A numerical study on the generation of a distinct type of nonlinear internal wave packet in the South China Sea

A distinct type of nonlinear internal-wave packet, with the largest internal solitary wave in the middle of the packet, was regularly observed in the South China Sea during the Asian Seas International Acoustics Experiment in 2001. Data analysis shows that the occurrence of the distinct internal wave packet is closely related with the occurrence of lower-high internal tides; the internal tides are mixed in the experimental area and, thus, there is diurnal inequality between the heights of two neighboring internal tides. Modeling of internal tides and internal solitary waves in a shoaling situation suggests that this type of wave packet can be generated in the South China Sea by the large shoaling of internal solitary waves and internal tides. Both the internal solitary waves and the internal tides come from the direction of Luzon Strait. The initial large internal solitary waves contribute to the occurrence of the largest internal solitary wave in the middle of the packet and the waves behind the largest intemal solitary wave, while the shoaling internal tides bring about the nonlinear internal waves in front of the largest internal solitary wave via interaction with the local shelf topography.

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.

Characteristics of nonlinear internal waves observed in the northern South China Sea

The South China Sea(SCS) is one of the most active areas of internal waves.We undertook a program of physical oceanography in the northern South China Sea from June to July of 2009,and conducted a 1-day observation from 15:40 of June 24 to 16:40 of June 25 using a chain of instruments,including temperature sensors,pressure sensors and temperature-pressure meters at a site(117.5°E,21°N) northeast of the Dongsha Islands.We measured fluctuating tidal and subtidal properties with the thermistor-chain and a ship-mounted Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler,and observed a large-amplitude nonlinear internal wave passing the site followed by a number of small ones.To further investigate this phenomenon,we collected the tidal constituents from the TPXO7.1 dataset to evaluate the tidal characteristics at and around the recording site,from which we knew that the amplitude of the nonlinear internal wave was about 120 m and the period about 20 min.The horizontal and vertical velocities induced by the soliton were approximately 2 m/s and 0.5 m/s,respectively.This soliton occurred 2-3 days after a spring tide.

Mooring observations of internal solitary waves in the deep basin west of Luzon Strait

A total of 137 internal solitary waves （ISWs） are captured during a field experiment conducted in the deep basin west of the Luzon Strait （LS） from March to August, 2010. Mooring observations reveal that a fully developed ISW owns a maximum westward velocity of more than 1.8 m/s and an amplitude of about 200 m. The ISWs in the South China Sea （SCS） are most active in July, which may be due to the strong stratification in summer. Most of the ISW episodes are detected around and after the 1st or 15th lunar day, indicating that the ISW in the SCS is triggered by astronomic tides. Half part of the observed ISWs were detected around 19：00 local time, which can be explained by the fact that type-a ISWs emerged in the evening at roughly the same time each day. The propagation direction of the ISWs and the astronomic tides in the LS show that the area south of the Batan Island is probably the main source region of the type-a ISWs, while the area south of Itbayat Island and south of the Batan Island is likely the main source region of the type-b ISWs observed at the mooring. Moreover, for the resonance of semidiurnal internal tides emitting from the double ridges in the LS, the underwater ridge south of the Itbayat Island and south of the Batan Island is believed to favor the generation of the energetic ISWs.

Shoaling of the internal solitary waves over the continental shelf of the northern South China Sea

The activities of internal solitary waves （ISWs） over the continental shelf of the northern South China Sea （SCS） are of high complexity. In this study, we investigated the spatial-temporal characteristics of the shoaling ISWs over the northern SCS continental shelf using the satellite images and the results of numerical simulation. The examination of the ISW signals in the satellite optical images revealed the existence of three types of iSWs in the region north to the Dongsha Island, namely, mode-1 depression ISW, mode-1 elevation ISW, and mode-2 convex ISW. The geographical distributions of these ISWs were derived from the satellite images. Numerical results exhibited the process of polarity conversion of ISWs, by which mode-1 elevation waves were transformed from the shoaling mode-1 depression waves. The mode-2 convex ISWs generally followed the mode-1 depression ISWs. The numerical results suggested that the interaction of the mode-1 depression ISWs with the up-slope topography locally generated mode-2 ISWs, and such waves of high vertical mode dissipated rapidly during the inshore propagation.

NONLINEAR OCEAN INTERNAL WAVES

In this paper, several important mathematical models of nonlinear ocean internal waves are introduced, and the related results are given.

A NONHYDROSTATIC NUMERICAL MODEL FOR DENSITY STRATIFIED FLOW AND ITS APPLICATIONS

A modular numerical model was developed for simulating density-stratified flow in domains with irregular bottom topography. The model was designed for examining interactions between stratified flow and topography, e.g,, tidally driven flow over two-dimensional sills or internal solitary waves propagating over a shoaling bed. The model was based on the non-hydrostatic vorticity-stream function equations for a continuously stratified fluid in a rotating frame. A self-adaptive grid was adopted in the vertical coordinate, the Alternative Direction Implicit （ADI） scheme was used for the time marching equations while the Poisson equation for stream-function was solved based on the Successive Over Relaxation （SOR） iteration with the Chebyshev acceleration. The numerical techniques were described and three applications of the model were presented.