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The Effect of Statistical Abyssal Hill Roughness on the Generation of Internal Waves
Patrick G. Timko, Brian K. Arbic, John A. Goff
COAPS/FSU
(Abstract received 05/09/2009 for session X)
ABSTRACT
Internal waves play an important role in the dynamics and mixing of the ocean interior. The generation of internal waves within ocean models is limited not only by the horizontal resolution of the model itself but also on our knowledge of the true bathymetry. As the horizontal resolution of ocean models increases the need for an accurate representation of the true bathymetry also increases. Recent bathymetric products at 30 arc second resolution are available. However, these products are limited by the amount of data available and often estimate the bathymetry for large sections of the ocean where only limited bathymetric surveys have been conducted. Empirical estimates of abyssal hills, based upon spreading rates and direction of the sea floor as well as sediment thickness, with length scale of 2-10 km may be used to compensate for missing data within the bathymetric databases. Our premlinary results based upon a 30-day simulation of 1/12 degree Global HYCOM forced by the primary tidal constituents indicate that the addition of the abyssal hill roughness does increase the internal wave activity within the model even though the grid scale is at the upper limit of the length scale of the abyssal hills. The resulting changes in bathymetry is found to have both local and non-local effects on the internal wave structure which may signficantly change estimates of internal mixing.
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2009 LOM Workshop, Miami, Florida Jume 1 - 3, 2009