Internal tides in Uchiura Bay

Abstract

Long-term temperature measurements of the subsurface layer near Uchiura-Bay head were made in summer 1978 and 1979 to further investigate the characteristics of the internal tides in more detail. The temperature measurements indicate that the internal tides were present at all times during the observational period. The semidiurnal internal tides are usually dominant over the diurnal, but at times the diurnal internal tides have comparable amplitudes with the semidiurnal. When the semidiurnal internal tides are predominant, the fundamental period of the longitudinal internal seiche in Uchiura Bay estimated from the observed density structure is close to the semidiurnal period. However, the reason for the occasional amplification of the diurnal internal tides is not clear.