Asymmetric chlorophyll responses enhanced by internal waves near the Dongsha Atoll in the South China Sea

Internal waves(IWs)are small-scale physical processes that occur frequently in stratified marginal seas.IWs are ubiquitous and well documented in the northern South China Sea(n SCS),but few studies have explored the ecosystem responses to the IWs.MODISA chlorophyll-a(Chl-a)data from 2002 to 2014 were used to examine the distribution of Chl a near the Dongsha Atoll(DSA).Composite Chl a from about 40 IWs during spring and summer showed stronger response on the northern side than on the southern side of the DSA.One day after the passage of IWs,composite surface Chl a on the northern side increased from 0.11 mg/m3 to a maximum mean value of 0.18 mg/m3.It decreased to 0.13 mg/m3 after two days and maintained that level for several days after the passage of IWs.The enhanced surface Chl a likely caused subsurface Chl-a maximum and nutrients in the surface layer.Approximately 64%of the increase in surface Chl a was due to the uplift of the subsurface Chl-a maximum one day after the passage of IWs,while nutrient-induced new phytoplankton growth contributed about 18%of the increase a few days later.When the IWs occurred frequently in spring and summer,Chl-a level on the northern side was about 30%higher than that on the southern side.IW dissipation and its impact on nutrients and chlorophyll were stronger on the northern side of the DSA than on the south,which caused a north-south asymmetric distribution of Chl a in the region.

Strip segmentation of oceanic internal waves in SAR images based on TransUNet

The development of oceanic remote sensing artificial intelligence has made possible to obtain valuable information from amounts of massive data.Oceanic internal waves play a crucial role in oceanic activity.To obtain oceanic internal wave stripes from synthetic aperture radar(SAR)images,a stripe segmentation algorithm is proposed based on the TransUNet framework,which is a combination of U-Net and Transformer,which is also optimized.Through adjusting the number of Transformer layer,multi-layer perceptron(MLP)channel,and Dropout parameters,the influence of over-fitting on accuracy is significantly weakened,which is more conducive to segmenting lightweight oceanic internal waves.The results show that the optimized algorithm can accurately segment oceanic internal wave stripes.Moreover,the optimized algorithm can be trained on a microcomputer,thus reducing the research threshold.The proposed algorithm can also change the complexity of the model to adapt it to different date scales.Therefore,TransUNet has immense potential for segmenting oceanic internal waves.

The effect of Typhoon Kalmaegi on the modal energy and period of internal waves near the Dongsha Islands(South China Sea)

The influence of Typhoon Kalmaegi on internal waves near the Dongsha Islands in the northeastern South China Sea was investigated using mooring observation data.We observed,for the first time,that the phenomenon of regular variation characteristics of the 14-d spring-neap cycle of diurnal internal tides(ITs)can be regulated by typhoons.The diurnal ITs lost the regular variation characteristics of the 14-d spring-neap cycle during the typhoon period owing to the weakening of diurnal coherent ITs,represented by O_(1)and K_(1),and the strengthening of diurnal incoherent ITs.Results of quantitative analysis showed that during the pre-typhoon period,timeaveraged modal kinetic energy(sum of Modes 1–5)of near-inertial internal waves(NIWs)and diurnal and semidiurnal ITs were 0.62 kJ/m^(2),5.66 kJ/m^(2),and 1.48 kJ/m^(2),respectively.However,during the typhoon period,the modal kinetic energy of NIWs increased 5.11 times,mainly due to the increase in high-mode kinetic energy.At the same time,the modal kinetic energy of diurnal and semidiurnal ITs was reduced by 68.9%and 20%,respectively,mainly due to the decrease in low-mode kinetic energy.The significantly reduced diurnal ITs during the typhoon period could be due to:(1)strong nonlinear interaction between diurnal ITs and NIWs,and(2)a higher proportion of high-mode diurnal ITs during the typhoon period,leading to more energy dissipation.

Effects of internal waves on signal temporal correlation length in the South China Sea

We simulated the temporal correlation of sound transmission using a two-dimensional advective frozen-ocean model with temperature data from a temperature sensor array on a propagation path in the South China Sea （SCS） Experiment 2009, and investigated the relationships of temporal correlation length, source-receiver range, and maximal sound speed fluctuation mainly caused by the solitary internal waves. We found that the temporal correlation length is -h2-power dependent on source-receiver range and -0.9-power dependent on maximal sound speed fluctuation. The empirical relationship is deduced from one-day environmental measurements in a limited area, needing more works and verification in the future with more acoustic data. But the relationship is useful in many applications in the area of SCS Experiment 2009.

On generation source sites of internal waves in the Luzon Strait

This effort aims to determine the generation source sites in the Luzon Strait for energetic, long-crest, transbasin internal waves （IW） observed in the northern South China Sea （NSCS）. The roles of islands distributed on eastern side of the strait, Kuroshio, submarine ridges, shoaling thennocline, and strait configuration played in the IW generation are examined using the cruise data analysis, satellite data interpretation, and dynamical analysis. The islands and channels on eastern side of the strait are excluded from a list of possible IW source sites owing to their unmatched horizontal dimensions to the scale of IW crest line length, and the relative low Reynolds number. The Kuroshio has a potential to be a radiator for the long-crest IW disturbances, meanwhile, the Kurosbio west （east） wing absorbs the eastward （westward） propagating IW disturbance. Namely, the Kuroshio blockades the outside west-east propagating IW disturbances. The 3-D configuration of the Luzon Strait is characterized by a sudden, more than one order widening of the cross-section areas at the outlets on both sides, providing a favorable condition for IW type initial disturbance formation. In the Luzon Strait, the thermocline is featured by a westward shoaling all the year around, providing the dynamical conditions for the amplitude growth （declination） to the westward （eastward） propagating IW type disturbance. Thus, the west slope of western submarine ridge at the western outlet of the Luzon Strait is a high possibility source sites for energetic, long-crest, transbasin IWs in the NSCS. The interpretation results of satellite SAR images during a 13 a period from 1995 to 2007 provide the convincing evidence for the conclusions.

Oceanic pycnocline depth retrieval from SAR imagery in the existence of solitary internal waves

Oceanic pycnocline depth is usually inferred from in situ measurements. It is attempted to estimate the depth remotely. As solitary internal waves occur on oceanic pycnocline and propagate along it, it is possible to retrieve the depth indirectly in virtue of the solitary internal waves. A numerical model is presented for retrieving the pycnocline depth from synthetic aperture radar （SAR） images where the solitary internal waves are visible and when ocean waters are fully stratified. This numerical model is constructed by combining the solitary internal wave model and a two-layer ocean model. It is also assumed that the observed groups of solitary internal wave packets on the SAR imagery are generated by local semidiurnal tides. A case study in the East China Sea shows a good agreement with in situ CTD （conductivity-temperature-depth） data.

Study on Internal Waves Generated by Tidal Flow over Critical Topography

Resonance due to critical slope makes the internal wave generation more effectively than that due to supercritical or subcritical slopes(Zhang et al., 2008). Submarine ridges make a greater contribution to ocean mixing than continental margins in global oceans(Müller, 1977; Bell, 1975; Baines, 1982; Morozov, 1995). In this paper, internal wave generation driven by tidal flow over critical topography is examined in laboratory using Particle Image Velocimetry(PIV) and synthetic schlieren methods in synchrony. Non-tidal baroclinic velocities and vertical isopycnal displacements are observed in three representative regions, i.e., critical, outward-propagating, and reflection regions. Temporal and spatial distributions of internal wave rays are analyzed using the time variations of baroclinic velocities and vertical isopycnal displacement, and the results are consistent with those by the linear internal wave theory. Besides, the width of wave beam changes with the outward propagation of internal waves. Finally, through monitoring the uniformly-spaced 14 vertical profiles in the x-z plane, the internal wave fields of density and velocity fields are constructed. Thus, available potential energy, kinetic energy and energy fluxes are determined quantitatively. The distributions of baroclinic energy and energy fluxes are confined along the internal wave rays. The total depth averaged energy and energy flux of vertical profiles away from a ridge are both larger than those near the ridge.

The first quantitative remote sensing of ocean internal waves by Chinese GF-3 SAR satellite

Quantitative analysis and retrieval is given by the State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics（SOED）,Second Institute of Oceanography（SIO）,State Oceanic Administration（SOA）,China,from the first batch of GF-3 synthetic aperture radar（SAR）data with ocean internal wave features in the Yellow Sea.

Dynamical analysis of mesoscale eddy-induced ocean internal waves using linear theories

This study aims to explore generation mechanisms of the ocean internal wave using the dynamical analysis methods based on linear theories. Historical cruise measurements and recent synthetic aperture radar （SAR） observations of mesoscale eddies with diameter of several tens of kilometers to hundreds of kilometers show that the internal wave packets with wavelength of hundreds of meters to kilometer exist inside the mesoscale eddies. This coexistence phenomenon and inherent links between the two different scale processes are revealed in the solutions of governing equations and boundary conditions for the internal wave disturbance with a horizontally slowly variable amplitude in a cylindrical coordinate system. The theoretical solutions indicate that the instability of eddy current field provides the dynamical mechanism to internal wave generation. The derived dispersion relation indicates that the internal wave propagation is modified by the eddy current field structure. The energy equation of the internal waves clearly shows the internal wave energy increment comes from the eddy. The theoretical models are used to explain the observation of the mesoscale eddy-induced internal waves off the Norwegian coast. The two-dimensional waveform solution of the anticyclonic eddy-induced internal wave packet appears as ring-shaped curves, which contains the typical features of eddy stream lines. The comparison of theoretical solutions to the structure of the internal wave packets on SAR image shows a good agreement on the major features.

Shallow Water Modal Evolution Due to Nonlinear Internal Waves

Acoustic modal behavior is reported for an L-shape hydrophone array during the passage of a strong nonlinear internal wave packet. Acoustic track is nearly parallel to the front of nonlinear internal waves. Through modal decomposition at the vertical array, acoustic modes are identified. Modal evolution along the horizontal array then is examined during a passing internal wave. Strong intensity fluctuations of individual modes are observed before and during the internal waves packet passes the fixed acoustic track showing a detailed evolution of the waveguide modal behavior. Acoustic refraction created either uneven distribution of modal energy over the horizontal array or additional returns observable at the entire L-shape array. Acoustic ray-mode simulations are used to phenomenologically explain the observed modal behavior.

Impacts of internal waves on chlorophyll a distribution in the northern portion of the South China Sea

Internal waves can bring nutrients to the upper level of water bodies and facilitate phytoplankton photosynthesis.Internal waves occur frequently in the northern portion of the South China Sea and inflict an important effect on chlorophyll a distribution.In this study,in-situ observation and satellite remote sensing data were used to study the effects of internal waves on chlorophyll a distribution.Based on the in-situ observations,lower chlorophyll a concentrations were present in the middle and bottom level in areas in which internal waves occur frequently,while the surface chlorophyll a distribution increased irregularly,and a small area with relatively higher chlorophyll a concentrations was observed in the area around the Dongsha Island.Satellite remote sensing showed that the chlorophyll a concentration increased in the area near Dongsha Island,where internal waves frequently occurred.The results of the increased chlorophyll a concentration in the surface water near Dongsha Island in the northern portion of the South China Sea indicated that internal waves could uplift phytoplankton and facilitate phytoplankton growth.

A set of Boussinesq-type equations for interfacial internal waves in two-layer stratified fluid

Many new forms of Boussinesq-type equations have been developed to extend the range of applicability of the classical Boussinesq equations to deeper water in the Study of the surface waves. One approach was used by Nwogu （1993. J. Wtrw. Port Coastal and Oc. Eng. 119, 618-638） to improve the linear dispersion characteristics of the classical Boussinesq equations by using the velocity at an arbitrary level as the velocity variable in derived equations and obtain a new form of Boussinesq-type equations, in which the dispersion property can be optimized by choosing the velocity variable at an adequate level. In this paper, a set of Boussinesq-type equations describing the motions of the interracial waves propagating alone the interface between two homogeneous incompressible and inviscid fluids of different densities with a free surface and a variable water depth were derived using a method similar to that used by Nwogu （1993. J. Wtrw. Port Coastal and Oc. Eng. 119, 618-638） for surface waves. The equations were expressed in terms of the displacements of free surface and density-interface, and the velocity vectors at arbitrary vertical locations in the upper layer and the lower layer （or depth-averaged velocity vector across each layer） of a two-layer fluid. As expected, the equations derived in the present work include as special cases those obtained by Nwogu （1993, J. Wtrw. Port Coastal and Oc. Eng. 119, 618-638） and Peregrine （1967, J. Fluid Mech. 27, 815-827） for surface waves when the density of the upper fluid is taken as zero.

Second-order random wave solutions for interfacial internal waves in N-layer density-stratified fluid

This paper studies the random internal wave equations describing the density interface displacements and the velocity potentials of N-layer stratified fluid contained between two rigid walls at the top and bottom. The density interface displacements and the velocity potentials were solved to the second-order by an expansion approach used by Longuet-Higgins （1963） and Dean （1979） in the study of random surface waves and by Song （2004） in the study of second- order random wave solutions for internal waves in a two-layer fluid. The obtained results indicate that the first-order solutions are a linear superposition of many wave components with different amplitudes, wave numbers and frequencies, and that the amplitudes of first-order wave components with the same wave numbers and frequencies between the adjacent density interfaces are modulated by each other. They also show that the second-order solutions consist of two parts： the first one is the first-order solutions, and the second one is the solutions of the second-order asymptotic equations, which describe the second-order nonlinear modification and the second-order wave-wave interactions not only among the wave components on same density interfaces but also among the wave components between the adjacent density interfaces. Both the first-order and second-order solutions depend on the density and depth of each layer. It is also deduced that the results of the present work include those derived by Song （2004） for second-order random wave solutions for internal waves in a two-layer fluid as a particular case.

Is the small-scale turbulence an exclusive breaking product of oceanic internal waves

On the basis of the theoretical research results by the author and the literature published up to date, the analysis and the justification presented in this paper show that the breaking products of oceanic internal waves are not only turbulence, but also the fine-scale near-inertial internal waves （the oceanic reversible finestructure） for inertial waves and the internal solitary waves for internal tides respectively. It was found that the oceanic reversible finestructure may be induced by the effect of the horizontal component f （f = 2Ωcosφ） of the rotation vector on inertial waves. And a new instability of the theoretical shear and strain spectra due to the effect of f occurs at critical vertical wavenumber β c ≈ 0.1 cpm. It happens when the levels of shear and strain of the reversible finestructure are higher than those of inertial waves, which is induced by the effect of f along an ＂iso-potential-pycnal＂ of internal wave. If all breaking products of internal waves are taken into account, the average kinetic energy dissipation rate is an order of magnitude larger than the values of turbulence observed by microstructure measurements. The author’s theoretical research results are basically in agreement with those observed in IWEX, DRIFTER and PATCHEX experiments. An important impersonal fact is that on the mean temporal scale of thermohaline circulation these breaking products of internal waves exist simultaneously with turbulence. Because inertial waves are generated by winds at the surface, and internal tides are generated by strong tide-topography interactions, the analysis and justification in this paper support in principle the abyssal recipes Ⅱ：energetics of tidal and wind mixing by Munk Wunsch in 1998, in despite of the results of microstructure measurements for the turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate and the diapycnal turbulent eddy diffusivity.

Scattering Process of Internal Waves Propagating over a Subcritical Strait Slope onto a Shelf Region

The scattering process, which means the redistribution of energy fluy in modenumber space, is analyzed for internal waves propagating from the abyssal ocean onto a subcritical strait slope and then a shelf region. In light of Wunsch＇s work, the waves are analytically expressed as superimposition of eigensolutions distribution of energy flux in the shelf region： one is the ratio of water depth in and the other is the ratio of the slope of the internal tide rays to the topographic energy flux distribution： the energy flux is focused around one modenumber or case, the range of modenumbers where energy flux is distributed is narrow. Two parameters have evident effects on the the shelf region to that in the abyssal ocean slope. Generally, there are two patterns of focused around two modenumbers. In any case, the range of modenumbers where energy flux is distributed is narrow.

Response of Internal Waves to 2005 Typhoon Damrey over the Northwestern Shelf of the South China Sea

Continuous observation of sea water temperature and current was made at Wenchang Station(19°35′N,112°E) in 2005. The data collected indicate vigorous internal waves of both short periods and tidal and near-inertial periods. The temperature and current time series during 18-30 September were examined to describe the upper ocean internal wave field response to Typhoon Damrey(0518) . The strong wind associated with the typhoon,which passed over the sea area about 45 km south of Wenchang Station on 25 September,deepened the mixed layer depth remarkably. It decreased the mixed layer temperature while increasing the deep layer temperature,and intensified the near-inertial and high-frequency fluctuations of temperature and current. Power spectra of temperature and current time series indicate significant deviations from those obtained by using the deep ocean internal wave models characterized by a power law. The frequency spectra were dominated by three energetic bands:around the inertial frequency(7.75× 10-6 Hz) ,tidal frequencies(1.0×10-5 to 2.4×10-5 Hz) ,and between 1.4×10-4 and 8.3×10-4 Hz. Dividing the field data into three phases(before,during and after the typhoon) ,we found that the typhoon enhanced the kinetic energy in nearly all the frequency bands,especially in the surface water. The passage of Damrey made a major contribution to the horizontal kinetic energy of the total surface current variances. The vertical energy density distribution,with its peak value at the surface,was an indication that the energy injected by the strong wind into the surface current could penetrate downward to the thermocline.

Propagation of internal waves up continental slope and shelf

In a two-dimensional and linear framework, a transformation was developed to derive eigensolutions of internal waves over a subcritical hyperbolic slope and to approximate the continental slope and shelf. The transformation converts a hyperbolic slope in physical space into a flat bottom in transform space while the governing equations of internal waves remain hyperbolic. The eigensolutions are further used to study the evolution of linear internal waves as it propagates to subcritical continental slope and shelf. The stream function, velocity, and vertical shear of velocity induced by internal wave at the hyperbolic slope are analytically expressed by superposition of the obtained eigensolutions. The velocity and velocity shear increase as the internal wave propagates to a hyperbolic slope. They become very large especially when the slope of internal wave rays approaches the topographic slope, which is consistent with the previous studies.

Self-organized Criticality Model for Ocean Internal Waves

In this paper, we present a simple spring-block model for ocean internal waves based on the self-organized criticality （SOC）. The oscillations of the water blocks in the model display power-law behavior with an exponent of -2 in the frequency domain, which is similar to the current and sea water temperature spectra in the actual ocean and the universal Garrett and Munk deep ocean internal wave model [Geophysical Fluid Dynamics 2 （1972） 225; J. Geophys. Res. 80 （1975） 291]. The influence of the ratio of the driving force to the spring coefficient to SOC behaviors in the model is also discussed.

Eigen solutions of internal waves over subcritical topography

Diapycnal mixing plays an important role in the ocean circulation.Internal waves are a kind of bridge relating the diapycnal mixing to external sources of mechanical energy.Difficulty in obtaining eigen solutions of internal waves over curved topography is a limitation for further theoretical study on the generation problem and scattering process.In this study,a kind of transform method is put forward to derive the eigen solutions of internal waves over subcritical topography in twodimensional and linear framework.The transform converts the curved topography in physical space to flat bottom in transform space while the governing equation of internal waves is still hyperbolic if proper transform function is selected.Thus,one can obtain eigen solutions of internal waves in the transform space.Several examples of transform functions,which convert the linear slope,the convex slope,and the concave slope to flat bottom,and the corresponding eigen solutions are illustrated.A method,using a polynomial to approximate the transform function and least squares method to estimate the undetermined coefficients in the polynomial,is introduced to calculate the approximate expression of the transform function for the given subcritical topography.

Nonlinear ocean internal waves observed by multifrequency synthetic aperture radar

A numerical model which consists of the Korteweg-de Vries(KdV)equation,the action balance equation and the radar backscattering model is developed to simulate the frequency dependence of synthetic aperture radar(SAR)remote sensing of nonlinear ocean internal waves.Multifrequency data collected by NASA SIR-C SAR and NASA JPL AIRSAR are used as comparison.Case studies show that the results of simulation agree well with the results of SAR data.