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Diagnosing a partly standing internal wave in Mamala Bay, Oahu
Author(s) -
Martini K. I.,
Alford M. H.,
Nash J. D.,
Kunze E.,
Merrifield M. A.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2007gl029749
Subject(s) - baroclinity , bay , energy flux , standing wave , internal wave , geology , ridge , flux (metallurgy) , kinetic energy , oceanography , work (physics) , geodesy , meteorology , physics , paleontology , materials science , quantum mechanics , astronomy , optics , metallurgy , thermodynamics
An internal partly standing wave in Mamala Bay, Hawaii is studied using new observations and the Princeton Ocean Model (POM). Previous work suggested a convergence in the bay of east‐ and westbound waves emanating from Kaena Ridge and Makapuu Point, respectively. New energy flux measurements with shipboard ADCP/CTD confirm that Makapuu Point is the eastern source. After validating the POM results against observations, the model output is modally decomposed and compared with the expected theoretical patterns of kinetic and available potential energy, energy flux, and group velocity for a partly standing wave. Agreement is seen for the first baroclinic mode, which also contains most of the energy. The results confirm previous suggestions of standing wave dynamics in Mamala Bay.