UBC Faculty Research and Publications

Resonant Interactions between Shelf Waves, with Applications to the Oregon Shelf. Hsieh, William W.; Mysak, Lawrence A.

Abstract

From the inviscid, unforced, barotropic long-wave equations for a rotating system, it is shown that resonant interactions between three continental shelf waves can occur. Evolution equations governing the amplitude and the energy of individual waves in a resonant triad are derived. The nonlinearity in the governing equations allows energy to be transferred between the waves, but with the total energy conserved. While the shelf waves typically have periods of several days, the energy transfer has a time scale of order 12 days. Observational evidence of resonant shelf wave interactions on the Oregon shelf is found in the spectral analyses of Cutchin and Smith (1973) and Huyer et al. (1975), where their observed signals agree well with the resonant frequencies deduced from the theory. The good agreement between theory and observation suggests that nonlinear energy transfer may play a much more significant role in shelf wave dynamics than was previously realized. Copyright 1980 American Meteorological Society (AMS). Permission to use figures, tables, and brief excerpts from this work in scientific and educational works is hereby granted provided that the source is acknowledged. Any use of material in this work that is determined to be “fair use” under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Act (17 USC §108, as revised by P.L. 94-553) does not require the AMS’s permission. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form, such as on a web site or in a searchable database, or other uses of this material, except as exempted by the above statement, requires written permission or a license from the AMS. Additional details are provided in the AMS Copyright Policy, available on the AMS Web site located at (http://www.ametsoc.org/) or from the AMS at 617-227-2425 or copyright@ametsoc.org.

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