Stratified Coastal Trapped Waves and Mean Flows
Abstract
LONG-TERM GOALS. Our long term goals are to identify the roles that rectified subinertial waves and mesoscale motions play in the mean-flow transport of fluid properties in the coastal ocean and to apply these ideas to cross-margin transport of physical, chemical, and biological properties. OBJECTIVES. Coastal waves and wave-generated mean flows are studied in a stratified, rotating model ocean. Waves trapped to the coast are generated by time-dependent flow over a sloping and irregular bottom. Short-term goals of this study include quantifying the evolution of the vertical structure of the along-slope mean flow driven by non-linear interactions of the coastal trapped wave and damped by friction. In particular, the effects of stratification on the cross-slope overturning circulation will be examined. APPROACH. The approach for this research is to use laboratory experiments and two types of numerical models. The laboratory experiments are fully non-linear by their very nature, while the numerical models provide a useful venue for studying specific processes and offer much better diagnostics. In the lab experiments, a bowl-shaped tank with radial ridges provides the coastal slope and cross-slope topography to generate wave motions. The entire apparatus rotates and flow over the topography is achieved with a slight spin-up or -down of the rotation rate.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 30, 1997
- Accession Number
- ADA634190
Entities
People
- Daniel R. Ohlsen
- LuAnne Thompson
Organizations
- University of Washington