Internal tides in the northern South China Sea from 20-day in-situ mooring observations in 1998

20-day in-situ ADCP current and CTD data are used to investigate the characteristics and energy of the internal tides in the northern South China Sea （NSCS）. The results show that the O1, K1, M2 and S2 constituents of internal tides are energetic and diurnal constituents （O1 and K1） are dominating. In the observational period, the current vectors of these four constituents all rotate clockwise and the maximum semi-major axe of internal tidal ellipses is more than 14 cm/s. The variation of ocean temperature shows that the internal tides present obvious quasi-diurnal oscillation and the average amplitude reaches 50 m. Furthermore, these internal tides carry high energy and appear to be intermittent. The maximum values of KE （PE） during the observational period are up to 2 （3.5） k J/m^2 for diurnal internal tides, and up to 1 （1.5） k J/m^2 for semidiurnal internal tides.

Study of the propagation direction of the internal waves in the South China Sea using satellite images

Internal wave propagation carries considerable vertical shear which can lead to turbulence and mixing. Based on the analysis of more than 2 500 synthetic aperture radar （SAR） and optical satellite images, the in- ternal wave propagation in the whole South China Sea was investigated systematically. The results show that （1） in the northeastern South China Sea, most internal waves propagate westward from the Luzon Strait and are diffracted by coral reefs near the Dongsha Islands. Some impinge onto the shelf and a few are reflected; （2） in the northwestern South China Sea, most internal waves are generated at the shelf and propagate northwestward or westward to the coast; （3） in the western South China Sea, most internal waves propagate westward to the Vietnamese coast, except a few propagate southward to the deep sea; and （4） in the southern South China Sea, most internal waves propagate southwestward to the coast. Some prop- agate southeastward to the coast of Kalimantan Island, and a few propagate southeastward because of the influence of the Mekon~ River.

A study of internal solitary waves observed on the continental shelf in the northwestern South China Sea

Based on in-situ time series data from the acoustic Doppler current profiler （ADCP） and thermistor chain in Wenchang area, a sequence of internal solitary wave （ISW） packets was observed in September 2005, propagating northwest on the continental shelf of the northwestern South China Sea （SCS）. Corresponding to different stratification of the water column and tidal condition, both elevation and depression ISWs were observed at the same mooring location with amplitude of 35 m and 25 m respectively in different days. Regular arrival of the remarkable ISW packets at approximately the diurnal tidal period and the dominance of diurnal internal waves in the study area, strongly suggest that the main energy source of the waves is the diurnal tide. Notice that the wave packets were all riding on the troughs and shoulders of the internal tides, they were probably generated locally from the shelf break by the evolution of the internal tides due to nonlinear and dispersive effects.

Modal structure and propagation of internal tides in the northeastern South China Sea

The evolution of energy, energy flux and modal structure of the internal tides (ITs) in the northeastern South China Sea is examined using the measurements at two moorings along a cross-slope section from the deep continental slope to the shallow continental shelf. The energy of both diurnal and semidiurnal ITs clearly shows a ~14-day spring-neap cycle, but their phases lag that of barotropic tides, indicating that ITs are not generated on the continental slope. Observations of internal tidal energy flux suggest that they may be generated at the Luzon Strait and propagate west-northwest to the continental slope in the northwestern SCS. Because the continental slope is critical-supercritical with respect to diurnal ITs, about 4.6 kJ/m^2 of the incident energy and 8.7 kW/m of energy flux of diurnal ITs are reduced from the continental slope to the continental shelf. In contrast, the semidiurnal internal tides enter the shelf because of the sub-critical topography with respect to semidiurnal ITs. From the continental slope to the shelf, the vertical structure of diurnal ITs shows significant variation, with dominant Mode 1 on the deep slope and dominant higher modes on the shelf. On the contrary, the vertical structure of the semidiurnal ITs is stable, with dominant Mode 1.

Highly nonlinear internal solitary waves over the continental shelf of the northwestern South China Sea

Large amplitude internal solitary waves(ISWs) often exhibit highly nonlinear effects and may contribute significantly to mixing and energy transporting in the ocean.We observed highly nonlinear ISWs over the continental shelf of the northwestern South China Sea(19°35'N,112°E) in May 2005 during the Wenchang Internal Wave Experiment using in-situ time series data from an array of temperature and salinity sensors,and an acoustic Doppler current profiler(ADCP).We summarized the characteristics of the ISWs and compared them with those of existing internal wave theories.Particular attention has been paid to characterizing solitons in terms of the relationship between shape and amplitude-width.Comparison between theoretical prediction and observation results shows that the high nonlinearity of these waves is better represented by the second-order extended Korteweg-de Vries(KdV) theory than the first-order KdV model.These results indicate that the northwestern South China Sea(SCS) is rich in highly nonlinear ISWs that are an indispensable part of the energy budget of the internal waves in the northern South China Sea.

An isopycnic-coordinate internal tide model and its application to the South China Sea

A three-dimensional isopycnic-coordinate ocean model for the study of internal tides is presented. In this model, the ocean interior is viewed as a stack of isopycnic layers, each characterized by a constant density. The isopycnic coordinate performs well at tracking the depth variance of the thermocline, and is suitable for simulation of internal tides. This model consists of external and internal modes, and barotropic and baroclinic motions are calculated in the two modes, respectively. The capability of simulating internal tides was verified by comparing model results with an analytical solution. The model was then applied to the simulation of internal tides in the South China Sea （SCS） with the forcing of M2 and K1 tidal constituents. The results show that internal tides in the SCS are mainly generated in the Luzon Strait. The generated M2 internal tides propagate away in three different directions （branches）. The branch with the widest tidal beam propagates eastward into the Pacific Ocean, the most energetic branch propagates westward toward Dongsha Island, and the least energetic branch propagates southwestward into the basin of the SCS. The generated KI internal tides propagate in two different directions （branches）. One branch propagates eastward into the Pacific Ocean, and the other branch propagates southwestward into the SCS basin. The steepening process of internal tides due to shoaling effects is described briefly. Meridionally integrated westward energy fluxes into the SCS are comparable to the meridionally integrated eastward energy fluxes into the Pacific Ocean.

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.

Observation of interactions between internal tides and near-inertial waves after typhoon passage in the northern South China Sea

During the observational period of our study, Typhoon Hagupit passed over the mooring site and induced strong near-inertial waves （NIWs）, which provided an opportunity to investigate the interactions between internal tides （ITs） and NIWs. Based on the mooring data, we compared the current spectra during the typhoon period and non-typhoon period in the northern South China Sea, and found that the high- frequency waves （fD1 and fD2） were evident during the former. Moreover, the observations of the current revealed that fD1 and fD2 occurred near the depth of strong vertical shear in the NlWs. In order to confirm the generation mechanism of fD1 and fD2, we compared the positions of strong vertical shear in the NIWs and strong vertical velocity in the ITs. It was established that the vertical shear of the horizontal current of the NIWs and the vertical current of the ITs contributed to the generation of fDt and fD2.

Observation of Near-Inertial Internal Waves on the Continental Slope in the Northwestern South China Sea

Based on nearly 3 months of moored acoustic Doppler current profiler records on the continental slope in the northwestern South China Sea(SCS) in 2006,this study examines temporal and vertical characteristics of near-inertial internal waves(NIW).Rotary frequency spectrum indicates that motions in the near-inertial frequency are strongly polarized,with clockwise(CW) energy exceeding counterclockwise(CCW) by about a factor of 10.Wavelet analysis exhibits an energy peak exceeding the 95% confidence level at the frequency of local inertial during the passage of typhoon Xangsane(24 September to 4 October).This elevated near-inertial kinetic energy(NIKE) event possesses about a 4 days delay correlation with the time integral of energy flux induced by typhoon,indicating an energy source of wind.Further analysis shows that the upward phase velocity of this event is 3.8 m h^(-1)approximately,corresponding to a vertical wavelength of about 125 m if not taking the redshift of local inertial frequency into account.Rotary vertical wavenumber spectrum exhibits the dominance of clockwise-with-depth energy,indicating downward energy propagation and implying a surface energy source.Dynamical modes suggest that mode 1 plays a dominant role at the growth stage of NIW,whereas major contribution is from higher modes during the penetration of NIKE into the ocean interior.

A new type of internal solitary waves with a re-appearance period of 23 h observed in the South China Sea

The South China Sea （SCS）, in particular the northern SCS, is one of ocean areas where energetic internal solitary waves （ISWs）occur most frequently （Cai et al., 2012; Zheng, 2017）. Based on the re-appearance period （RP） at an observation station, Ramp et al.（2004） divided the ISWs into two types：Type-a and Type-b. Type-a ISWs arrive regularly at the same time every day, i.e., the RP is about 24 h, and Type-b ISWs arrive about one hour late every day, i.e., the RP is about 25 h.

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.

Combined effects of topography and bottom friction on shoaling internal solitary waves in the South China Sea

A numerical study to a generalized Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation is adopted to model the propagation and disintegration of large-amplitude internal solitary waves (ISWs) in the South China Sea (SCS). Based on theoretical analysis and in situ measurements, the drag coefficient of the Chezy friction is regarded as inversely proportional to the initial amplitude of an ISW, rather than a constant as assumed in the previous studies. Numerical simulations of ISWs propagating from a deep basin to a continental shelf are performed with the generalized KdV model. It is found that the depression waves are disintegrated into several solitons on the continental shelf due to the variable topography. It turns out that the amplitude of the leading ISW reaches a maximum at the shelf break, which is consistent with the field observation in the SCS.Moreover, a dimensionless parameter defining the relative importance of the variable topography and friction is presented.

Mooring observed mode-2 internal solitary waves in the northern South China Sea

The mode-2 internal solitary waves(ISWs)generated by mode-2 internal tide(IT)are identified by mooring observations in the northern South China Sea(SCS)from 2016 to 2017.Two mode-2 ISWs with a re-appearance period of 24.9 h observed on 29 and 30 July 2016 are characterized by type-b ISWs.They occurred when the isotherms compressed obviously in the vertical direction.Modal decomposition of IT horizontal currents shows that the vertical compression of the isotherms is mainly caused by diurnal mode-2 IT.The analysis of the role of the density stratification reveals that a deeper and thinner pycnocline is favorable for generation of mode-2 ISWs rather than pycnocline intensity.By comparing the mode-2 nonlinear,dispersion coefficients and the Ursell numbers calculated based on the stratification associated with different kinds of ITs with the observation results,it is shown that the diurnal mode-2 IT plays a crucial role in the generation of the mode-2 ISWs.When the diurnal mode-2 IT interacts with the semidiurnal IT and causes a deeper and thinner pycnocline,the mode-2 ISWs are easily excited.

Nonlinear interactions among internal tidal waves in the northeastern South China Sea

We used a set of 75-day long ADCP data from the northeastern South China Sea(SCS) to investigate nonlinear interactions among freely propagating internal tidal waves.The kinetic energy spectra displayed significant peaks at some higher tidal frequencies,such as O1M2(O1+M2),and M4(M2 +M2),where O1 is the lunar diurnal internal tide,M2 is the lunar semidiurnal internal tide,and M4 is the first higher harmonic frequency of M2.These higher tidal harmonic frequency peaks,as well as the fundamental tidal harmonic peaks,show a σ-2.3 spectral falloff rate with frequency.In addition,we explored the possible generation mechanism of higher tidal harmonics.Analysis on the rotary and bicoherence spectra suggests that strong forced non-resonant interaction induced by nonlinear advections was the dominant physical mechanism that induced these higher tidal harmonics.Moreover,the energetic,freely propagating semidiurnal(M2) internal tidal wave played the most crucial role in these interactions.These results indicate that strong nonlinear forced non-resonant interactions among internal tides can be one of the processes responsible for the redistribution of energy in the internal wave spectrum.

A continuously stratified nonlinear model for internal solitary waves in the northern South China Sea

A continuously stratified nonlinear model is set up to study the impact of topographical character on the generation of internal solitary waves over a sill by tidal flow.One of the reasons why almost all of the generated internal solitary waves propagate westward in the northern South China Sea is explained.The model simulations describe the generation and propagation of internal waves well.When the strength of imposed barotropic tides and the water stratification stay unchanged,the steepness of the sill slope can control both(a) whether or not the waves induced over a sill by tidal flow are linear internal waves or nonlinear internal solitary waves,and(b) the amplitude of the internal solitary waves generated.If the steepness of the sill is asymmetric,the nonlinear internal solitary waves may be induced on the steeper side of the sill.These conclusions are supported by a numerical experiment with a monthly-mean stratification and an actual seafloor topography from the Luzon Strait.

Effects of Tidal Currents on Nonlinear Internal Solitary Waves in the South China Sea

The propagation and fission process of internal solitary waves （ISWs） with amplitudes of about 170 m are simulated in the northeast of the South China Sea （NSCS） by using the generalized Korteweg-de Vries （KdV） equation under continuous stratification. More attention is paid to the effects of the ebb and flood background currents on the fission process of ISWs. This kind of background current is provided by the composed results simulated in terms of monthly mean baroclinic circulation and barotropic tidal current. It is found that the obtained relation of the number of fission solitons to the water depth and stratification is roughly in accordance with the fission law derived by Djordjevic and Redekopp in 1978; however, there exists obvious difference between the effects of the ebb and flood background currents on the wave-lengths of fission solitons （defined as the distance between two neighboring peaks of ISWs）. The difference in nonlinearity coefficient a between the ebb and flood background currents is a main cause for the different wave-lengths of fission solitons.

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.

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.

Assessment of theoretical approaches to derivation of internal solitary wave parameters from multi-satellite images near the Dongsha Atoll of the South China Sea

This study assesses the accuracy and the applicability of the Korteweg-de Vries(KdV)and the nonlinear Schr?dinger(NLS)equation solutions to derivation of dynamic parameters of internal solitary waves(ISWs)from satellite images.Visible band images taken by five satellite sensors with spatial resolutions from 5 m to 250 m near the Dongsha Atoll of the northern South China Sea(NSCS)are used as a baseline.From the baseline,the amplitudes of ISWs occurring from July 10 to 13,2017 are estimated by the two approaches and compared with concurrent mooring observations for assessments.Using the ratio of the dimensionless dispersive parameter to the square of dimensionless nonlinear parameter as a criterion,the best appliable ranges of the two approaches are clearly separated.The statistics of total 18 cases indicate that in each 50%of cases,the KdV and the NLS approaches give more accurate estimates of ISW amplitudes.It is found that the relative errors of ISW amplitudes derived from two theoretical approaches are closely associated with the logarithmic bottom slopes.This may be attributed to the nonlinear growth of ISW amplitudes as propagating along a shoaling thermocline or topography.The test results using three consecutive satellite images to retrieve the ISW propagation speeds indicate that the use of multiple satellite images(>2)may improve the accuracy of retrieved phase speeds.Meanwhile,repeated multi-satellite images of ISWs can help to determine the types of ISWs if mooring data are available nearby.

Observations of semidiurnal M 2 internal tidal parametric subharmonic instability in the northeastern South China Sea

Near-diurnal vertically-standing waves with high vertical wavenumbers k z were observed in the velocity and shear fi elds from a set of 75-d long ADCP moored in the northeastern South China Sea(SCS)away from the“critical”latitude of 28.8°.These enhanced near-diurnal internal waves followed a fortnightly spring-neap cycle.However,they always happened during semidiurnal spring tides rather than diurnal springs although strong diurnal internal tides with the fortnightly spring-neap cycle were prevailing,suggesting that they were generated via subharmonic instability(PSI)of dominant semidiurnal M 2 internal tides.When two semidiurnal internal tidal waves with opposite vertical propagation direction intersected,both semidiurnal subharmonic and super harmonic waves were largely intensifi ed.The observed maximum diurnal velocity amplitudes were up to 0.25 m/s.The kinetic energy and shear spectra further suggested that frequencies of daughter waves were not always perfectly equal to M 2/2.The superposition of two daughter waves with nearly equal frequencies and nearly opposite k z in a PSI-triad leaded to the vertically-standing waves.