Diurnal Coastal-Trapped Waves on the East Australian Continental Shelf

Abstract

Data obtained during the Australian Coastal Experiment, previously used to verify the dispersion relation for coastal-trapped waves at low frequencies, are analyzed at frequencies in the diurnal tidal band. It is shown that only a single (the first) mode is required to describe the cross shelf and slope distribution of alongshore currents in contrast to the low frequency limit where at least two and arguably three modes were needed. Furthermore, it is shown that the alongshore structure of these modes yields a good fit to the dispersion relation and its slope in the ?-k plane.