymmetrical Cυ distributions are caused by multiple-scattering effects on one canyon side slope, because the phase variation in the spatially distributed internal-tide sources, governed by variations in the orientation of the bathymetry gradient vector, allows resonant internal-tide generation. A less complex, semianalytical, modal internal wave propagation model with sources placed along the critical-slope locus (where the M2 internal wave characteristic is tangent to the seabed) and variable source phasing is used to diagnose the physics of the horizontal beams of onshore internal wave radiation. Model analysis explains how the cross-canyon phase and amplitude variations in the locally generated internal tides affect parameters of the internal-tide beams. Under the assumption that strong internal tides on continental shelves evolve to include nonlinear wave trains, the asymmetrical internal-tide generation and beam radiation effects may lead to nonlinear internal waves and enhanced mixing occurring preferentially on one side of shelfbreak canyons, in the absence of other influencing factors.

The fate and impact of internal waves induced by strong shear current over a marginal ridge

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peiwen Zhang ◽  
Wenjia Min
Keyword(s):  
Internal Wave ◽  
Internal Waves ◽  
Vertical Mixing ◽  
Internal Tide ◽  
Stratified Flow ◽  
Internal Tides ◽  
Energy Field ◽  
Nonlinear Internal Waves ◽  
Highly Nonlinear ◽  
Shear Current

<p>Internal waves with strong vertical mixing could be induced by stratified flow over seafloor obstacles. Noted that the stratified flow not only trigger internal tides, but also highly nonlinear internal waves like internal lee waves and internal solitary waves over steep topography features, and the highly nonlinear internal waves are suggested to play an important role in turbulence and mixing. As a typical seafloor obstacle, ridge could significantly modified the propagation of internal tide, internal lee wave and internal solitary wave. We focused on I-Lan ridge with asymmetrical topography feature in Kuroshio region. To the north of the I-Lan ridge, the depth of Philippine basin reached 4000m compared with the depth of 1500m in the south of the ridge, leading to different characteristics of internal wave energy field and ecological characteristics between two sides. Based on numerical simulations, we revealed the generation and propagation of internal waves over marginal ridge, causing by the shear current induced by Kuroshio. We also discussed the turbulence kinetic energy contributed by linear internal waves and nonlinear internal waves, providing the strength of vertical turbulent mixing around the I-Lan ridge. Then we demonstrated the characteristics of complex internal wave field in the strong background shear current over I-Lan ridge.</p>

Climatology of internal tides at a shelf-break location on the Australian North West Shelf

1988 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
PE Hollaway
Keyword(s):  
Internal Waves ◽  
Temporal Variability ◽  
Internal Tide ◽  
Shelf Break ◽  
Internal Tides ◽  
North West ◽  
Vertical Displacements ◽  
Density Interfaces ◽  
Baroclinic Currents

The concept of defining an internal tide climate is used as a means of providing an assessment of the amplitude of semi-diurnal vertical displacements of density interfaces and of horizontal baroclinic currents at a particular location. The analysis uses current meter and thermistor chain observations from North Rankin, a location just seaward of the shelf break on the Australian North West Shelf, spanning a period of 28 months. Contributions from both principal lunar (M2) and principal solar (S2) period internal waves are considered. The final climatological averages (monthly values) show the baroclinic currents to be comparable to or stronger than the semi-diurnal barotropic currents at the same location for the majority of the year (October through to May). The temporal variability closely follows the variability in the stratification with very weak baroclinic motion during the winter months (June to September).

scholarly journals The M2 Internal Tide Simulated by a 1/10° OGCM

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (12) ◽  
pp. 3119-3135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhuhua Li ◽  
Jin-Song von Storch ◽  
Malte Müller
Keyword(s):  
Eigenvalue Problem ◽  
Internal Waves ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Internal Tide ◽  
Ocean Model ◽  
Internal Tides ◽  
Max Planck ◽  
Coriolis Parameter ◽  
Mode 2 ◽  
Concurrent Simulation

AbstractUsing a concurrent simulation of the ocean general circulation and tides with the ° Max Planck Institute Ocean Model (MPI-OM), known as STORMTIDE, this study provides a near-global quantification of the low-mode M2 internal tides. The quantification is based on wavelengths and their near-global distributions obtained by applying spectral analysis to STORMTIDE velocities and on comparisons of the distributions with those derived by solving the Sturm–Liouville eigenvalue problem. The simulated wavelengths, with respect to both their magnitudes and their geographical distributions, compare well with those obtained by solving the eigenvalue problem, suggesting that the STORMTIDE internal waves are, to a first approximation, linear internal waves satisfying local dispersion relations. The simulated wavelengths of modes 1 and 2 range within 100–160 and 45–80 km, respectively. Their distributions reveal, to different degrees for both modes, a zonal asymmetry and a tendency of a poleward increase with stratification N and the Coriolis parameter f being responsible for these two features, respectively. Distributions of mode 1 wavelengths are found to be determined by both N and f, but those of mode 2 are mainly controlled by variations in N. Larger differences between the STORMTIDE wavelengths and those of the eigenvalue problem occur, particularly for mode 2, primarily in high-latitude oceans and the Kuroshio and Gulf Stream and their extensions.

scholarly journals Background stratification impacts on internal tide generation and abyssal propagation in the western equatorial Atlantic and the Bay of Biscay

Ocean Science ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 1563-1583
Author(s):  
Simon Barbot ◽  
Florent Lyard ◽  
Michel Tchilibou ◽  
Loren Carrere
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Temporal Variability ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Internal Tide ◽  
Internal Tides ◽  
Bay Of Biscay ◽  
Equatorial Atlantic ◽  
Energy Fluxes ◽  
Idealized Modeling

Abstract. The forthcoming SWOT altimetric missions aim to resolve the mesoscale with an unprecedented spatial resolution and swath. However, high-frequency processes, such as tides, are undersampled in time and aliased onto lower frequencies, so they need to be corrected properly. Unlike barotropic tides, internal tides (ITs) are not completely stationary and have significant temporal variability due to their interactions with the ocean circulation and the stratification variability. Stratification changes impact both the generation and the propagation of ITs. The present study proposes a methodology to quantify the impacts of background stratification using a clustering method for the classification of a broad range of stratification and idealized modeling of ITs in the frequency domain. The methodology is successfully tested in the western equatorial Atlantic and in the Bay of Biscay. For the western equatorial Atlantic, a single pycnocline is observed and only the two first vertical modes of ITs have significant amplitudes. With no variation in the stratification intensity, the variation in the depth of this single pycnocline linearly impacts the elevation amplitude, energy fluxes and surface wavelength of the two modes. In the Bay of Biscay, there is a permanent deep pycnocline and secondary seasonal pycnoclines near the surface. No proxy have been found to describe the changes in ITs, so a seasonal climatology is explored. The seasonality of the stratification strongly affects the elevation amplitudes as well as the energy fluxes of modes 1, 2 and 3. The distribution of the modes vary with the background stratification, changing the horizontal scales of the ITs.

Tidal Internal Waves in the Bransfield Strait, Antarctica

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene Morozov ◽  
Dmitry Frey ◽  
Elizaveta Khimchenko
Keyword(s):  
Internal Waves ◽  
Bottom Topography ◽  
Pressure Sensors ◽  
Internal Tide ◽  
Internal Tides ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
Flat Bottom ◽  
Bransfield Strait ◽  
Vertical Displacements ◽  
Rfbr Grant

<p>Observations of tidal internal waves in the Bransfield Strait, Antarctica, are analyzed. The measurements were carried out for 14 days on a moored station equipped with five autonomous temperature and pressure sensors. The mooring was deployed on the slope of Nelson Island (South Shetland Islands archipelago) over a depth of 70 m at point 62°21ꞌ S, 58°49ꞌ W. Analysis is based on the fluctuations of isotherms.  Vertical displacements of temperature revealed that strong internal vertical oscillations up to 30–40 m are caused by the diurnal internal tide. Spectral analysis of vertical displacements of the 0.9°C isotherm showed a clear peak at a period of 24 h. It is known that the tides in the Bransfield Strait are mostly mixed diurnal and semidiurnal, but during the Antarctic summer, diurnal tide component may intensify. The velocity ellipses of the barotropic tidal currents were estimated using the global tidal model TPXO9.0. It was found that tidal ellipses rotate clockwise with a period of 24 h and anticlockwise with a period of 12 h. The waves are forced due to the interaction of the barotropic tide with the bottom topography. Diurnal internal tides do not develop at latitudes higher than 30º over flat bottom. The research was supported by RFBR grant 20-08-00246.</p>

Dissipating and reflecting internal waves

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Callum J. Shakespeare ◽  
Brian K. Arbic ◽  
Andrew McC. Hogg
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Simulations ◽  
Linear Theory ◽  
Internal Waves ◽  
Energy Flux ◽  
Internal Tide ◽  
Internal Tides ◽  
Linear Wave ◽  
Lee Waves ◽  
Lee Wave ◽  
Upper Boundary

AbstractInternal waves generated at the seafloor propagate through the interior of the ocean, driving mixing where they break and dissipate. However, existing theories only describe these waves in two limiting cases. In one limit, the presence of an upper boundary permits bottom-generated waves to reflect from the ocean surface back to the seafloor, and all the energy flux is at discrete wavenumbers corresponding to resonant modes. In the other limit, waves are strongly dissipated such that they do not interact with the upper boundary and the energy flux is continuous over wavenumber. Here, a novel linear theory is developed for internal tides and lee waves that spans the parameter space in between these two limits. The linear theory is compared with a set of numerical simulations of internal tide and lee wave generation at realistic abyssal hill topography. The linear theory is able to replicate the spatially-averaged kinetic energy and dissipation of even highly non-linear wave fields in the numerical simulations via an appropriate choice of the linear dissipation operator, which represents turbulent wave breaking processes.

Internal-Wave-Driven Mixing: Global Geography and Budgets

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (6) ◽  
pp. 1325-1345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Kunze
Keyword(s):  
Internal Wave ◽  
Internal Tide ◽  
Internal Tides ◽  
Tidal Mixing ◽  
Linear Wave ◽  
Power Sources ◽  
The North ◽  
Dissipation Rates ◽  
Thickness Variability ◽  
Significant Pathway

AbstractInternal-wave-driven dissipation rates ε and diapycnal diffusivities K are inferred globally using a finescale parameterization based on vertical strain applied to ~30 000 hydrographic casts. Global dissipations are 2.0 ± 0.6 TW, consistent with internal wave power sources of 2.1 ± 0.7 TW from tides and wind. Vertically integrated dissipation rates vary by three to four orders of magnitude with elevated values over abrupt topography in the western Indian and Pacific as well as midocean slow spreading ridges, consistent with internal tide sources. But dependence on bottom forcing is much weaker than linear wave generation theory, pointing to horizontal dispersion by internal waves and relatively little local dissipation when forcing is strong. Stratified turbulent bottom boundary layer thickness variability is not consistent with OGCM parameterizations of tidal mixing. Average diffusivities K = (0.3–0.4) × 10−4 m2 s−1 depend only weakly on depth, indicating that ε = KN2/γ scales as N2 such that the bulk of the dissipation is in the pycnocline and less than 0.08-TW dissipation below 2000-m depth. Average diffusivities K approach 10−4 m2 s−1 in the bottom 500 meters above bottom (mab) in height above bottom coordinates with a 2000-m e-folding scale. Average dissipation rates ε are 10−9 W kg−1 within 500 mab then diminish to background deep values of 0.15 × 10−9 W kg−1 by 1000 mab. No incontrovertible support is found for high dissipation rates in Antarctic Circumpolar Currents or parametric subharmonic instability being a significant pathway to elevated dissipation rates for semidiurnal or diurnal internal tides equatorward of 28° and 14° latitudes, respectively, although elevated K is found about 30° latitude in the North and South Pacific.

Global Assessment of Semidiurnal Internal Tide Aliasing in Argo Profiles

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (10) ◽  
pp. 2523-2533 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler D. Hennon ◽  
Matthew H. Alford ◽  
Zhongxiang Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Internal Waves ◽  
Internal Tide ◽  
Internal Tides ◽  
Stationary Mode ◽  
Argo Floats ◽  
New Information ◽  
In Situ Observations ◽  
Argo Profiles

AbstractThough unresolved by Argo floats, internal waves still impart an aliased signal onto their profile measurements. Recent studies have yielded nearly global characterization of several constituents of the stationary internal tides. Using this new information in conjunction with thousands of floats, we quantify the influence of the stationary, mode-1 M2 and S2 internal tides on Argo-observed temperature. We calculate the in situ temperature anomaly observed by Argo floats (usually on the order of 0.1°C) and compare it to the anomaly expected from the stationary internal tides derived from altimetry. Globally, there is a small, positive correlation between the expected and in situ signals. There is a stronger relationship in regions with more intense internal waves, as well as at depths near the nominal mode-1 maximum. However, we are unable to use this relationship to remove significant variance from the in situ observations. This is somewhat surprising, given that the magnitude of the altimetry-derived signal is often on a similar scale to the in situ signal, and points toward a greater importance of the nonstationary internal tides than previously assumed.

Internal Tides and Turbulence along the 3000-m Isobath of the Hawaiian Ridge

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 1165-1183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig M. Lee ◽  
Thomas B. Sanford ◽  
Eric Kunze ◽  
Jonathan D. Nash ◽  
Mark A. Merrifield ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Model ◽  
Dissipation Rate ◽  
Internal Tide ◽  
Internal Tides ◽  
Energy Fluxes ◽  
Density Profiles ◽  
Turbulent Dissipation ◽  
Model Average ◽  
Diapycnal Diffusivity ◽  
Hawaiian Ridge

Abstract Full-depth velocity and density profiles taken along the 3000-m isobath characterize the semidiurnal internal tide and bottom-intensified turbulence along the Hawaiian Ridge. Observations reveal baroclinic energy fluxes of 21 ± 5 kW m−1 radiating from French Frigate Shoals, 17 ± 2.5 kW m−1 from Kauai Channel west of Oahu, and 13 ± 3.5 kW m−1 from west of Nihoa Island. Weaker fluxes of 1–4 ± 2 kW m−1 radiate from the region near Necker Island and east of Nihoa Island. Observed off-ridge energy fluxes generally agree to within a factor of 2 with those produced by a tidally forced numerical model. Average turbulent diapycnal diffusivity K is (0.5–1) × 10−4 m2 s–1 above 2000 m, increasing exponentially to 20 × 10−4 m2 s–1 near the bottom. Microstructure values agree well with those inferred from a finescale internal wave-based parameterization. A linear relationship between the vertically integrated energy flux and vertically integrated turbulent dissipation rate implies that dissipative length scales for the radiating internal tide exceed 1000 km.

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