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A model of Arctic Ocean internal waves generated by under-ice topography

ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University

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Title A model of Arctic Ocean internal waves generated by under-ice topography
Names Bowline, Cynthia Marie (creator)
Levine, Murray D. (advisor)
Date Issued 1988-06-09 (iso8601)
Note Graduation date: 1989
Abstract The energy levels of internal waves observed during the
Arctic Internal Wave Experiment (AIWEX), conducted from the
drifting pack ice in the Beaufort Sea, increased as the speed of
the ice drift increased. The possibility of these waves being
generated by moving pack ice with a corrugated under-side is
explored in this paper. An analytical model of internal waves
generated by impulsively moving the ice is used to obtain a
frequency spectrum of vertical velocity from two reference
frames: one fixed relative to the earth and the other moving
with the ice. The velocity signal observed from the ice frame
simulates the observations from AIWEX instruments moored to
the ice. The ocean is assumed to have a constant buoyancy
frequency and a finite depth. The ice is approximated as a sum
of discrete sinusoidal plane wave components with infinite
horizontal extent. These components are determined from a
two-dimensional horizontally isotropic wavenumber spectrum,
which was obtained from a one-dimensional spectrum of the
Beaufort Sea pack ice using the inverse Abet transform. The
vertical velocity response of the water particles to the
movement of the ice is found as a function of time since
initial ice acceleration. The spectrum of the velocity signal,
observed over a finite time and averaged over the ocean
volume, is compared to velocity spectra from AIWEX
observations. Surprisingly the observed spectral shape
resembles the modelled spectrum from the fixed frame rather
than the ice frame. The discrepancy in the spectral shapes
may be due to the non-constant Doppler-shift of the AIWEX
observations caused by the changing speed of the ice drift. The
model also predicts a more energetic response than was
observed; the discrepancy in energy levels may be explained by
including a mixed layer in the model.
Genre Thesis/Dissertation
Topic Internal waves -- Mathematical models
Identifier http://hdl.handle.net/1957/23396

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