Internal Wave Reflection by a Velocity Shear and Density Anomaly

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Numerical solutions are obtained for the reflection of upward propagating internal waves by simple pycnocline and current shear models. Results for a simple monotonic shear and a velocity jet, with and without a pycnocline, lead to the conclusions that: 1) significant portions of an internal wave spectrum generated in the deep ocean can be reflected back downward by changing Brunt-Väisälä frequency and shear, even in situations not involving critical layers; 2) reflections by shear usually reinforce those from density variations; and 3) under some propagation conditions, a portion of the wave energy is leaked through the velocity jet, even when the fluid within the jet will not support wave motion of the impinging, frequency.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: