127 / 2023-08-09 16:28:44

Spontaneous generation mechanism of inertial-gravity wave from mesoscale eddy

Near-inertial waves; Mesoscale eddy; Spontaneous generation

The spontaneous generation of near-inertial waves (NIWs) from quasi-geostrophic mesoscale eddies in a stratified fluid is investigated and the process and mechanism clarified by numerical modeling and a theoretical analysis. Mesoscale eddies, as slow balance flows, are inevitably accompanied by unbalanced near-inertial oscillations (NIOs) in their long period evolution. A mesoscale eddy supplies kinetic energy to NIOs through its interaction with perturbations, which exist universally in the world oceans. Afterwards, NIWs are generated spontaneously via the nonlinear coupling of the eddy and NIOs. The baroclinicity of mesoscale eddies is an essential condition of this spontaneous NIW generation mechanism. The resonance of the NIWs and NIOs enables the internal wave continuum to be dominated by NIWs, which share the same horizontal wavenumbers with the eddy. After generation, the NIWs radiate energy toward the eddy center and remain stationary as a whole relative to the propagating eddy. Generally, an anticyclonic mesoscale eddy can emit much stronger NIWs than does a cyclonic eddy. The NIW intensity strengthens exponentially with the Rossby number. The essence of this spontaneous NIW generation mechanism is the nonlinear interaction between slow balance flows and accompanying fast motions. It represents an effective pathway for mesoscale eddy energy sinks and make a non-negligible contribution to the global NIW energy.