Journal
JOURNAL OF THE ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES
Volume 65, Issue 11, Pages 3543-3556Publisher
AMER METEOROLOGICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1175/2008JAS2480.1
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Funding
- U. K. Natural Environment Research Council [NE/D009138/1]
- National Science Foundation [DMS-0530844]
- NERC [NE/D009138/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- Natural Environment Research Council [ncas10009, NE/D009138/1] Funding Source: researchfish
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This paper describes laboratory observations of inertia-gravity waves emitted from balanced fluid flow. In a rotating two-layer annulus experiment, the wavelength of the inertia-gravity waves is very close to the deformation radius. Their amplitude varies linearly with Rossby number in the range 0.05-0.14, at constant Burger number (or rotational Froude number). This linear scaling challenges the notion, suggested by several dynamical theories, that inertia-gravity waves generated by balanced motion will be exponentially small. It is estimated that the balanced flow leaks roughly 1% of its energy each rotation period into the inertia-gravity waves at the peak of their generation. The findings of this study imply an inevitable emission of inertia-gravity waves at Rossby numbers similar to those of the large-scale atmospheric and oceanic flow. Extrapolation of the results suggests that inertia gravity waves might make a significant contribution to the energy budgets of the atmosphere and ocean. In particular, emission of inertia-gravity waves from mesoscale eddies may be an important source of energy for deep interior mixing in the ocean.
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