Simultaneous spatial and temporal measurements of the internal wave field during MATE

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Abstract
A statistical description of the deep ocean internal wave field is presented using measurements from the Midocean Acoustic Transmission Experiment, conducted near Cobb Seamount in the NE Pacific (46°46′N, 130°47′W) during June–July 1977. The unique feature of this experiment is the variety of data obtained simultaneously from the same location: time series of temperature and velocity, and vertical and horizontal profiles of temperature. A generalized form of the Garrett‐Munk (GM) internal wave spectrum is developed and used to interpret the data. This spectral model is specified by three parameters, , t, and p (energy level, wave number bandwidth, and frequency spectral slope, respectively). The variety of measurement types permit these three model parameters to be estimated from more than one measurement. The overall best fit values to the MATE data were p = 2.7 (GM use p = 3), t = 3.1 m−1 s (equivalent to j* = 6, twice the GM value), and (within 20% of the GM level). Although significant differences were found in the values of the bandwidth (t) and spectral slope (p) from those specified by Garrett‐Munk, the deviations are consistent with the behavior expected in a random internal wave field.

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