Seasonal variations in internal wave energy in a Scottish sea loch

Abstract

Near-continuous observations of an internal wave field were made over a period of 13 months at a location in Inchmarnock Water at the northern end of the Clyde Sea. This paper sets out to determine the seasonal form of the energy density of the internal wave field at this location based on the hypothesis that it varies smoothly throughout the year, being greater in summer than in winter. The mooring was maintained between June 1999 and July 2000 in 150-m water with seven deployments. Estimates of kinetic and potential energy density were derived from Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) and vertical temperature profiles respectively. Both were shown to vary on time scales less than 1 month with median values of mean kinetic energy (KE) density∼0.5 J m−3 and for mean potential energy (PE) density∼0.01 J m−3. The energy of the internal wave field was found to be continuous and without a clear seasonal form. Further, it was also always non-zero with intermittent peaks of much higher energy. In the late autumn the system experienced complete vertical overturning driven by local convective processes destroying the thermocline and causing a reduction in the overall KE density.