EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF INTERNAL SOLITARY WAVES INTERACTION WITH SURFACE SOLITARY WAVES

Internal solitary waves (ISWs) consist of a non-periodic single-crest profile resulting from the balance between non-linearity and dispersion. They can be a significant source of momentum transport in any stratified systems, such as oceans and estuaries. Previous experiments have primarily utilized lock- release mechanisms to generate internal solitary waves in two-layer systems. This provides limited control over wave properties and limits its studies with barotropic wave interactions. The present effort attempts to validate the performance of a new wave generation method, termed the Jet Array Wave Maker (JAW). Experiments show that the JAW system reliably generates ISWs with interfacial displacements and velocity fields in close agreement with theoretical predictions. Future experimental work will target surface solitary waves (SSWs) interaction with ISWs.