Research story
Our recent work focuses on tidal flow over topography: how ridges, roughness, asymmetry, and realistic bathymetry convert tidal motion into internal waves that matter for ocean energetics and mixing.
Ocean-to-lab connection
Bathymetry maps make the problem concrete: ridges, fracture zones, seamounts, and continental slopes give tidal flow three-dimensional geometry to push against. We simplify that seafloor relief into controlled ridges, roughness, and repeated topographic features so we can isolate which shape details change internal-wave generation before asking how they scale outward.
Measurements are made in controlled stratified tanks, where imaging and analysis turn subtle density-gradient motion into a quantitative wavefield.
Measurement, modeling, synthesis
We use synthetic schlieren and related laboratory methods to measure density perturbations, then compare the data with analytical and numerical models. The goal is not a prettier picture; it is a clearer account of where internal-wave energy goes.
From forcing to far field
Why this matters
Internal tides are generated when barotropic tidal currents interact with variable bottom topography. That energy can travel far from the source region and eventually contribute to mixing in the stratified ocean.
Tidal flow over seafloor-like features can convert barotropic motion into internal waves. We ask how realistic shape details such as asymmetry and roughness change the kinetic energy and wavelength structure of the generated wavefield.
Real seafloor topography is not a clean triangle or a smooth ridge. We use controlled rough and asymmetric shapes to learn which geometric details change the radiated wavefield and which can be simplified safely.
In regions where local stratification is weak, internal-wave responses can be evanescent. We study when those responses cross a turning depth and become propagating internal waves that can carry energy away from the source.
Internal waves do not simply pass through one another. We investigate collisions and interactions that generate harmonics, exchange energy among scales, and complicate simplified models of ocean and atmospheric wave fields.
