Interference pattern of the sound field in the presence of an internal Kelvin wave in a stratified lake.

Abstract

Internal Kelvin waves (IKWs) initiated by rotation of the Earth are one of the main hydrodynamic phenomena in large stratified lakes where baroclinic Rossby radius of deformation is smaller than the horizontal scale of the lake. IKWs can be identified using the spectra of internal waves, where in the presence of IKWs, the inertial frequency is at maximum. IKWs play a rather important role in the lake's dynamics for different processes, both in the water layer and sediment, especially at the periphery of lake. Due to influence of internal waves on the sound propagation, acoustical methods can be used for estimation of behaviour of IKWs. In this paper, the spatiotemporal variability of the mid-frequency (∼1 kHz) sound field in the presence of IKWs in a deep stratified Lake Kinneret is studied using numerical simulations based on normal-mode theory. Due to the specific character of perturbation of the water layer, IKWs can cause specific variations of interference pattern, in particular, a significant shift of the sound interference pattern both in spatial and frequency domain. These shifts can be easily measured and used for reconstruction of IKW parameters.