Numerical Modeling and Observations of Coastal Internal Waves

This page is under construction to highlight results from internal wave studies in Monterey Bay, California, particularly those under the sponsorship of the Office of Naval Research and its Littoral Internal Wave Initiative (LIWI), and the National Science Foundation.

MODELING

Click here to see an overview of the numerical model domain.

Preliminary POM results from a 5-day simulation with real bathymetry forced with M2 sea level variations on the open boundary. Both surface current ellipses, (not-so-pretty) bottom current ellipses, and depth averaged current ellipses are shown.

OBSERVATIONS

Recent bottom-mounted ADCP observations from the Monterey Submarine Canyon at the BB mooring site show important distinctions between the internal wave energy levels at the bottom, 112 m above the bottom, and the classic G-M predictions. The internal wave energy is elevated at the bottom throughout the entire frequency band (not just for the tidal band). Non-linear transfers to tidal harmonics are largest at the bottom. All depths show much elevated levels compared with the G-M predictions.

A nice compilation of bottom current meter mooring records around Monterey Bay has been created by L K Rosenfeld.