Coastal-Trapped Waves on the East Australian Continental Shelf Part II: Model Verification

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Abstract
The Australian Coastal Experiment (ACE) was designed to test coastal-trapped wave (CTW) theory and the generation of coastal-trapped waves by the wind. For the ACE dataset, we use CTW theory to attempt to hindcast the observed alogshelf currents and coastal sea levels at locations remote from the upstream (in the CTW sense) boundary of the ACE region. Local (in the ACE region) wind forcing is responsible for only about a quarter of the CTW energy flux at Stanwell Park (the center of the ACE region), and the remainder enters the ACE region from the south and propagates northward through the ACE region. Including the second-mode CTW improves the correlation between the hindcast and the observed near-bottom currents on the upper slope at Stanwell Park, but the use of the third-mode CTW cannot be justified. A linear bottom drag coefficient of r = 2.5 × 10−4 m s−1 works better than a larger drag coefficient, and simplifying the CTW equations by assuming the modes are uncoupled does not detract from th... Abstract The Australian Coastal Experiment (ACE) was designed to test coastal-trapped wave (CTW) theory and the generation of coastal-trapped waves by the wind. For the ACE dataset, we use CTW theory to attempt to hindcast the observed alogshelf currents and coastal sea levels at locations remote from the upstream (in the CTW sense) boundary of the ACE region. Local (in the ACE region) wind forcing is responsible for only about a quarter of the CTW energy flux at Stanwell Park (the center of the ACE region), and the remainder enters the ACE region from the south and propagates northward through the ACE region. Including the second-mode CTW improves the correlation between the hindcast and the observed near-bottom currents on the upper slope at Stanwell Park, but the use of the third-mode CTW cannot be justified. A linear bottom drag coefficient of r = 2.5 × 10−4 m s−1 works better than a larger drag coefficient, and simplifying the CTW equations by assuming the modes are uncoupled does not detract from th...

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