Inhomogeneity-induced wavenumber diffusion

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Cox, Michael R., Kafiabad, Hossein A., Vanneste, Jacques
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
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author Cox, Michael R.
Kafiabad, Hossein A.
Vanneste, Jacques
author_facet Cox, Michael R.
Kafiabad, Hossein A.
Vanneste, Jacques
contents Inertia-gravity waves are scattered by background flows as a result of Doppler shift by a non-uniform velocity. In the WKB regime, the scattering process reduces to a diffusion in spectral space. Other inhomogeneities the waves encounter, such as density variations, also cause scattering and spectral diffusion. We generalise the spectral diffusion equation to account for these inhomogeneities. We apply the result to the rotating shallow water system, for which height inhomogeneities arise from velocity inhomogeneities through geostrophy, and to the Boussinesq system for which buoyancy inhomogeneities arise similarly. We compare the contributions that height and buoyancy variations make to the spectral diffusion with the contribution of the Doppler shift. In both systems, we find regimes where all contributions are significant. We support our findings with exact solutions of the diffusion equation and with ray tracing simulations in the shallow water case.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2406_17149
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Inhomogeneity-induced wavenumber diffusion
Cox, Michael R.
Kafiabad, Hossein A.
Vanneste, Jacques
Fluid Dynamics
Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics
Inertia-gravity waves are scattered by background flows as a result of Doppler shift by a non-uniform velocity. In the WKB regime, the scattering process reduces to a diffusion in spectral space. Other inhomogeneities the waves encounter, such as density variations, also cause scattering and spectral diffusion. We generalise the spectral diffusion equation to account for these inhomogeneities. We apply the result to the rotating shallow water system, for which height inhomogeneities arise from velocity inhomogeneities through geostrophy, and to the Boussinesq system for which buoyancy inhomogeneities arise similarly. We compare the contributions that height and buoyancy variations make to the spectral diffusion with the contribution of the Doppler shift. In both systems, we find regimes where all contributions are significant. We support our findings with exact solutions of the diffusion equation and with ray tracing simulations in the shallow water case.
title Inhomogeneity-induced wavenumber diffusion
topic Fluid Dynamics
Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.17149