Lenain, Luc; Pizzo, Nick (2021). Data from: Modulation of Surface Gravity Waves by Internal Waves. In Observations and Model Simulations from the Inner-Shelf Dynamics Experiment (ISDE). UC San Diego Library Digital Collections. https://doi.org/10.6075/J0513ZBJ

This collection contains the data sets needed to generate each figure presented in the publication Lenain, L., and Pizzo, N. (2021). Modulation of Surface Gravity Waves by Internal Waves. Journal of Physical Oceanography 51, 9, 2735-2748, available from: https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-20-0302.1

Internal waves are a regular feature of the open-ocean and coastal waters. As a train of internal waves propagates, their surface induced currents modulate the surface waves, generating a characteristic rough- and smooth-banded structure. While the surface expression of these internal waves is well known and has been observed from a variety of remote sensing instruments, direct quantitative observations of the directional properties of the surface gravity wave field modulated by an internal wave remain sparse. In this work, we report on a comprehensive field campaign conducted off the coast of Point Sal, California, in September 2017. Using a unique combination of airborne remote sensing observations, along with in situ surface and subsurface measurements, we investigate and quantify the interaction between surface gravity and internal wave processes. We find that surface waves are significantly modulated by the currents induced by the internal waves. Through novel observations of ocean topography, we characterize the rapid modification of the directional and spectral properties of surface waves over very short spatial scales [O(100) m or less]. Over a range of wavelengths (3–9-m waves), geometrical optics and wave action conservation predictions show good agreement with the observed wavenumber spectra in smooth and rough regions of the modulated surface waves. If a parameterization of wave action source terms is used, good agreement is found over a larger range of wavenumbers, down to 4 rad m−1. These results elucidate properties of surface waves interacting with a submesoscale ocean current and should provide insight into more general interactions between surface waves and the fine-scale structure of the upper ocean.

Data were collected from an airborne instrument, the Modular Aerial Sensing System (MASS) during the ONR-sponsored Inner Shelf DRI experiment.

• 2017-09-05 to 2017-09-17

• 2021

• Lenain, Luc
• Pizzo, Nicholas

This research was supported by grants from the Physical Oceanography programs at ONR (Grants N00014-17-1-2171, N00014-14-1-0710, and N00014-17-1-3005) NSF (OCE; Grant OCE-1634289), and NASA (Grant 80NSSC19K1688).

• Point Sal (Calif.)

• Air-sea interaction
• Internal waves
• Ocean currents
• Remote sensing
• Submesoscale currents
• Wave-current interaction
• Waves, oceanic

Polygon: 35.2,-120.9 35.2,-120.5 34.4,-120.5 34.4,-120.9 35.2,-120.9

• data

• English

Identifier: Luc Lenain: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9808-1563

Identifier: Nick Pizzo: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9570-4200

Doi: https://doi.org/10.6075/J0513ZBJ

Primary associated publication

• Lenain, L., & Pizzo, N. (2021). Modulation of Surface Gravity Waves by Internal Waves, Journal of Physical Oceanography, 51(9), 2735-2748. https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-20-0302.1

Other resource

• Inner Shelf Departmental Research Initiative (DRI): https://sioweb.ucsd.edu/projects/innershelf/
• Inner Shelf Dynamics - Office of Naval Research Departmental Research Initiative (DRI): https://apl.uw.edu/project/project.php?id=inner_shelf

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2022-11-28