Vertical Momentum Transport by Internal Gravity Waves Above the Equatorial Undercurrent at 140°W

Abstract

The Equatorial Ocean is unique in that flow accelerations resulting from local forcing are not subsequently deflected by the earth's rotation. Currents can accelerate to the point where they become dynamically unstable at both large and small scales, leading to phenomena such as Tropical Instability Waves (TIWs) and energetic upper ocean turbulence. These instabilities have enormous impact on the climate system, the global carbon cycle and on human activity (e.g.,

Submesoscale Dynamics in the Bay of Bengal: Inversions and Instabilities

“…The data analyzed in this work are derived from the FastCTD profiling system, the shipboard meteorological acquisition (MET) and the shipboard acoustic Doppler current profiling (ADCP) systems. The FastCTD is a profiling instrument equipped with temperature, conductivity, and pressure sensors that can profile either while towed at speeds of several knots, or while the ship remains stationary (E. Shroyer et al., 2021; Pinkel et al., 2023). For this survey, it was rapidly profiled to about 200 m depth while the ship maintained a speed of about 3 knots, with a 2 min duration for each cast.…”