Vertical heat flux and lateral mass transport in nonlinear internal waves

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2010. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 37 (2010): L08601, doi:10.1029/2010GL042715.Comprehensive observations of velocity, density, and turbulent dissipation permit quantification of the nonlinear internal wave (NLIW) contribution to vertical heat flux and lateral mass transport over New Jersey's shelf. The effect of NLIWs on the shelf heat budget was significant. On average, heat flux in NLIWs was 10 times larger than background at the pycnocline depth. NLIWs were present at midshelf <10% of the time, yet we estimate that they contributed roughly one−half the heat flux across the pycnocline during the observation period, which was characterized by weak to moderate winds. Lateral transport distances due to the leading 3 waves in NLIW packets were typically inline equation(100 m) but ranged several kilometers. The month-averaged daily onshore transport (per unit alongshelf dimension) by NLIWs is estimated as 0.3 m2s−1. This is comparable to a weak downwelling wind, but sustained over an entire month.This work was funded by the Office of Naval Research

Local ocean response to a multiphase westerly wind burst: 1. Dynamic response

The dynamic response to a westerly wind burst which occurred during the Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Response Experiment in the warm pool of the equatorial Pacific Ocean is described using velocity, hydrography, and microstructure measurements. Turbulent fluxes distributed momentum input from the wind over a near‐surface layer of variable thickness. Coriolis and pressure gradient terms combined to induce a wavelike response whose frequency was close to the local inertial frequency. Wind stress variations on near‐inertial timescales interfered both constructively and destructively with the wave response, exerting considerable influence on the observed currents

Seafloor Pressure Measurements of Nonlinear Internal Waves

Highly resolved pressure measurements on the seafloor over New Jersey’s continental shelf reveal the pressure signature of nonlinear internal waves of depression as negative pressure perturbations. The sign of the perturbation is determined by the dominance of the internal hydrostatic pressure (p⁰Wh) due to isopycnal displacement over the contributions of external hydrostatic pressure (ρ₀gηH; ηH is surface displacement) and nonhydrostatic pressure (p₀nh), each of opposite sign to p⁰Wh. This measurement represents experimental confirmation of the wave-induced pressure signal inferred in a previous study by Moum and Smyth.There was a press error in Fig. 10 of Moum and Nash (2008). The legend in Fig. 10a was shown in black and white instead of color. The correct figure and caption as they were meant to appear are shown below. The staff of the Journal of Physical Oceanography regrets any inconvenience this error may have caused.Keywords: Pressure, Internal waves, Continental shelf, Waves\, oceani

Comparison of Thermal Variance Dissipation Rates from Moored and Profiling Instruments at the Equator

As a quantitative test of moored mixing measurements using [subscript χ]pods, a comparison experiment was conducted at 0°, 140°W in October–November 2008. The following three measurement elements were involved: (i) NOAA’s Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) mooring with five [subscript χ]pods, (ii) a similar mooring 9 km away with seven [subscript χ]pods, and (iii) Chameleon turbulence profiles at an intermediate location. Dissipation rates of temperature variance and turbulent kinetic energy are compared. In all but 3 of 17 direct comparisons 15-day mean values of [subscript χT] agreed within 95% bootstrap confidence limits computed with the conservative assumption that individual 1-min [subscript χ]pod averages and individual Chameleon profiles are independent. However, significant mean differences occur on 2-day averages. Averaging in time reduces the range (95%) in the observed differences at two locations from a factor of 17 at 1-day averaging time to less than a factor of 2 at 15 days, presumably reflecting the natural variability in both the turbulence and the small-scale fluid dynamics that lead to instability and turbulence. The motion of [subscript χ]pod on a mooring beneath a surface buoy is complex and requires a complete motion package to define in detail. However, perfect knowledge of the motion of the sensor tip is not necessary to obtain a reasonable measure of [subscript χT]. A sampling test indicated that the most important motion sensor is a pressure sensor sampled rapidly enough to resolve the surface wave–induced motion.Keywords: Microscale processes/variability, Buoy observations, Turbulence, Mixing, Data processin

Mixing Measurements on an Equatorial Ocean Mooring

Vaned, internally recording instruments that measure temperature fluctuations using FP07 thermistors, including fluctuations in the turbulence wavenumber band, have been built, tested, and deployed on a Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) mooring at 0°, 140°W. These were supplemented with motion packages that measure linear accelerations, from which an assessment of cable displacement and speed was made. Motions due to vortex-induced vibrations caused by interaction of the mean flow with the cable are small (rms < 0.15 cable diameters) and unlikely to affect estimates of the temperature variance dissipation rate χ[subscript]T. Surface wave–induced cable motions are significant, commonly resulting in vertical displacements of ±1 m and vertical speeds of ±0.5 m s⁻¹ on 2–10-s periods. These motions produce an enhancement to the measurement of temperature gradient in the surface wave band herein that is equal to the product of the vertical cable speed and the vertical temperature gradient (i.e., dT/dt ~w[subscript]cdT/dz). However, the temperature gradient spectrum is largely unaltered at higher and lower frequencies; in particular, there exists a clear scale separation between frequencies contaminated by surface waves and the turbulence subrange. The effect of cable motions on spectral estimates of χ[subscript]T is evaluated and determined to result in acceptably small uncertainties (< a factor of two 95% of the time, based on 60-s averages). Time series of χT and the inferred turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate ϵ are consistent with historical data from the same equatorial location.Keywords: Instrumentation/sensors, Mixing, Tropics, In situ observations, Temperatur

Structure and Generation of Turbulence at Interfaces Strained by Internal Solitary Waves Propagating Shoreward over the Continental Shelf

Detailed observations of the structure within internal solitary waves propagating shoreward over Oregon\u27s continental shelf reveal the evolving nature of interfaces as they become unstable and break, creating turbulent flow. A persistent feature is high acoustic backscatter beginning in the vicinity of the wave trough and continuing through its trailing edge and wake. This is demonstrated to be due to enhanced density microstructure. Increased small-scale strain ahead of the wave trough compresses select density interfaces, thereby locally increasing stratification. This is followed by a sequence of overturning, high-density microstructure, and turbulence at the interface, which is coincident with the high acoustic backscatter. The Richardson number estimated from observations is larger than 1/4, indicating that the interface is stable. However, density profiles reveal these preturbulent interfaces to be O(10 cm) thick, much thinner than can be resolved with shipboard velocity measurements. By assuming that streamlines parallel isopycnals ahead of the wave trough, a velocity profile is inferred in which the shear is sufficiently high to create explosively growing, small wavelength shear instabilities. It is argued that this is the generation mechanism for the observed turbulence and hence the persistent structure of high acoustic backscatter in these internal solitary waves

Mode 2 waves on the continental shelf : ephemeral components of the nonlinear internal wavefield

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2010. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 115 (2010): C07001, doi:10.1029/2009JC005605.Shoreward propagating, mode 2 nonlinear waves appear sporadically in mooring records obtained off the coast of New Jersey in the summer of 2006. Individual mode 2 packets were tracked between two moorings separated by 1 km; however, packets could not be tracked between moorings separated by greater distances from one another (∼10 km). The inability to track individual packets large distances through the mooring array combined with detailed observations from a ship suggest that these waves are short lived. The evolution of the ship-tracked wave group was recorded using acoustic backscatter, acoustic Doppler current profilers, and turbulence profiling. The leading mode 2 wave quickly changed form and developed a tail of short, small-amplitude mode 1 waves. The wavelength of the mode 1 oscillations agreed with that expected for a copropagating tail on the basis of linear theory. Turbulent dissipation in the mixed layer and radiation of the short mode 1 waves contributed to rapid energy loss in the leading mode 2 wave, consistent with the observed decay rate and short life span of only a few hours. The energy in the leading mode 2 wave was 10–100 times smaller than the energy of mode 1 nonlinear internal waves observed during the experiment; however, the magnitudes of wave-localized turbulent dissipation were similar.This work was funded by the Office of Naval Research