On the interaction of internal waves and surface gravity waves

• DOI: 10.1017/s0022112074002199
• Publication Date: 2006-03-29T13:20:11Z
• Authors: John E. Lewis; Bruce M. Lake; Denny R. S. Ko
• Keywords: Monochromatic color; Wavenumber

The perturbation of pre-existing surface gravity waves caused by the presence an internal wave was studied both experimentally and analytically. An extensive series experiments performed, quantitative results were obtained for one-dimensional monochromatic interaction waves. Internal wave-induced slope, amplitude wavenumber modulations measured a wide range conditions. A complementary theoretical analysis, based on conservation approach Whitham (1962) Longuet-Higgins & Stewart (1960,1961), performed closed form solution interaction. Both theory experiment demonstrate that effect increases with distance. maximum is found to occur when phase speed group velocity are matched. at which surface-wave modulation occurs be sensitive continuous function relative speeds. experimental data in good agreement present analysis.