Observations of Ocean Fluctuations between 15 and 23 Hour Periods in the Pacific
Abstract
Pulse-like acoustic signals were transmitted from an acoustic source near Oahu to seven receivers off the west coast of the United States for a 124- day period in 1988. Acoustic travel-time oscillations were observed in the received signal at periods between 15 and 23 hours, which were caused by barotropic (or first or second mode baroclinic) fluctuations in the ocean. It is shown that these fluctuations cannot be local processes isolated to either the source or to the receivers. It is further shown that resonant barotropic gravity wave modes (Platzman et al., 1981) are not consistent with the data. The cause of these fluctuations remains unresolved, but the data and other oceanographic measurements put many constraints on the process causing these fluctuations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1990
- Accession Number
- ADA227017
Entities
People
- Wayne R. Blanding
Organizations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology