{"title":"Models of the sea-surface height expression of the internal-wave continuum","authors":"R. Samelson, J. Farrar","doi":"10.1175/jpo-d-23-0178.1","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"\nSeveral models are presented for the sea-surface height (SSH) signature of the interior-ocean internal-wave continuum. Most are based on the Garrett-Munk internal-wave model. One is derived from the frequency spectrum of dynamic height from mooring observations. The different models are all plausibly consistent with accepted dynamical and semi-empirical spectral descriptions of the climatological interval-wave field in the interior ocean, but they result in different proportionalities between interior and SSH spectral energy levels. The differences arise in part from differences in the treatment of near-surface stratification, and a major source of uncertainty for all the models comes from inadequately constrained assumptions about the energy in the low-vertical-mode internal-wave field. Most of these models suggest that the SSH signature of the internal-wave continuum will be visible in SSH measurements from the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) wide-swath satellite altimeter. Temporal variability of internal-wave energy levels and the internal-wave directional spectrum are less well characterized but will also be consequential for the observability of internal-wave signals in SWOT data.","PeriodicalId":56115,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Physical Oceanography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.8000,"publicationDate":"2024-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Physical Oceanography","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1175/jpo-d-23-0178.1","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"OCEANOGRAPHY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Several models are presented for the sea-surface height (SSH) signature of the interior-ocean internal-wave continuum. Most are based on the Garrett-Munk internal-wave model. One is derived from the frequency spectrum of dynamic height from mooring observations. The different models are all plausibly consistent with accepted dynamical and semi-empirical spectral descriptions of the climatological interval-wave field in the interior ocean, but they result in different proportionalities between interior and SSH spectral energy levels. The differences arise in part from differences in the treatment of near-surface stratification, and a major source of uncertainty for all the models comes from inadequately constrained assumptions about the energy in the low-vertical-mode internal-wave field. Most of these models suggest that the SSH signature of the internal-wave continuum will be visible in SSH measurements from the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) wide-swath satellite altimeter. Temporal variability of internal-wave energy levels and the internal-wave directional spectrum are less well characterized but will also be consequential for the observability of internal-wave signals in SWOT data.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Physical Oceanography (JPO) (ISSN: 0022-3670; eISSN: 1520-0485) publishes research related to the physics of the ocean and to processes operating at its boundaries. Observational, theoretical, and modeling studies are all welcome, especially those that focus on elucidating specific physical processes. Papers that investigate interactions with other components of the Earth system (e.g., ocean–atmosphere, physical–biological, and physical–chemical interactions) as well as studies of other fluid systems (e.g., lakes and laboratory tanks) are also invited, as long as their focus is on understanding the ocean or its role in the Earth system.