Interactions of low-mode internal tides with mesoscale eddies in the Walvis Ridge region

Abstract

Using the uncoupled model ICON-O with a high resolution of 5km, we aim to understand the working principles of interactions between low-mode internal tides and eddies such as their effect on internal mixing in the deep ocean. Such interactions can provide a direct energetic link between mesoscale processes and the internal wavefield. We focus the research on the Walvis Ridge region in the southeast Atlantic, since this is where energetic low-mode internal tides at the frequency of the principal lunar semidiurnal constituent (M2) are generated and propagate away from the ridge crossing the paths of eddies, which take the form of both Agulhas rings and other mesoscale features.Concentrating on the stationary changes in the internal wave properties, we identify the eddies in the area of interest and then investigate the vertical structure of the internal tidal properties in the vicinity of an eddy as well as far away from it. Preliminary results indicating such wave-eddy interactions are shown and discussed on the poster.