Probing the Nonlinear Interactions of Supertidal Internal Waves using a High-Resolution Regional Ocean Model

The internal-wave (IW) continuum of a regional ocean model is studied in terms of the vertical spectral kinetic-energy (KE) fluxes and transfers at high vertical wavenumbers. Previous work has shown that this model permits a partial representation of the IW cascade. In this work, vertical spectral KE flux is decomposed into catalyst, source, and destination frequency bands of nonlinear scattering, a framework that allows for the discernment of different types of nonlinear interactions involving both waves and eddies. Energy transfer within the supertidal IW continuum is found to be strongly dependent on horizontal resolution. Specifically, at a horizontal grid spacing of 1/48-degrees, the vast majority of KE in the supertidal continuum arrives there from lower frequency modes through a single nonlinear interaction, while at 1/384-degrees KE transfers within the supertidal IW continuum are comparable in size to KE transfer from lower-frequency modes. Additionally, comparisons are made with existing theoretical and observational work on energy pathways in the IW continuum. Induced diffusion (ID) is found to be associated with a weak forward frequency transfer within the supertidal IW continuum. Spectrally local interactions are found to play an insignificant role within the model evolution. At the same time, ID-like processes involving high vertical-wavenumber near-inertial and tidal waves as well as low-vertical-wavenumber eddy fields are substantial, suggesting that the processes giving rise to a Garrett-Munk-like spectra in the present numerical simulation and perhaps the real ocean may be more varied than in idealized or wave-only frameworks.