A preliminary investigation of the interaction of internal gravity waves with a steady shearing motion

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Abstract
Preliminary experimental results are presented which describe the interaction of an internal-wave field with a steady shearing motion. The results are primarily qualitative and presented in the form of photographs of shadowgraph images. Several internal-wave sources are used, and both critical- and non-critical-layer flows are examined. The results of these observations are interpreted in terms of several existing theories. For critical-layer flows the primary result is that virtually none of the internal-wave momentum flux penetrates the critical-level region, and under certain conditions a critical-layer instability develops resulting in the generation of turbulence. Such wave-induced turbulence is also observed for certain non-critical-layer flows and is believed to be the result of a convective instability.