Oceanic Internal Tides: Observations, Analysis and Modeling

This book is dedicated to the study of the structure and variability of internal tides and their geographical distribution in the ocean. This work is mainly the result of the experimental analysis of oceanic measurements combined with numerical modeling and it gives a comprehensive presentation of internal wave processes on the globe. In particular, it is based on moored buoys observations in many regions in all the oceans (Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, and Southern) that have been carried out for more than 40 years within many oceanographic programs, including WOCE and CLIVAR, by many researchers from different countries. However, a significant part of the data belongs to the author who is a field oceanographer. The data collected were processed and interpreted within the concept of the modern knowledge and in the light of internal wave motion. The properties of internal waves are analyzed in the relation with the bottom topography and mean state of the ocean in specific regions. Internal waves play an important role in the formation of the existing stratification of seawater and are responsible for important processes of the ocean dynamics, such as the energy transfer and mixing. One of the most important ideas presented in the book is strong generation of internal tides over submarine ridges. Energy fluxes from submarine ridges related to tidal internal waves exceed many times the fluxes from continental slopes. Submarine ridges form an obstacle to the propagation of tidal currents that can cause generation of large amplitude internal tides. Energy fluxes from submarine ridges account for approximately one fourth of the total energy dissipation of the barotropic tides. Combined model simulations and moored measurements result in a map of global distribution of internal tide amplitudes. The study is extended to the Arctic region.