2006 Ocean Sciences Meeting SEACOOS Poster - Mid-Shelf Observations of Internal Wave Activity in the South Atlantic Bight

For the program on "Observing and Modeling Oceanic Internal Tides and Their Impacts IV Posters," OS26H-10. Though the South Atlantic Bight (SAB) appears to be ripe for the generation of internal waves given the cross-shore orientation of the semi-diurnal tide and the proximity of numerous water masses, observations are not reported in the literature. Sustained stratification during the late spring and summer of 2005 provides the opportunity to examine the internal structure on the shelf and characterize the internal tide and associated higher frequency internal oscillations propagating onto the shelf. Moored ADCP data collected over the late spring and summer of 2005 in the SAB at 42m depth are examined to characterize internal wave activity at mid-shelf. The high temporal resolution of the velocity record allows investigation of internal wave activity over the range of available frequency space that stratification will support. Preliminary analysis suggests persistence of the M2 internal tide, often accompanied by trains of high frequency waves in semi-diurnal pulses. Spectral methods, EOF decomposition, and non-stationary time series analysis tools are used to characterize internal wave activity and describe the range of modes and frequencies present, their relative importance, and potentially identify processes that control their excitation and damping. *C Edwards, H E Seim