Inferring internal wave phase speed from multi-satellite observations

Author

Hong Yang ; Bingqing Liu ; Zhongxiang Zhao ; Xiaofeng Li

Author_Institution

Coll. of Marine Sci., Shanghai Ocean Univ., Shanghai, China

fYear

2014

fDate

13-18 July 2014

Firstpage

4768

Lastpage

4771

Abstract

The spatial and temporal variability of internal solitary waves (ISWs) speed around Dongsha Atoll in the South China Sea (SCS) was investigated using multi-satellite image pairs separated by about 0.5-2.5 hours. SAR image pair, VIIRS/MODIS and SAR/MODIS pairs in July 2007, March 2009, and May 2013 were analyzed, respectively. The ISW phase speeds were derived using the horizontal displacement of the ISW patterns and the time difference between the 2 satellite images. The phase speeds were in good agreement with the theoretical calculations using the Taylor-Goldstein (T-G) equation with a non-linear term. The ISW phase speed decreases from east to west and from south to north. The temporal variability of ISW phase speeds are mainly affected by water depth, with minor seasonal variations.

Keywords

ocean waves; oceanographic regions; radar imaging; remote sensing by radar; solitons; synthetic aperture radar; AD 2007 07; AD 2009 03; AD 2013 05; Dongsha Atoll; SAR image pair; SAR/MODIS pairs; South China Sea; Taylor-Goldstein equation; VIIRS/MODIS pairs; horizontal displacement; internal solitary wave patterns; internal solitary wave phase speeds; multisatellite image pairs; multisatellite observations; nonlinear term; seasonal variations; spatial variability; temporal variability; time difference; water depth; MODIS; Mathematical model; Oceans; Satellite broadcasting; Satellites; Sea measurements; Synthetic aperture radar; Internal wave; MODIS; SAR; South China Sea; VIIRS;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), 2014 IEEE International

Conference_Location

Quebec City, QC

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IGARSS.2014.6947560

Filename

6947560