Observation of nonlinear internal solitary wave trains at the northern and southern mouths of the Strait of Messina

Sapia, A.; Salusti, E.

doi:10.1016/0198-0149(87)90065-3

Cited by 25 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…The time lag between the time of arrival of the two wave trains at this position was 11 h 30 min, which agrees well to the time interval of 11 h 22 min between the two successive tidal flow reversals at the strait's sill, identified as the release times of the observed internal bores from the sill (Alpers and Salusti 1983;Griffa et al 1986). During an oceanographic cruise from May to June 1982, Sapia and Salusti (1987) detected in temperature data records two trains of internal solitary waves north of the strait. During this cruise oceanographic measurements were also carried out south of the strait, which revealed the existence of large amplitude isolated signals in the temperature data records south of the sill and as far as to the coast of Syracuse.…”

Section: Observations Of Internal Solitary Waves a Summary Of Previomentioning

confidence: 99%

Internal Waves in the Strait of Messina Studied by a Numerical Model and Synthetic Aperture Radar Images from theERS 1/2Satellites

et al. 1997

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A new numerical two-layer model is presented, which describes the generation of internal tidal bores and their disintegration into internal solitary waves in the Strait of Messina. This model is used to explain observations made by the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) from the European Remote Sensing satellites ERS 1 and ERS 2. The analysis of available ERS 1/2 SAR data of the Strait of Messina and adjacent sea areas show that 1) northward as well as southward propagating internal waves are generated in the Strait of Messina, 2) southward propagating internal waves are observed more frequently than northward propagating internal waves, 3) sea surface manifestations of southward as well as northward propagating internal waves are stronger during periods where a strong seasonal thermocline is known to be present, 4) southward propagating internal bores are released from the sill between 1 and 5 hours after maximum northward tidal flow and northward propagating internal bores are released between 2 and 6 hours after maximum southward tidal flow, and 5) the spatial separation between the first two internal solitary waves of southward propagating wave trains is smaller in the period from July to September than in the period from October to June. The numerical two-layer model is a composite of two models consisting of 1) a hydrostatic ''generation model,'' which describes the dynamics of the water masses in the region close to the strait's sill, where internal bores are generated, and 2) a weakly nonhydrostatic ''propagation model,'' which describes the dynamics of the water masses outside of the sill region where internal bores may disintegrate into internal solitary waves. Due to a technique for movable lateral boundaries, the generation model is capable of simulating the dynamics of a lower layer that may intersect the bottom topography. The proposed generation-propagation model depends on one space variable only, but it retains several features of a fully three-dimensional model by including a realistic channel depth and a realistic channel width. It is driven by semidiurnal tidal oscillations of the sea level at the two open boundaries of the model domain. Numerical simulations elucidate several observed characteristics of the internal wave field in the Strait of Messina, such as north-south asymmetry, times of release of the internal bores from the strait's sill, propagation speeds, and spatial separations between the first two solitary waves of internal wave trains.

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Section: Observations Of Internal Solitary Waves a Summary Of Previomentioning

confidence: 99%

Internal Waves in the Strait of Messina Studied by a Numerical Model and Synthetic Aperture Radar Images from theERS 1/2Satellites

et al. 1997

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“…This pattern, visible as alternating bands of increased and reduced image intensity, was interpreted by Alpers and Salusti (1983) as the sea surface manifestation of a train of tidally induced northward propagating internal solitary waves. Since then, together with their southward propagating counterparts, such internal waves have frequently been observed using both in situ and remote sensing measurement techniques (Alpers and Salusti 1983;Griffa et al 1986;Di Sarra et al 1987;Sapia and Salusti 1987;Artale et al 1990;Nicolò and Salusti 1991;Brandt et al 1997). By analyzing a large number of SAR images acquired from the European Remote Sensing satellites, ERS 1 and ERS 2, Brandt et al (1997) have shown that, in general, sea surface manifestations of internal waves are less pronounced north than south of the strait sill.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for the Influence of Atlantic–Ionian Stream Fluctuations on the Tidally Induced Internal Dynamics in the Strait of Messina

Brandt¹,

Rubino²,

Quadfasel³

et al. 1999

J. Phys. Oceanogr.

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On 24 and 25 October 1995, high-resolution oceanographic measurements were carried out in the Strait of Messina by using a towed conductivity-temperature-depth chain and a vessel-mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler. During the period of investigation the surface water of the Tyrrhenian Sea north of the strait sill was heavier than the surface water of the Ionian Sea south of the strait sill. As a consequence, during northward tidal flow surface water of the Ionian Sea spread as a surface jet into the Tyrrhenian Sea, whereas during southward tidal flow heavier surface water of the Tyrrhenian Sea spread, after having sunk to a depth of about 100 m, as a subsurface jet into the Ionian Sea. Both jets had the form of an internal bore, which finally developed into trains of internal solitary waves whose amplitudes were larger north than south of the strait sill. These measurements represent a detailed picture of the tidally induced internal dynamics in the Strait of Messina during the period of investigation, which contributes to elucidate several aspects of the general internal dynamics in the area: 1) Associated with the tidal flow are intense water jets whose equilibrium depth strongly depends on the horizontal density distribution along the Strait of Messina; 2) although climatological data show that a large horizontal density gradient in the near-surface layer along the Strait of Messina exists, its reversal can occur; 3) fluctuations in the larger-scale circulation patterns that determine the inflow of the modified Atlantic water into the Eastern Mediterranean Sea can be responsible for this reversal. As the tidally induced internal waves reflect the variability in the horizontal density distribution along the Strait of Messina, it is suggested that from the analysis of synthetic aperture radar imagery showing sea surface manifestations of internal waves in this area fluctuations of larger-scale circulation patterns in the Mediterranean Sea can be inferred.

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“…2 These waves are observed at the northern and southern extremities of the Strait. 31,32,2 As the recommended location to deploy turbine is near the sill at the Strait's main constriction, where tidal current is enhanced to reached its peak velocity (, 3m/s), it is likely, therefore, that the influence of waves on the location of tidal turbines within the Strait itself will be minimal.…”

Section: Wave Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental impact assessment for tidal energy schemes: an exemplar case study of the Strait of Messina

El-Geziry

Bryden

Couch

2009

Journal of Marine Engineering & Technology

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Observation of nonlinear internal solitary wave trains at the northern and southern mouths of the Strait of Messina

Cited by 25 publications

References 15 publications

Internal Waves in the Strait of Messina Studied by a Numerical Model and Synthetic Aperture Radar Images from theERS 1/2Satellites

Internal Waves in the Strait of Messina Studied by a Numerical Model and Synthetic Aperture Radar Images from theERS 1/2Satellites

Evidence for the Influence of Atlantic–Ionian Stream Fluctuations on the Tidally Induced Internal Dynamics in the Strait of Messina

Environmental impact assessment for tidal energy schemes: an exemplar case study of the Strait of Messina

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