Seafloor Pressure Measurements of Nonlinear Internal Waves

Abstract

Highly resolved pressure measurements on the seafloor over New Jersey?s continental shelf reveal the pressure signature of nonlinear internal waves of depression as negative pressure perturbations. The sign of the perturbation is determined by the dominance of the internal hydrostatic pressure (p0Wh) due to isopycnal displacement over the contributions of external hydrostatic pressure (?0g?H; ?H is surface displacement) and nonhydrostatic pressure (p0nh), each of opposite sign to p0Wh. This measurement represents experimental confirmation of the wave-induced pressure signal inferred in a previous study by Moum and Smyth.