Abstract-
Tidal conversion is the process by which energy is converted from the
barotropic tide to internal gravity waves via flow over ocean
bathymetry. These internal gravity waves are known as the "internal tide".
The internal tide propagates at a fixed angle to the vertical determined by the three fundamental frequencies: (1) the tidal frequency, (2) the Coriolis frequency and (3) the buoyancy frequency. The ratio of this slope to the topographic slope determines the strength of the conversion process. For shallow topographic slopes, simple estimates of the conversion rate are easily made using Fourier techniques. The conversion occuring over steeper topography is not yet fully understood.
We review research on tidal conversion from weak to strong topography, and examine the prospects for taking ocean measurements of bathymetry and using them to carry out forward tidal conversion calculations.
Questions of geophysical import include: How relevant is the weak topographic approximation to the real ocean? Is a spectral characterization of ocean bathymetry sufficient to compute conversion? How much resolution is enough? What are the upper and lower limits? Is spectral extrapolation a good strategy?
GALCIT Home Page
|
|