LONG-TERM GOALS

The long-term goal of this project is to predict the generation of internal waves over the ridges in the Luzon Strait and wave propagation across the northern South China Sea. OBJECTIVES The objective of this study is to provide support for a student to participate in the study of the internal wave/tide propagation from the Luzon Strait to the edge of the continental shelf off China. Three issues are to be studied: 1) the relationship between the internal waves and the barotropic tides in the Luzon Strait, 2) temporal and spatial variations of internal wave properties during propagation across the deep basin of the northern South China Sea, and 3) wave transmission across the continental margin. APPROACH Guided by the description of the internal wave field from nonhydrostatic numerical simulation, time series analysis will be performed on simulated real-time data obtained from the Ocean Nowcast/Forecast System of Naval Research Laboratory during NLIWI. In the generation region, the study will estimate the energy conversion from the barotropic tides to baroclinic waves. Sources of the internal waves are to be identified. In the propagation region, waves will be traced back to the generation region to find the dependence of the amplitude of internal solitary wave on the conditions in the Luzon Strait