Mapping the internal wave field in the Baltic Sea in the context of sediment transport in shallow water

Journal of Coastal Research. 2011. No. SI64. P. 2042–2047.

O. Kurkina, T. Talipova, E. Pelinovsky, T. Soomere

The geographical and seasonal distributions of kinematic and nonlinear parametersof long internal waves obtained on a base of GDEM climatology in the Baltic Sea region are examined. The considered parameters (phase speed of long internal wave, dispersion, quadratic and cubicnonlinearity parameters) of the weakly-nonlinear Korteweg-de Vries-type models (in particular, Gardner model), can be used for evaluations of the possible polarities, shapes of solitary internal waves, their limiting amplitudes and propagation speeds. The key outcome is an express estimate of the expected internal wave parameters for different regions of the Baltic Sea. The central kinematic characteristic is the near-bottom velocity in internal waves in areas where the density jump layers are located in the vicinity of seabed. In such areas internal waves are the major driver of sediment resuspension and erosion processes and may be also responsible for destroying the laminated structure of sedimentation regime (that frequently occurs in certain areas of the Baltic Sea).

Keywords: уравнение Гарднера, density stratification, internal soliton, Korteweg-de Vries equation, Gardner equation, стратификация плотности, внутренний солитон, уравнение Кортевега-де Вриза, ветровые, длинные неприливные и внутренние волны, моделирование физических процессов, математические модели волновых движений тяжелой жидкости, идеальная несжимаемая жидкость, теория волн и колебаний жидкости, геофизика