Abstract's details
Interactions of Tides and Mesoscales in a High-Resolution Numerical Ocean Model
Event: 2014 Ocean Surface Topography Science Team Meeting
Session: Tides, internal tides and high-frequency processes
Presentation type: Type Poster
Contribution: PDF file
Abstract:
Output from a high-resolution operational ocean model, AMSEAS, is analyzed to identify interactions between internal tides, which are high-frequency internal gravity waves, and mesoscales, the low-frequency balanced motion, in the Caribbean Sea. Tidal amplitudes, while small, are discernable in the SSH at scales smaller than 150km, with contributions from both the coherent (phase-locked) and incoherent internal tides. Dynamical interactions are analyzed by decomposing the velocity field into three components: a low-frequency mesoscale, coherent tides, and a high-frequency residual, and evaluating the Reynolds stresses for each component. A comparison of Reynolds stresses and their relation to the mesoscale suggests where and how tides interact with the low frequency flow in the ocean.