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

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https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/articles/t148fn76x

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  • 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.
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  • Shroyer, E. L., J. N. Moum, and J. D. Nash (2010), Mode 2 waves on the continental shelf: Ephemeral components of the nonlinear internal wavefield, J. Geophys. Res., 115, C07001, doi:10.1029/2009JC005605.
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  • 115
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  • C7
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  • This work was funded by the Office of Naval Research.
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