Numerical Simulation of Internal Tide Generation at a Continental Shelf Break

TL;DR

This paper presents a fully nonlinear 3D numerical model to simulate internal tide generation, internal wave beams, and their interactions with thermoclines over complex bottom topography, advancing understanding of oceanic internal wave dynamics.

Contribution

The paper introduces a new nonlinear 3D numerical model capable of simulating internal tide generation and internal wave interactions with thermoclines in realistic stratified oceans.

Findings

Model accurately simulates internal wave beams and solitary waves.

Preliminary results match linear theory over idealized topographies.

Simulation of flow over continental shelf shows complex wave interactions.

Abstract

A fully nonlinear, three-dimensional numerical model is developed for the simulation of tidal flow over arbitrary bottom topography in an ocean with realistic stratification. The model is capable of simulating accurately the generation of fine-scale internal wave tidal beams, their interaction with an ocean thermocline and the subsequent generation of solitary internal waves that propagate on this thermocline. Several preliminary simulation results are shown for uniform and non-uniform flow over an idealized two-dimensional ridge, which are compared with linear theory, and for flow over an idealized two-dimensional continental shelf.