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Wave-current interaction near the Gulf Stream during the surface wave dynamics experimentThis paper presents a case study on the wave-current interaction near the local curvature of a Gulf Stream meander. The wave data were obtained from in situ measurements by a pitch-roll discus buoy during the Surface Wave Dynamics Experiment (SWADE) conducted off Wallops Island, Virginia, from October 1990 to March 1991. Owing to the advection of the Gulf Stream by the semidiurnal tide, the discus buoy was alternately located outside and inside the Gulf Stream. The directional wave measurements from the buoy show the changes in wave direction, wave energy, and directional spreading when waves encountered the current in the Gulf Stream meanders. A wave refraction model, using the ray-tracing method with an estimated Gulf Stream velocity field and meandering condition, was used to simulate wave refraction patterns and to estimate wave parameters at relative locations corresponding to buoy measurements. The numerical simulation shows that a focusing zone of wave rays was formed near the boundary and behind the crest of a simulated Gulf Stream meander. The focusing of wave rays causes changes in wave direction, increases in wave energy, and decreases in wave directional spreading, which are in good agreement with the results from the buoy measurements.
Document ID
19950028618
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Wang, David W.
(NASA Stennis Space Center MS, United States)
Liu, Antony K.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Peng, Chih Y.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Meindl, Eric A.
(NASA Stennis Space Center MS, United States)
Date Acquired
August 16, 2013
Publication Date
March 15, 1994
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research
Volume: 99
Issue: C3
ISSN: 0148-0227
Subject Category
Oceanography
Accession Number
95A60217
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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