On the concentration of near-inertial waves in anticyclones

Eric Danioux, Jacques Vanneste, Oliver Bühler

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

An overlooked conservation law for near-inertial waves propagating in a steady background flow provides a new perspective on the concentration of these waves in regions of anticyclonic vorticity. The conservation law implies that this concentration is a direct consequence of the decrease in spatial scales experienced by an initially homogeneous wave field. Scaling arguments and numerical simulations of a reduced-gravity model of mixed-layer near-inertial waves confirm this interpretation and elucidate the influence of the strength of the background flow relative to the dispersion.
Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Fluid Mechanics
Volume773
Issue numberR2
Early online date14 May 2015
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2015

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