'Edge Waves ﹒ the Differences Between the Full .And Shalloww

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

'Edge Waves ﹒ the Differences Between the Full .And Shalloww 第十七屆海洋玉程研討會 暨 1995 兩岸港口及海岸開發研討會治文集 1995 年11 月 9-10 日 'Edge Waves ﹒The Differences Between the Full . and ShallowW ater- Wave Theories Kai Meng Mok 1 Abstract Edge waves are known to have significant impact on the coasta1 hydrodynamics and sediment010gy. The two linearso1utions for edge waves are derived from the full and shallow water-wave theories ,respective1y. Since the shallow water-wave s01ution is on1y‘an approximation ,it shou1d work well on1y when the water is shallow. As 伽 water depth becomes deeper ,the shallow water-wave s01ution is bound to be different from the exact full water-wave s01ution. In the present study ,a genera1 comparison of the ~ull water-wave s01ution and the shallow water-wave approximation is made by p10tting re1ative errors for different edge-wave modes showing 伽 effects of 伽 be 叫 slope and the offshore 4!stance The re1ative error charts of the water surface elevation for the mode-O ,mode-1 and mode-2 edge waves arederived ,respective1y. It is readi1y shown that the error of the shallow-water approximation is 1arger as the beach. s10pe gets steeper and the distance is farth 巴r from the shoreline. 1 Introduction Over the years ,ocean waves in the coasta1 zone have provided peop1e with both a p1ace of 1eisure activities and disasters. The subsequent 10ve-hate re1ationship motivated mariy researchers to irivestigate the characteristics of these wave actions. Since it is more apparent to the eye ,most of the coasta1 studies concentrate on normally incident waves which appear to have a more direct impact on the coasta1 region. In 1846 ,Sir George Stokes discovered theoretically that waves with crests perpendicu1ar to the shoreline and amplitudes which exponentially decay offshore can propagate a10ngshore on a uniformly s10ping beach. It is this exponentially diminished offshore charact 巴ristic which eamed this wave the name of "edge wave" from Sir Horace Lamb (1932) ,and his comment was that "it does not appear that th巳 type of motion h巴re referred to is very important". Lamb's comment reflects the genera1 fee1ings the research community had about the edge wave during the early twentieth century. Ironically ,concentrating energy nearshore ,the reason that the edge wave was ignored by the research community for more than one hundred years since its discovery ,is a1so why the edge wave is so important in coasta1 hydrodynamics. Since edge waves are trapped by refraction near the shore and their energy is concentrated near the 1AssistantProfessor,Facultyof ScienceandTechnology,Universityof Macau -393- shoreline ,the wave phenomenon has a major impact on the coastal sedimentology and nearshore flows such as the formation of crescentic bars ,beach cusps ,rip currents ,longshore currents and wave runup. Since the discovery of edge waves by Stokes in 1846,the problem was also solved by Eckart (1951) and Ursell (1952) ,respectively. Nevertheless ,Eckart's solution is based on the shallow water wave theory while Ursell's is based on the full water wave theory. Due to the fundamental differences between the assumptions of the full and shallow water wave theories , the two solutions are bound to be different. The differences between these two solutions are discussed and demonstrated in the present study. Before commencing the theoretical comparison ,two terms are defined to facilitate the discussion: (i) FuU Water-Wave Theory: The formulation of the problem is based on the assumptions of an inviscid and homogeneous fluid ,irrotational f1uid motion ,constant pressure on the free surface ,negligible surface tension effect ,and only gravity as the restoring force. (ii) Shallow-Water (Long) Wave Theory: The assumptions of the problem formulation are the same as those of the full-water wave theory with further simplification. The vertical f1uid acceleration is neglected which means that the pressure variation with depth within the f1uid domain is hydrostatic ,and the horizontal component of the velocity field is uniform over the whole depth. With these assumptions ,the problem is reduced to two-dimensional by the depth-integration. 2 Theoretical DÎscussÎon and ComparÎson As mentioned ,the edge wave on a uniformly sloping beach was discovered analytically by Stokes in 1846 through the linear water-wave theory. The solutions of Stokes' progressive edge wave can be written as <þ= 去si咐叩(一份叫+的州州 U 一ωt) (1) η= asinß exp( 一句 cosß)cos(kx 一ωt) , (2) with the dispersion relation ω2 = gksinß , (3) where 伏,y,z) are the Cartesian coordinates of the alongshore ,offshore and vertically upward directions (the shorelineis at y = 0 and z= 0) ,ηis the displacement of the water surface from the equilibrium position ,a is the wave run-up amplitude on the beach ,ß is the beach sloping angle from the horizontal ,ω(= 2π/wave period) is the angular frequency and k (= 2n/wavelength) is the wavenumber in the longshore direction. The solutions show thatboth -394- the velocity field and the wave amplitude are maximum at the shoreline and decrease exponentially offshore while the waves propagate in thealongshore direction with their crests perpendicular to the shoreline. A three dimensional plot of a Stokes-mode edge wave's surface profile on a uniformly sloping beach .of 150 is shown in figure 1. Since the wave profile is sinusoidal in the lòngshore (x-) direction ,only one wave cycle is plotted. Using the shallow-water (long) wave theory ,Eckart (1951) obtained solutions for other progressive edge waves; 。n- 于αp(-kny)Ln( 泣ny)sin(knx 一ω,t), (4) ηn = anßexp( 一kny )Ln (2kny) cos( knx 一ωt) , . (5) with the dispersion relation , ω2 = gknß(2n+ 1) , (6) where n is a non-negative integer (n = 0,1,2,3,...) representing the offshore mode number , an is the wave run-up amplitude ,and Ln(﹒)is the Lague 叮e polynomial of order n,which can be defined as n Ln(s) =三寺 (e-ss ) (7) The solutions show that other edge-wave modes besides the Stokes-mode edge wave can exist; in fact the shallow-water wave approximation gives an infinite number of mode solutions to the problem (i.e. no limitation to the value of n); the zero-th mode solution correspQnds toStokes' solution with ß → o and this solution is often called the Stokes mode. However ,theshallow- water wave approximation leads to two major questions. Are all the modes given by the solutions the ones which have their energy trapped in theregion near the shoreline? How well does the shallow water-wave approximation work for the higher-mode waves? As one can expect ,the long wave appro 主imation should work well when the water is shallow. For a uniforrnly sloping beach ,the water depth increases linearly and the long wave theory must break down as y →∞. In 1952 ,Ursell solved the same próblem with the full water-wave theory. His solutions are in agreement with Ecka 哎's (1951) solutions proving the existence of modes other than Stokes' mode in a sloping beach environment. Contrary to Ecka 哎 's (1951) shallow-water wave solutions ,the number of "trapped" modes is not infinite; it depends upon the beach slope with the maximum mode number satisfying (2n+ 圳三? (8) -395- There is also çontinuous spectrum mode whichradiates energy to the infinity in the offshore direction ,with the dispersion relation ω2 > gk. ,Note that with the ,shallow-water wave approximation ,one çannot distinguish betweenthe trapped modes and those that radiate energy offshöre. On the other hand; with the full~water wave theory ,the trapped mùdes are represented by this discrete spectrum while the radiating mode is by the continuous spectrum. (The proof of this distinction was given byUrsell ,1951.) Whitham (1979) explicitly showed that ,as r1 →∞, the shallow-water wave solution corresponds to the perfectly reflected cross- shore wave which is obviously not a (trapped) edge-wave mode. According to Ursell's solutions ,there can only be a finite number of modes existing for a given beach slope; the number of possible modes increases as the beach slope decreases. Ursell's progressive edge wave 'solutions can be expressed as 。n- 莘[位卅yc 吋向位 nß) + I,Amn{exp[-knycos(2m 一I)ß - knzsin(2m 一1)戶] m=l +exp[ -knycos(2m + 1)戶 +kρin(2m + 1)戶口]sin( 卅一ωt) , (9) ηn- 的 Iexp( -knycosß) +主 Amn {exp[ - knycos(2m -1)ß] m=l +exp[-knycos(2m + I)ßl}]cos(knx 一ωIt), (10) where mmtan(n 一j + I)ß Amn =(一1)m n (11) ;:1 tan(n + j) 戶, and αn is a constant. The corresponding dispersion relation is given by ω2 = gkn sin(2n + I)ß. (12) Note that when n = 0,Amnand αo are taken to be 0 and a sin戶,respectively. Ursell's solution is then reduced to Stokes' solution. However ,as the mode number ,n,becomes larger ,the edge-wave surface profile and flow field become more complex. Figures 2 and 3 give three- dimensional surface-profile plots of a mode-l and a mode-2 edge wave on a 150 slope , respectively. The mode-l edge wave's offshore profile has one node (zero-crossing) while the mode-2 edge wave has two offshore nodes. Both of the twoedge waves' surface profiles approach the still water level asymptotically in the offshore direction showing that the energy of edge waves is confined to a region near the shoreline. -396- As Ihentioned earlier ,the shallow-water wave theory does not provide good approximations in deep water. The discrepancies between the full water-wavesolution and the shallow-water wave approximation on a beach of 150 (戶 =π112) slope were demonstrated gra:phically by Yeh (1986) and the graph is reproduced here in figureA. It is shown that the full water~wave and the shallow-water wave solutions have good agreement for the mode-O edge wave.
Recommended publications
  • Meteotsunami Generation, Amplification and Occurrence in North-West Europe
    University of Liverpool Doctoral Thesis Meteotsunami generation, amplification and occurrence in north-west Europe Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of Liverpool for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy by David Alan Williams November 2019 ii Declaration of Authorship I declare that this thesis titled “Meteotsunami generation, amplification and occurrence in north-west Europe” and the work presented in it are my own work. The material contained in the thesis has not been presented, nor is currently being presented, either wholly or in part, for any other degree or qualification. Signed Date David A Williams iii iv Meteotsunami generation, amplification and occurrence in north-west Europe David A Williams Abstract Meteotsunamis are atmospherically generated tsunamis with characteristics similar to all other tsunamis, and periods between 2–120 minutes. They are associated with strong currents and may unexpectedly cause large floods. Of highest concern, meteotsunamis have injured and killed people in several locations around the world. To date, a few meteotsunamis have been identified in north-west Europe. This thesis aims to increase the preparedness for meteotsunami occurrences in north-west Europe, by understanding how, when and where meteotsunamis are generated. A summer-time meteotsunami in the English Channel is studied, and its generation is examined through hydrodynamic numerical simulations. Simple representations of the atmospheric system are used, and termed synthetic modelling. The identified meteotsunami was partly generated by an atmospheric system moving at the shallow- water wave speed, a mechanism called Proudman resonance. Wave heights in the English Channel are also sensitive to the tide, because tidal currents change the shallow-water wave speed.
    [Show full text]
  • Destructive Meteotsunamis Along the Eastern Adriatic Coast: Overview
    Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 34 (2009) 904–917 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Physics and Chemistry of the Earth journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/pce Destructive meteotsunamis along the eastern Adriatic coast: Overview Ivica Vilibic´ *, Jadranka Šepic´ Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Šetalište I. Meštrovic´a 63, 21000 Split, Croatia article info abstract Article history: The paper overviews meteotsunami events documented in the Adriatic Sea in the last several decades, by Received 10 December 2008 using available eyewitness reports, documented literature, and atmospheric sounding and meteorologi- Accepted 24 August 2009 cal reanalysis data available on the web. The source of all documented Adriatic meteotsunamis was Available online 28 August 2009 examined by assessing the underlying synoptic conditions. It is found that travelling atmospheric distur- bances which generate the Adriatic meteotsunamis generally appear under atmospheric conditions doc- Keywords: umented also for the Balearic meteotsunamis (rissagas). These atmospheric disturbances are commonly Meteotsunami generated by a flow over the mountain ridges (Apennines), and keep their energy through the wave-duct Atmospheric disturbance mechanism while propagating over a long distance below the unstable layer in the mid-troposphere. Resonance Long ocean waves However, the Adriatic meteotsunamis may also be generated by a moving convective storm or gravity Adriatic Sea wave system coupled in the wave-CISK (Conditional Instability of the Second Kind) manner, not docu- mented at other world meteotsunami hot spots. The travelling atmospheric disturbance is resonantly pumping the energy through the Proudman resonance over the wide Adriatic shelf, but other resonances (Greenspan, shelf) are also presumably influencing the strength of the meteotsunami waves, especially in the middle Adriatic, full of elongated islands and with a sloping bathymetry.
    [Show full text]
  • A High-Amplitude Atmospheric Inertia–Gravity Wave-Induced
    A high-amplitude atmospheric inertia– gravity wave-induced meteotsunami in Lake Michigan Eric J. Anderson & Greg E. Mann Natural Hazards ISSN 0921-030X Nat Hazards DOI 10.1007/s11069-020-04195-2 1 23 Your article is protected by copyright and all rights are held exclusively by This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply. This e-offprint is for personal use only and shall not be self- archived in electronic repositories. If you wish to self-archive your article, please use the accepted manuscript version for posting on your own website. You may further deposit the accepted manuscript version in any repository, provided it is only made publicly available 12 months after official publication or later and provided acknowledgement is given to the original source of publication and a link is inserted to the published article on Springer's website. The link must be accompanied by the following text: "The final publication is available at link.springer.com”. 1 23 Author's personal copy Natural Hazards https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-020-04195-2 ORIGINAL PAPER A high‑amplitude atmospheric inertia–gravity wave‑induced meteotsunami in Lake Michigan Eric J. Anderson1 · Greg E. Mann2 Received: 1 February 2020 / Accepted: 17 July 2020 © This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply 2020 Abstract On Friday, April 13, 2018, a high-amplitude atmospheric inertia–gravity wave packet with surface pressure perturbations exceeding 10 mbar crossed the lake at a propagation speed that neared the long-wave gravity speed of the lake, likely producing Proudman resonance.
    [Show full text]
  • Infragravity Wave Energy Partitioning in the Surf Zone in Response to Wind-Sea and Swell Forcing
    Journal of Marine Science and Engineering Article Infragravity Wave Energy Partitioning in the Surf Zone in Response to Wind-Sea and Swell Forcing Stephanie Contardo 1,*, Graham Symonds 2, Laura E. Segura 3, Ryan J. Lowe 4 and Jeff E. Hansen 2 1 CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Crawley 6009, Australia 2 Faculty of Science, School of Earth Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley 6009, Australia; [email protected] (G.S.); jeff[email protected] (J.E.H.) 3 Departamento de Física, Universidad Nacional, Heredia 3000, Costa Rica; [email protected] 4 Faculty of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, Oceans Graduate School, The University of Western Australia, Crawley 6009, Australia; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 18 September 2019; Accepted: 23 October 2019; Published: 28 October 2019 Abstract: An alongshore array of pressure sensors and a cross-shore array of current velocity and pressure sensors were deployed on a barred beach in southwestern Australia to estimate the relative response of edge waves and leaky waves to variable incident wind wave conditions. The strong sea 1 breeze cycle at the study site (wind speeds frequently > 10 m s− ) produced diurnal variations in the peak frequency of the incident waves, with wind sea conditions (periods 2 to 8 s) dominating during the peak of the sea breeze and swell (periods 8 to 20 s) dominating during times of low wind. We observed that edge wave modes and their frequency distribution varied with the frequency of the short-wave forcing (swell or wind-sea) and edge waves were more energetic than leaky waves for the duration of the 10-day experiment.
    [Show full text]
  • Baroclinic Instability, Lecture 19
    19. Baroclinic Instability In two-dimensional barotropic flow, there is an exact relationship between mass 2 streamfunction ψ and the conserved quantity, vorticity (η)given by η = ∇ ψ.The evolution of the conserved variable η in turn depends only on the spatial distribution of η andonthe flow, whichisd erivable fromψ and thus, by inverting the elliptic relation, from η itself. This strongly constrains the flow evolution and allows one to think about the flow by following η around and inverting its distribution to get the flow. In three-dimensional flow, the vorticity is a vector and is not in general con­ served. The appropriate conserved variable is the potential vorticity, but this is not in general invertible to find the flow, unless other constraints are provided. One such constraint is geostrophy, and a simple starting point is the set of quasi-geostrophic equations which yield the conserved and invertible quantity qp, the pseudo-potential vorticity. The same dynamical processes that yield stable and unstable Rossby waves in two-dimensional flow are responsible for waves and instability in three-dimensional baroclinic flow, though unlike the barotropic 2-D case, the three-dimensional dy­ namics depends on at least an approximate balance between the mass and flow fields. 97 Figure 19.1 a. The Eady model Perhaps the simplest example of an instability arising from the interaction of Rossby waves in a baroclinic flow is provided by the Eady Model, named after the British mathematician Eric Eady, who published his results in 1949. The equilibrium flow in Eady’s idealization is illustrated in Figure 19.1.
    [Show full text]
  • The Life Cycle of Baroclinic Eddies in a Storm Track Environment
    3498 JOURNAL OF THE ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES VOLUME 57 The Life Cycle of Baroclinic Eddies in a Storm Track Environment ISIDORO ORLANSKI AND BRIAN GROSS Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey (Manuscript received 15 April 1999, in ®nal form 1 March 2000) ABSTRACT The life cycle of baroclinic eddies in a controlled storm track environment has been examined by means of long model integrations on a hemisphere. A time-lagged regression that captures disturbances with large me- ridional velocities has been applied to the meteorological variables. This regressed solution is used to describe the life cycle of the baroclinic eddies. The eddies grow as expected by strong poleward heat ¯uxes at low levels in regions of strong surface baroclinicity at the entrance of the storm track, in a manner similar to that of Charney modes. As the eddies evolve into a nonlinear regime, they grow deeper by ¯uxing energy upward, and the characteristic westward tilt exhibited in the vorticity vanishes by rotating into a meridional tilt, in which the lower-level cyclonic vorticity center moves poleward and the upper-level center moves equatorward. This rather classical picture of baroclinic evolution is radically modi®ed by the simultaneous development of an upper-level eddy downstream of the principal eddy. The results suggest that this eddy is an integral part of a self-sustained system here named as a couplet, such that the upstream principal eddy in its evolution ¯uxes energy to the upper-level downstream eddy, whereas at lower levels the principal eddy receives energy ¯uxes from its downstream companion but grows primarily from baroclinic sources.
    [Show full text]
  • Dtic Eecte Feb 006 1992
    AD-A245 718 DTIC EECTE FEB 006 1992 92-'02785 S ~~~~Tlc,30 ~nda tId's~IW Sca1e; its I111 I Universil-y of Bristol, 1991 .92. 203 15 5 This work rclitcs to Departmecnt of the Navy Grant N00014-914J-9038 issued by the Office of Naval Research European Office. The United States has a royalty-frce license throughiout the world in all copyrightable mnaterial contained herein. Nonlinear Water Waves Workshop University of Bristol, 22-25 October 1991 PROCEEDINGS The aim of this workshop was to take advantage of the recent freedom available to scientists in the Soviet Union (now Commonwealth of Independent States) to travel to the West in order to develop both contacts and an awareness of current research between research workers from East and West, most of whom have formerly had little contact. We consider this aim was achieved and are grateful for the substantial financial support from the European Office of the U.S. Office of Naval Research and the European Research Office of the U.S. Army. In addition we thank the home institutions or other fund providers which supported the travel costs of participants and the subsistence of western participants. The support of Bristol University's Department of Mathematics in holding the meeting is greatly appreciated. Scientific Committee: T.B. Benjamin (Oxford) D.H. Peregrine (Vice-chairmanBristol) D.J. Benney (MIT) P.G. Saffman (Caltech) K. Hasselmann (Hamburg) V.I. Shrira (Vice-chairman, Moscow) P.A.E.M. Janssen (KNMI) V.E. Zakharov (Chairman, Moscow) Local Committee: M.J. Cooker D.H. Peregrine J.W.
    [Show full text]
  • Propagation of a Meteotsunami from the Yellow Sea to the Korea Strait in April 2019
    atmosphere Article Propagation of a Meteotsunami from the Yellow Sea to the Korea Strait in April 2019 Kyungman Kwon 1, Byoung-Ju Choi 2,* , Sung-Gwan Myoung 2 and Han-Seul Sim 2 1 Jeju Marine Research Center, Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology, Jeju 63349, Korea; [email protected] 2 Department of Oceanography, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Korea; [email protected] (S.-G.M.); [email protected] (H.-S.S.) * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +82-62-530-3471 Abstract: A meteotsunami with a wave height of 0.1–0.9 m and a period of 60 min was observed at tide gauges along the Korea Strait on 7 April 2019, while a train of two to four atmospheric pressure disturbances with disturbance heights of 1.5–3.9 hPa moved eastward from the Yellow Sea to the Korea Strait. Analysis of observational data indicated that isobar lines of the atmospheric pressure disturbances had angles of 75–83◦ counterclockwise due east and propagated with a velocity of 26.5–31.0 m/s. The generation and propagation process of the meteotsunami was investigated using the Regional Ocean Modeling System. The long ocean waves were amplified due to Proudman resonance in the southwestern Yellow Sea, where the water is deeper than 75 m; here, the long ocean waves were refracted toward the coast on the shallow coastal region of the northern Korea Citation: Kwon, K.; Choi, B.-J.; Strait. Refraction and reflection by offshore islands significantly affect the wave heights at the Myoung, S.-G.; Sim, H.-S.
    [Show full text]
  • Signature Redacted Author
    The instability of axial-symmetric gravity-capillary waves generated by a vertically-oscillating sphere by Meng Shen Submitted to the Department of Mechanical Engineering in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering at the MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY February 2019 @ Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2019. All rights reserved. Signature redacted Author ....... .................. 'bepartment of Mechanical Engineering November 15, 2018 Certified by.. ...................... Yuming Liu Senior Research Scientist Thesis Supervisor Signature redacted Accepted by .............. MASSACHUSlS INSTTUTE Nicolas Hadjiconstantinou OF TECHNOLOGY Chairman, Committee on Graduate Students FEB 252019 LIBRARIES ARCHIVES 2 The instability of axial-symmetric gravity-capillary waves generated by a vertically-oscillating sphere by Meng Shen Submitted to the Department of Mechanical Engineering on November 15, 2018, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering Abstract When a floating sphere is forced to oscillate vertically, axial-symmetric outgoing ring waves are generally expected to be produced. Laboratory experiments, however, show that when the oscillation amplitude of the sphere exceeds a threshold value, the axial-symmetric waves abruptly transfigure into asymmetric waves. This problem is related to interfacial instability phenomena widely seen in lab model tests such as sloshing, ship model wakes measurements, etc. Despite its fundamental importance, the mechanism that governs the occurrence of this phenomenon is still unknown. The objective of this thesis is to understand the mechanism of this instability phenomenon using theoretical analysis and direct numerical simulations. We first theoretically show that for an arbitrary three-dimensional body floating in an unbounded free surface, there exists a set of homogeneous solutions at any frequency in the gravity-capillary wave context.
    [Show full text]
  • Observations of Infragravity Waves
    JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 97, NO. C10, PAGES 15,573-15,577, OCTOBER 15, 1992 Observationsof InfragravityWaves STEVEELGAR 1, T.H.C. HERBERS2, MICHELE OKIHIRO 2, JOANOLTMAN-SHAY 3, and R. T. GUZA2 Infragravity-wave(periods of one-halfto a few minutes)energy levels observedfor about 1 year in 8-m water depthin the Pacificand in 8- and 13-m depthsin the Atlanticare highly correlatedwith energyin the swell-frequencyband (7- to 20-s periods),suggesting the infragravitywaves were generatedlocally by the swell.The amplificationof infragravity-waveenergy between 13- and 8-m depth(separated by 1 km in the cross shore)is about2, indicatingthat the observedinfragravity motions are dominatedby free waves,not by group- forcedbound waves, which in theoryare amplifiedby an orderof magnitudein energybetween the two loca- tions. However,bound waves are more importantfor the relativelyfew caseswith very energeticswell, when the observedamplification between 13- and 8-m depth of infragravity-waveenergy was sometimes3 times greaterthan expectedfor free waves. Bispectraare consistentwith increasedcoupling between infragravity wavesand groups of swelland seafor high-energyincident waves. 1. INTRODUCTION inate the infragravity-bandenergy [Elgar et al., 1989; Oltman- Motions in the infragravity-frequencyband (frequencieslower Shayet al., 1989]. Thus, someprevious studies outside the surf thanthe incidentsea and swell) are importantfor many nearshore zone have concludedthat high-modeedge waves contributethe processes.Previous studieshave shown that infragravity- and majority of the infragravity energy, while others suggestthat incident-waveenergy levels are correlated,and that waves in the boundwaves are dominant. The causesof this apparentvariabil- infragravityband may be either freely propagating(leaky waves ity in the relative contributionsof different typesof infragravity radiatingto or from deepwater and edgewaves) or bound(forced wave motions are unknown.
    [Show full text]
  • Causes of Reduced North Atlantic Storm Activity in a CCSM3
    15 SEPTEMBER 2009 D O N O H O E A N D B A T T I S T I 4793 Causes of Reduced North Atlantic Storm Activity in a CAM3 Simulation of the Last Glacial Maximum AARON DONOHOE AND DAVID S. BATTISTI Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington (Manuscript received 7 August 2008, in final form 6 April 2009) ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to determine how an atmosphere with enhanced mean-state baroclinity can support weaker baroclinic wave activity than an atmosphere with weak mean-state baroclinity. As a case study, a Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) model simulation previously documented to have reduced baroclinic storm activity, relative to the modern-day climate (simulated by the same model), despite having an enhanced midlatitude temperature gradient, is considered. Several candidate mechanisms are evaluated to explain this apparent paradox. A linear stability analysis is first performed on the jet in the modern-day and the LGM simulation; the latter has relatively strong barotropic velocity shear. It was found that the LGM mean state is more unstable to baroclinic disturbances than the modern-day mean state, although the three-dimensional jet structure does stabilize the LGM jet relative to the Eady growth rate. Next, feature tracking was used to assess the storm track seeding and temporal growth of disturbances. It was found that the reduction in LGM eddy activity, relative to the modern-day eddy activity, is due to the smaller magnitude of the upper-level storms entering the North Atlantic domain in the LGM. Although the LGM storms do grow more rapidly in the North Atlantic than their modern-day counterparts, the storminess in the LGM is reduced because storms seeding the region of enhanced baroclinity are weaker.
    [Show full text]
  • Scattering and Trapping of Obliquely Incident, Low-Mode Internal Tides Off a Continental Shelf and Slope
    Scattering and Trapping of Obliquely Incident, Low-Mode Internal Tides off a Continental Shelf and Slope James Lerczak College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences Oregon State University [email protected] Abstract We demonstrate { using linear scattering theory and an idealized, stratified, rotating ocean domain, with a flat bottom deep ocean and a straight continental slope and shelf { that a high-mode (mode 3) Poincare wave incident on the coastal margin can excite large amplitude leaky coastal trapped waves (CTWs) or leaky edge waves along the coastal margin dependent on the frequency and alongshore wavenumber of the incident wave. The large response only occurs when low modes (modes one or two) are evanescent in the deep ocean. This may be a means by which large amplitude, alongshore propagating internal tides can be excited at the coastal margin. The fact that the leaky CTW and edge wave response is sensitive to alongshore wavenumber suggests that their excitation in real oceans will be temporally and spatial intermittent due to variations in incidence angles of deep ocean internal tides and spatial and temporal variations in stratification. 1 Introduction This work addresses the scattering of obliquely incident internal tides off of a coastal margin and the amplitude of the response on the continental shelf and slope to the incident wave. The specific questions we ask are: • Under what conditions is the amplitude of the shelf or slope response large, com- pared to the amplitude of the incident internal tide? • Can scattering lead to partial trapping of internal tide energy on the shelf and slope, in the form of `leaky' edge waves or coastal trapped waves? 2 Barotropic Case To motivate the problem, we first consider the barotropic case.
    [Show full text]