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On the concentration of near-inertial waves in anticyclones

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 May 2015

Eric Danioux ,
Jacques Vanneste  and
Oliver Bühler
Eric Danioux*
Affiliation:
School of Mathematics and Maxwell Institute for Mathematical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3FD, UK
Jacques Vanneste
Affiliation:
School of Mathematics and Maxwell Institute for Mathematical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3FD, UK
Oliver Bühler
Affiliation:
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, New York, NY 10012, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: eric.danioux@ed.ac.uk
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Abstract

An overlooked conservation law for near-inertial waves (NIWs) propagating in a steady background flow provides a new perspective on the concentration of these waves in regions of anticyclonic vorticity. The conservation law implies that this concentration is a direct consequence of the decrease in spatial scales experienced by an initially homogeneous wave field. Scaling arguments and numerical simulations of a reduced-gravity model of mixed-layer NIWs confirm this interpretation and elucidate the influence of the strength of the background flow relative to the dispersion.

JFM classification

Geophysical and Geological Flows: Geophysical and Geological Flows Geophysical and Geological Flows: Internal waves Geophysical and Geological Flows: Ocean processes
Type
Rapids
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 773 , 25 June 2015 , R2
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Copyright
© 2015 Cambridge University Press 

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