Internal gravity waves in a time-varying stratification
- 14 October 1977
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Journal of Fluid Mechanics
- Vol. 82 (4) , 609-619
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022112077000883
Abstract
The influence of slow time variations of the Brun-Väisälä frequency N upon the energy of internal gravity waves is investigated. It is found that, when time variations in N are produced by a mean deformation field (reversible mean state), the wave energy can vary in either direct or inverse proportion, depending on the wavenumber orientation. When N changes owing to a certain type of irreversible process, the wave energy varies with only inverse proportionality.The nocturnal planetary boundary layer (NPBL) provides an example where N = N(z, t). The full initial/boundary-value problem for an N(z, t) similar to the climatological mean for the NPBL is solved.Keywords
This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit:
- Linear and Nonlinear WavesPhysics Today, 1975
- Parametric instability of internal gravity wavesJournal of Fluid Mechanics, 1975
- On the interaction between internal gravity waves and a shear flowJournal of Fluid Mechanics, 1968