A study of SAR remote sensing of internal solitary waves in the north of the South China Sea: Ⅱ. Simulation of SAR signatures of internal solitary waves

A new model developed from the full-spectrum model of Lyzenga and Bennett （ 1988 ） is built up by us preliminarily through considering the impact of the ocean surface mixed layer turbulence on SAR remote sensing of internal solitary waves. In the partial differential equation of the action spectral density of the surface gravity-capillary waves the source function representing the contribution of the turbulence is added besides the usual source function representing the contribution of the wind. The source function is determined by applying the κ - ε model and adopting the Nasmyth spectrum of oceanic turbulence （ Nasmyth, 1970; Oakey, 1982; Fan, 2002） on the basis of the previous simulation results of internal tide transformation obtained in the companion paper （Fan et al. ,2008）. Either under relatively high wind speed, or under low wind speed, our model predicts significant large modulations of radar backscatter at all three bands （ L, C and X bands） for both VV and HH polarization. These results prove that considering the impact of ocean surface mixed layer turbulence on SAR remote sensing of internal solitary waves is reasonable and appropriate for settlement of the well-known problem of contemporary radar imaging models.     

Oceanic pycnocline depth retrieval from SAR imagery in the existence of solitary internal waves

Oceanic pycnocline depth is usually inferred from in situ measurements. It is attempted to estimate the depth remotely. As solitary internal waves occur on oceanic pycnocline and propagate along it, it is possible to retrieve the depth indirectly in virtue of the solitary internal waves. A numerical model is presented for retrieving the pycnocline depth from synthetic aperture radar （SAR） images where the solitary internal waves are visible and when ocean waters are fully stratified. This numerical model is constructed by combining the solitary internal wave model and a two-layer ocean model. It is also assumed that the observed groups of solitary internal wave packets on the SAR imagery are generated by local semidiurnal tides. A case study in the East China Sea shows a good agreement with in situ CTD （conductivity-temperature-depth） data.     

Effects of mesoscale eddies on the internal solitary wave propagation

The mesoscale eddy and internal wave both are phenomena commonly observed in oceans. It is aimed to investigate how the presence of a mesoscale eddy in the ocean affects wave form deformation of the internal solitary wave propagation. An ocean eddy is produced by a quasi-geostrophic model in f-plane, and the one-dimensional nonlinear variable-coefficient extended Korteweg-de Vries (eKdV) equation is used to simulate an internal solitary wave passing through the mesoscale eddy field. The results suggest that the mode structures of the linear internal wave are modified due to the presence of the mesoscale eddy field. A cyclonic eddy and an anticyclonic eddy have different influences on the background environment of the internal solitary wave propagation. The existence of a mesoscale eddy field has almost no prominent impact on the propagation of a smallamplitude internal solitary wave only based on the first mode vertical structure, but the mesoscale eddy background field exerts a considerable influence on the solitary wave propagation if considering high-mode vertical structures. Furthermore, whether an internal solitary wave first passes through anticyclonic eddy or cyclonic eddy, the deformation of wave profiles is different. Many observations of solitary internal waves in the real oceans suggest the formation of the waves. Apart from topography effect, it is shown that the mesoscale eddy background field is also a considerable factor which influences the internal solitary wave propagation and deformation.     

Is the small-scale turbulence an exclusive breaking product of oceanic internal waves

On the basis of the theoretical research results by the author and the literature published up to date, the analysis and the justification presented in this paper show that the breaking products of oceanic internal waves are not only turbulence, but also the fine-scale near-inertial internal waves (the oceanic reversible finestructure) for inertial waves and the internal solitary waves for internal tides respectively. It was found that the oceanic reversible finestructure may be induced by the effect of the horizontal component f (f = 2Ωcosφ) of the rotation vector on inertial waves. And a new instability of the theoretical shear and strain spectra due to the effect of f occurs at critical vertical wavenumber β c ≈ 0.1 cpm. It happens when the levels of shear and strain of the reversible finestructure are higher than those of inertial waves, which is induced by the effect of f along an "iso-potential-pycnal" of internal wave. If all breaking products of internal waves are taken into account, the average kinetic energy dissipation rate is an order of magnitude larger than the values of turbulence observed by microstructure measurements. The author’s theoretical research results are basically in agreement with those observed in IWEX, DRIFTER and PATCHEX experiments. An important impersonal fact is that on the mean temporal scale of thermohaline circulation these breaking products of internal waves exist simultaneously with turbulence. Because inertial waves are generated by winds at the surface, and internal tides are generated by strong tide-topography interactions, the analysis and justification in this paper support in principle the abyssal recipes Ⅱ:energetics of tidal and wind mixing by Munk & Wunsch in 1998, in despite of the results of microstructure measurements for the turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate and the diapycnal turbulent eddy diffusivity.     

Influence of the upper mixed layer depth on Langmuir turbulence characteristics

The upper mixed layer depth (h) has a significant seasonal variation in the real ocean and the low-order statistics of Langmuir turbulence are dramatically influenced by the upper mixed layer depth.To explore the influence of the upper mixed layer depth on Langmuir turbulence under the condition of the wind and wave equilibrium,the changes of Langmuir turbulence characteristics with the idealized variation of the upper mixed layer depth from very shallow (h=5 m) to deep enough (h=40 m) are studi...     

在大洋环流模型中对应于惯性内波破碎的垂直混合的一个参数化方案

Based on the theoretical spectral model of inertial internal wave breaking(fine structure) proposed previously, in which the effects of the horizontal Coriolis frequency component f-tilde on a potential isopycnal are taken into account, a parameterization scheme of vertical mixing in the stably stratified interior below the surface mixed layer in the ocean general circulation model(OGCM) is put forward preliminarily in this paper. Besides turbulence, the impact of sub-mesoscale oceanic processes(including inertial internal wave breaking product) on oceanic interior mixing is emphasized. We suggest that adding the inertial internal wave breaking mixing scheme(F-scheme for short) put forward in this paper to the turbulence mixing scheme of Canuto et al.( T-scheme for short) in the OGCM, except the region from 15°S to 15°N. The numerical results of F-scheme by using WOA09 data and an OGCM(LICOM, LASG/IAP climate system ocean model) over the global ocean are given. A notable improvement in the simulation of salinity and temperature over the global ocean is attained by using T-scheme adding F-scheme, especially in the mid- and high-latitude regions in the simulation of the intermediate water and deep water. We conjecture that the inertial internal wave breaking mixing and inertial forcing of wind might be one of important mechanisms maintaining the ventilation process. The modeling strength of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation(AMOC) by using T-scheme adding F-scheme may be more reasonable than that by using T-scheme alone, though the physical processes need to be further studied, and the overflow parameterization needs to be incorporated. A shortcoming in F-scheme is that in this paper the error of simulated salinity and temperature by using T-scheme adding F-scheme is larger than that by using T-scheme alone in the subsurface layer.     

Extraction of Intemal Tidal Currents from A Portion of Sea Current Profile

Internal tide is one of the major oceanic phenomena. Determination of internal tide is important for theoretical study and for ocean engineering research. As an inverse problem, extraction of internal tidal currenls from sea currents is diffi-cult. In this paper, a method is developed to extract internal tidal currents from a portion of the sea current profile based on the fact that the directions of internal tidal currents above and below the thermocline are inverse. Sea current data col-lected from the South China Sea is processed with this method. The internal tidal currents and the depth of the thermocline are successfully extracted. The depth of the thermocline determined is in good agreement with that measured in 1959.     

Simulation of the ocean surface mixed layer under the wave breaking

A one-dimensional mixed-layer model, including a Mellor-Yamada level 2.5 turbulence closure scheme, was implemented to investigate the dynamical and thermal structures of the ocean surface mixed layer in the northern South China Sea. The turbulent kinetic energy released through wave breaking was incorporated into the model as a source of energy at the ocean surface, and the influence of the breaking waves on the mixed layer was studied. The numerical simulations show that the simulated SST is overestimated in summer without the breaking waves. However, the cooler SST is simulated when the effect of the breaking waves is considered, the corresponding discrepancy with the observed data decreases up to 20% and the MLD calculated averagely deepens 3.8 m. Owing to the wave-enhanced turbulence mixing in the summertime, the stratification at the bottom of the mixed layer was modified and the temperature gradient spread throughout the whole thermocline compared with the concentrated distribution without wave breaking.     

东海对台风云娜的海洋响应

Many typhoons pass through the East China Sea(ECS) and the oceanic responses to typhoons on the ECS shelf are very energetic. However, these responses are not well studied because of the complicated background oceanic environment. The sea surface temperature(SST) response to a severe Typhoon Rananim in August 2004 on the ECS shelf was observed by the merged cloud-penetrating microwave and infrared SST data. The observed SST response shows an extensive SST cooling with a maximum cooling of 3°C on the ECS shelf and the SST cooling lags the typhoon by about one day. A numerical model is designed to simulate the oceanic responses to Rananim.The numerical model reasonably simulates the observed SST response and thereby provides a more comprehensive investigation on the oceanic temperature and current responses. The simulation shows that Rananim deepens the ocean mix layer by more than 10 m on the ECS shelf and causes a cooling in the whole mixed layer. Both upwelling and entrainment are responsible for the cooling. Rananim significantly deforms the background Taiwan Warm Current on the ECS shelf and generates strong Ekman current at the surface. After the typhoon disappears, the surface current rotates clockwise and vertically, the current is featured by near inertial oscillation with upward propagating phase.     

The improvement of the one-dimensional Mellor-Yamada and K-profile parameterization turbulence schemes with the non-breaking surface wave-induced verticalmixing

Both the level 2.5 Mellor-Yamada turbulence closure scheme(MY) and K-profile parameterization(KPP) are popularly used by the ocean modeling community.The MY and the KPP are improved through including the non-breaking surface wave-induced vertical mixing(Bv),and the improved schemes were tested by using continuous data at the Papa ocean weather station(OWS) during 1961–1965.The numerical results showed that the Bv can make the temperature simulations fit much better with the continuous data from Papa Station.The two improved schemes overcame the shortcomings of predicting too shallow upper mixed layer depth and consequently overheated sea surface temperature during summertime,which are in fact common problems for all turbulence closure models.Statistical analysis showed that the Bv effectively reduced the mean absolute error and root mean square error of the upper layer temperature and increased the correlation coefficient between simulation and the observation.Furthermore,the performance of vertical mixing induced by shear instability and the Bv is also compared.Both the temperature structure and its seasonal cycle significantly improved by including the Bv,regardless of whether shear instability was included or not,especially for the KPP mixing scheme,which suggested that Bv played a dominant role in the upper ocean where the mean current was relatively weak,such as at Papa Station.These results may provide a clue to improve ocean circulation models.     

南海北部孤立波对近岸波动的响应

On the basis of the time series observations from a temperature chain and an acoustic Doppler current profiler on the continental shelf of the northern South China Sea, a sequence of internal solitary waves （ISWs） and background waves （BWs, including internal tides and near-inertial waves） on the continental shelf were captured simultaneously after the transit of Typhoon Neast in October 2011. These measurementsprovided a unique opportunity to explore the influence of BWs on the ISWs. The BWs appeared a conversion on the current strength and vertical mode structure during the observational period. The BWs were dominated by weak and mode-one waves before October 2 and then turned to strong and high-mode waves after that time. Meanwhile, the ISWs displayed different wave structures before and after October 2, which was closely related to BWs＇ changes. According to the current profiles of BWs, the high-mode wave structure with strong current could significantly strengthen the vertical shear of ISWs in the near-surface layer and promote the breaking of ISWs, and thus it may play an important role in affecting the background current condition.     

The response of the upper ocean to tropical cyclone Viyaru over the Bay of Bengal

Better forecast of tropical cyclone(TC) can help to reduce risk and enhance management. The TC forecast depends on the scientific understanding of oceanic processes, air-sea interaction and finally, the atmospheric process. The TC Viyaru is taken as an example, which is formed at the end of 11 May 2013 and sustains up to 17 May 2013 during pre-monsoon season. Argo data are used to investigate ocean response processes by comparing pre-and post-conditions of the TC. Eight oceanic parameters including the sea surface temperature(SST), the sea surface salinity(SSS), and the barrier layer thickness(BLT), the 26°C isotherm depth in the ocean(D26), the isothermal layer depth(ILD), the mixed layer depth(MLD), the tropical cyclone heat potential(TCHP) and the effective oceanic layer for cyclogenesis(EOLC) are chosen to evaluate the pre-and post-conditions of the TC along the track of Viyaru. The values of the SST, D26, BLT, TCHP and EOLC in the pre-cyclonic condition are higher than the post-cyclonic condition, while the SSS, ILD and MLD in the post-cyclonic condition are higher than the pre-cyclonic condition of the ocean due to strong cyclonic winds and subsurface upwelling. It is interesting that the strong intensity of the TC reduces less SST and vice versa. The satisfied real time Argo data is not available in the northern Bay of Bengal especially in the coastal region. A weather research and forecasting model is employed to hindcast the track of Viyaru, and the satellite data from the National Center Environmental Prediction are used to assess the hindcast.     

Study of the propagation direction of the internal waves in the South China Sea using satellite images

Internal wave propagation carries considerable vertical shear which can lead to turbulence and mixing. Based on the analysis of more than 2 500 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and optical satellite images, the internal wave propagation in the whole South China Sea was investigated systematically. The results show that (1) in the northeastern South China Sea, most internal waves propagate westward from the Luzon Strait and are diffracted by coral reefs near the Dongsha Islands. Some impinge onto the shelf and a few are reflected; (2) in the northwestern South China Sea, most internal waves are generated at the shelf and propagate northwestward or westward to the coast; (3) in the western South China Sea, most internal waves propagate westward to the Vietnamese coast, except a few propagate southward to the deep sea; and (4) in the southern South China Sea, most internal waves propagate southwestward to the coast. Some propagate southeastward to the coast of Kalimantan Island, and a few propagate southeastward because of the influence of the Mekong River.     

Stokes漂对上层海洋温度变化影响的数值研究

The impact of Stokes drift on the mixed layer temperature variation was estimated by taking into account an advective heat transport term induced by the Stokes drift in the equation of mixed layer temperature and using the oceanic and wave parameters from a global ocean circulation model （HYCOM） and a wave model （Wave Watch III）. The dimensional analysis and quantitative estimation method were conducted to assess the importance of the effect induced by the Stokes drift and to analyze its spatial distribution and seasonal variation characteristics. Results show that the contribution of the Stokes drift to the mixed layer temperature variation at mid-to-high latitudes is comparable with that of the mean current, and a substantial part of mixed layer temperature change is induced by taking the Stokes drift effect into account. Although the advection heat transport induced by the Stokes drift is not the leading term for the mixed layer temperature equation, it cannot be neglected and even becomes critical in some regions for the simulation of the upperocean temperature.     

基于Sentinel-3载荷OLCI和SRAL数据的内波同步探测研究

The ocean and land color instrument(OLCI) and synthetic aperture radar altimeter(SRAL) installed aboard the Sentinel-3 satellite have been in orbit for operational uses. In this study, data collected from Sentinel-3 are used to investigate internal waves in the South China Sea. An internal wave is detected using an OLCI image with a resolution of 300 m, and an analysis was performed with a quasi-synchronous moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer(MODIS) image. The opposite characteristics of OLCI and MODIS images of the same internal wave are explained by the critical angle in brightness reversals. The unique observational geometry of the OLCI image and its influence on observations of internal waves are discussed. The distribution of σ0 and sea surface height anomalies(SSHAs) induced by internal waves are studied using SRAL records. The σ0 records of SRAL occasionally show less sensitivity to the modulation of internal waves, which may be attributed to the observational geometry, while SSHAs show obvious variations. The synchronous pairing of OLCI images and SRAL records are analyzed to extract the three-dimensional sea surface signatures induced by internal waves. The analysis demonstrates that the profile of SSHAs in the surface shows an opposite phase to the profiles of internal waves in the ocean. The opposite phase relationship, observed in the remote sensing view, is also confirmed with a laboratory experiment.     

Effects of the surface wave-induced mixing on circulation in an isopycnal-coordinate oceanic circulation model

The influence of the nonbreaking surface wave-induced mixing under the mixed layer on the oceanic circulation was investigated using an isopycnal-coordinate oceanic circulation model. The effect of the wave-induced mixing within the mixed layer was eliminated via a bulk mixed layer model. The results show that the wave-induced mixing can penetrate through the mixed layer and into the oceanic interior. The wave-induced mixing under the mixed layer has an important effect on the distribution of temperature of the upper ocean at middle and high latitudes in summer, especially the structure of the seasonal thermocline. Moreover, the wave-induced mixing can affect the oceanic circulation, such as western boundary currents and the North Equatorial Currents through changes of sea surface height associated with the variation of the thermal structure of the upper ocean.     

Effect of Stokes drift on upper ocean mixing

Stokes drift is the main source of vertical vorticity in the ocean mixed layer. In the ways of Coriolis - Stokes forcing and Langmuir circulations, Stokes drift can substantially affect the whole mixed layer. A modified Mellor-Yamada 2. 5 level turbulence closure model is used to parameterize its effect on upper ocean mixing conventionally. Results show that comparing surface heating with wave breaking, Stokes drift plays the most important role in the entire ocean mixed layer, especially in the subsurface layer. As expected, Stokes drift elevates both the dissipation rate and the turbulence energy in the upper ocean mixing. Also, ilffluence of the surface heating, wave breaking and wind speed on Stokes drift is investigated respectively. Research shows that it is significant and important to assessing the Stokes drift into ocean mixed layer studying. The laboratory observations are supporting numerical experiments quantitatively.     

表面波浪对海洋上层混合的作用

A new three-dimensional numerical model is derived through a wave average on the primitive N-S equations, in which both the＂Coriolis-Stokes forcing＂ and the＂Stokes-Vortex force＂ are considered. Three ideal experiments are run using the new model applied to the Princeton ocean model （POM）. Numerical results show that surface waves play an important role on the mixing of the upper ocean. The mixed layer is enhanced when wave effect is considered in conjunction with small Langmuir numbers. Both surface wave breaking and Stokes production can strengthen the turbulent mixing near the surface. However, the influence of wave breaking is limited to a thin layer, but Stokes drift can affect the whole mixed layer. Furthermore, the vertical mixing coefficients clearly rise in the mixed layer, and the upper ocean mixed layer is deepened especially in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current when the model is applied to global simulations. It indicates that the surface gravity waves are indispensable in enhancing the mixing in the upper ocean, and should be accounted for in ocean general circulation models.     

Dispersion relation of internal waves in the western equatorial Pacific Ocean

Based mainly on TOGA COARE data, that is, the CI''D data from R/V Xiangyanghong No.5 (Pu et al.,1993),the temperature and current data from the Woods Hole mooring and other deep current data, the layered numerical profiles of buoyancy frequency and mean current components are figured out.A numerical method calculating internal wave dispersion relation without background shear current, used by Fliegel and Hunkins (1975),is improved to be fit for the internal wave equation with mean currents and their second derivatives.The dispersion relations and wave functions of the long crested internal wave progressing in any direction can be calculated inveniently by using the improved method.A comparison between the calculated dispersion relation in the paper and the dispersion relation in GM spectral model of ocean internal waves (Garret and Munk, 1972) is performed.It shows that the mean currents are important to the dispersion relation of internal waves in the western equatorial Pacific Ocean and that the currents make the wave progressing co-directional with (against) the currents stretched (shrink).The influence of the mean currents on dispersion relation is much stronger than that of their second derivatives, but that on wave function is less than that of their second derivatives.The influences on wave functions result in the change of vertical wavenumber, that is, making the wave function stretch or shrink.There exists obvious turning depth but no significant critical layer absorption is found.     

Effects of Stokes production on summer ocean shelf dynamics

A two-dimensional numerical model,which is configured on the basis of Princeton ocean model（POM）,is used to study the effect of Stokes production（SP） of the turbulent kinetic energy on a density profile and Ekman transport in an idealized shelf region in summer.The energy input from SP is parameterized and included into the Mellor-Yamada turbulence closure submodel.Results reveal that the intensity of wind-driven upwelling fronts near the sea surface is weakened by the SP-associated turbulent kinetic energy input.The vertical eddy viscosity coefficient in the surface boundary layer is enhanced greatly owing to the impact of SP,which decreases the alongshore velocity and changes the distribution of upwelling.In addition,the SP-induced mixing easily suppresses the strong stratification and significantly increases the depth of the upper mixed layer（ML） under strong winds.