THE NEAR-SURFACE LAYER OF THE OCEAN
Pacific warm pool is, however, often accompanied by solitary internal wave
packets (solitons), which, during spring tides, take the form of undular bores
(solibores) (Figure 5-10).
Figure 5-10. A solibore observed on 11 January 1993 in the COARE domain at 2
o S, 156
o E.
(a) The along-path (40°–220°) component of absolute ocean velocity. Note that sonar
precision degrades below 200 m, a consequence of low signal level at great range. (b) The
acoustic scattering strength field at 161 KHz, following adjustment for inverse square
spreading and attenuation. Colors represent variation on a logarithmic scale over a factor of
thirty. Calculated flow streamlines are superscribed in black. Regions of the thermocline with
unstable density gradient, as determined by the CTD, are indicated by purple rectangles.
The COARE solitons are phase-locked with the internal tides. The
wavelength of the first M 2 baroclinic mode in the COARE domain is L BT ~
100 km (Feng et al., 1998b). However, the wavelength of the soliton is only
about 6 km.
In the example shown in Figure 5-10, three wave crests appear ordered
in amplitude. The first crest is the largest one and has a horizontal velocity
that exceeds 0.8 m s
í1 relative to the earth and 1.0 m s
í1 relative to the
300
Reproduced from Pinkel (2000) by permission of American Geophysical Union.
Pacific warm pool is, however, often accompanied by solitary internal wave
packets (solitons), which, during spring tides, take the form of undular bores
(solibores) (Figure 5-10).
Figure 5-10. A solibore observed on 11 January 1993 in the COARE domain at 2
o S, 156
o E.
(a) The along-path (40°–220°) component of absolute ocean velocity. Note that sonar
precision degrades below 200 m, a consequence of low signal level at great range. (b) The
acoustic scattering strength field at 161 KHz, following adjustment for inverse square
spreading and attenuation. Colors represent variation on a logarithmic scale over a factor of
thirty. Calculated flow streamlines are superscribed in black. Regions of the thermocline with
unstable density gradient, as determined by the CTD, are indicated by purple rectangles.
The COARE solitons are phase-locked with the internal tides. The
wavelength of the first M 2 baroclinic mode in the COARE domain is L BT ~
100 km (Feng et al., 1998b). However, the wavelength of the soliton is only
about 6 km.
In the example shown in Figure 5-10, three wave crests appear ordered
in amplitude. The first crest is the largest one and has a horizontal velocity
that exceeds 0.8 m s
í1 relative to the earth and 1.0 m s
í1 relative to the
300
Reproduced from Pinkel (2000) by permission of American Geophysical Union.