The Response of Stratified, Frictional Flow of Shelf and Slope Waters to Fluctuating Large-Scale, Low-Frequency Wind Forcing

Abstract

Numerical and analytical models are developed to discuss large-scale, low-frequency, wind-driven fluctuations over the continental shelf and slope in the presence of realistic density stratification and bottom friction. The models employ the “long-wave” assumption that frequencies are small relative to the inertial frequency and that alongshore scales are large relative to cross cross-shelf scales. An attempt is made to make the effect of bottom friction on the flow as realistic as possible by taking into account the influence of surface gravity waves on bottom stress. The results were obtained for sinusoidal wind forcing having frequency ω and alongshore wavenumber l and are described below.