Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1990. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 125-128) / Microfiche. / xii, 128 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Meteorology, 1980. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Science. / Vita. / Bibliography: leaves 196-201. / byLee-Lueng Fu. / Ph.D.

Tide-topography coupling is important for understanding surface-tide energy loss, the intermittency of internal tides, and the cascade of internal-tide energy from large to small scales. Although tide-topography coupling has been observed and modeled for 50 years, the identification of surface and internal tides over arbitrary topography has not been standardized. Here, we begin by examining five surface/internal-tide decompositions and find that only one is (i) consistent with the normal-mode description of tides over a flat bottom, (ii) produces a physically meaningful depth-structure of internal-tide energy flux, and (iii) results in an established expression for internal-tide generation. Next, we examine the expression for internal-tide generation and identify how it is influenced by remotely-generated shoaling internal tides. We show that internal-tide generation is subject to both resonance and intermittency, and can not always be predicted from isolated regional models. Lastly, we quantify internal-tide generation and scattering on the Oregon Continental slope. First, we derive a previously unpublished expression for inter-modal energy conversion. Then we evaluate it using observations and numerical simulations. We find that the surface tide generates internal tides, which propagate offshore; while at the same time, low-mode internal tides shoal on the slope, scatter, and drive turbulent mixing. These results suggest that internal tides are unlikely to survive reflection from continental slopes, and that continental margins play an important role in deep-ocean tidal-energy dissipation. / Graduation date: 2011

[Truncated abstract] Observations are presented from Lake Biwa (Japan) and Lake Kinneret (Israel) showing the ubiquitous and often periodic nature of high-frequency internal waves in large stratified lakes. In both lakes, high-frequency wave events were observed within two distinct categories: (1) Vertical mode one solitary waves with wavelength ˜100-500 m and frequency near 103 Hz and (2) sinusoidal vertical mode one waves with wavelength ˜5-30 m and frequency just below the local maximum buoyancy frequency near 102 Hz. The sinusoidal waves were associated with shear instability and were shown to dissipate their energy sporadically within the lake interior. Conversely, the solitary waves were found to be capable of propagating to the lake perimeter where they may break upon sloping topography, each releasing ˜1% of the total basin-scale internal wave energy to the benthic boundary layer.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Meteorology, 1979. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Science. / Bibliography : leaves 81-83. / by Affonso da Silveira Mascarenhas, Jr. / M.S.