Observation of near-inertial wave reflections within the thermostad layer of an anticyclonic mesoscale eddy
Observation of near-inertial wave reflections within the thermostad layer of an anticyclonic mesoscale eddy
Date
2010-01-15
Authors
Byun, Sang-Shin
Park, Jong Jin
Chang, Kyung-Il
Schmitt, Raymond W.
Park, Jong Jin
Chang, Kyung-Il
Schmitt, Raymond W.
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DOI
10.1029/2009GL041601
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Keywords
Near-inertial waves
Mesoscale eddy
Wave reflection
Mesoscale eddy
Wave reflection
Abstract
Moored current observations in the southwestern East/Japan Sea of 16.5 months duration clearly captured two episodes of downward phase propagation (upward energy propagation) of near-inertial waves (NIWs). Time series of temperature and velocity from the mooring and ancillary information indicate that the mooring was located near the center of an anticyclonic eddy during these events. Considering the typical vertical structure of quasi-permanent eddy features in the region, the observed downward phase propagation appeared to occur within the seasonal thermocline and upper thermostad of the anticyclonic mesoscale eddy. Ray tracing simulation of NIW using the observed subinertial currents suggests that the upward energy propagation is caused by the reflection of the NIWs within the thermostad of the anticyclonic eddy, where the effect of the vertical shear of subinertial horizontal currents is larger than the buoyancy effect in controlling the propagation of NIWs.
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Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2010. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 37 (2010): L01606, doi:10.1029/2009GL041601.
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Geophysical Research Letters 37 (2010): L01606