U.S.-France Cooperative Research: Nonlinear Internal Waves in Rotating Fluids

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This award will support collaborative research between Professor W.K. Melville, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Dr. Dominique Renouard of the Institut de Mecanique de Grenoble, France. The subject of this work is the propagation of nonlinear internal waves in rotating systems. Long nonlinear internal waves occur commonly on ocean coasts, sea straits, and fjords. These waves are generated by flows, such as tidal flows, over various kinds of topography. However, there is at present no detailed agreement between the available experiments on these waves, and results of numerical simulation. To understand this problem, the proposed work will involve an investigation of waves generated in a rotating channel in the laboratory, and the development of theoretical models to describe the observations. Flows past islands or constrictions in rotating channels will also be studied. The French and U.S. collaborators have been in informal contact on the subject of the proposed research for a considerable time, and have carefully prepared the joint effort to be pursued. The Coriolis Laboratory in France, at which much of the work will take place, is a unique facility. The expertise of the U.S. investigator, on the other hand, will contribute to the design and conduct of the experiments, and the development of numerical solutions for comparison with theory. This work may have important effects on our understanding of tidal flow and coastal erosion.