The Disintegration (or not) of the Nonlinear Internal Tide

Abstract

Satellite and in situ observation demonstrate that the large, nonlinear internal waves found in the northeastern basin of the South China Sea arise from the nonlinear steepening of the internal tide as it propagates westward from the generation region in the Luzon Strait. This research is aimed at understanding the role of rotation in the evolution of the internal tide and the emergence of nonlinear internal waves from the tide. Theoretical and numerical models have been developed and applied to both the evolution of the tide, where it is found that rotation can inhibit the disintegration, and to the evolution of individual solitary waves, where it is found that a solitary wave will decay by radiation damping to form nonlinear wave packets. Additional research on wave generation by gravity currents and flow through straits, and models of large-amplitude solitary waves with trapped cores has been undertaken. This research is part of the South China Sea NLIWI DRI.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 13, 2010
Accession Number
ADA524218

Entities

People

  • Karl Helfrich

Organizations

  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Amplitude
  • Computational Science
  • Demographic Cohorts
  • Disintegration
  • Electrical Solitons
  • Frequency
  • Internal Waves
  • Observation
  • Oceans
  • Personal Information Managers
  • Rotation
  • Solitons
  • South China Sea
  • Stratified Fluids
  • Topography
  • Two Dimensional
  • Wave Packets

Readers

  • Coastal Oceanography

Technology Areas

  • Space