Near-inertial waves on the New England shelf : The role of evolving stratification, turbulent dissipation, and bottom drag

• Published in: Journal of physical oceanography Vol. 35; no. 12; pp. 2408 - 2424
• Main Authors: MACKINNON, J. A, GREGG, M. C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston, MA American Meteorological Society 01.12.2005
• Subjects: Continental shelves; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; External geophysics; Internal waves; Marine; Oceanography; Oceans; Optics; Physics of the oceans; Stratification; Surface temperature; Thermohaline structure and circulation. Turbulence and diffusion; Turbulence models; Turbulent flow; Wave power; Wind; North Atlantic; United States; Northwest Atlantic; New England; New England states; ANW, USA, New England; continental shelf; Wave drag; Atlantic Ocean; Inertial wave; Wind effect; S-waves; digital simulation; Ocean dynamics; North America; Turbulent diffusion; Density stratification; Mixed layer; internal waves; Spring(season); Wave generation; ocean waves; Field study
• ISSN: 0022-3670; 1520-0485
• DOI: 10.1175/JPO2822.1

Abstract Energetic variable near-inertial internal waves were observed on the springtime New England shelf as part of the Coastal Mixing and Optics (CMO) project. Surface warming and freshwater advection tripled the average stratification during a 3-week observational period in April/May 1997. The wave field was dominated by near-inertial internal waves generated by passing storms. Wave evolution was controlled by a balance among wind stress, bottom drag, and turbulent dissipation. As the stratification evolved, the vertical structure of these near-inertial waves switched from mode 1 to mode 2 with associated changes in the magnitude and location of wave shear. The growth of mode-2 waves was attributable to a combination of changing wind stress forcing and a nonlinear coupling between the first and second vertical modes through quadratic bottom stress. To explore both forcing mechanisms, an open-ocean mixed layer model is adapted to the continental shelf. In this model, surface wind stress and bottom stress are distributed over the surface and bottom mixed layers and then projected onto orthogonal vertical modes. The model replicates the correct magnitude and evolving modal distribution of the internal waves and confirms that bottom stress can act to transfer energy between internal wave modes.