Topographic internal waves in the presence of barotropic and baroclinic forcings

Bottom topography are known to profoundly impact internal wave activity in the ocean. Barotropic tides interact with bottom topography like continental shelves and deep ocean ridges to generate internal tides, which can propagate far from their sources. These far-propagating internal tides can further interact with bottom topography present along their paths, where internal tide generation by local barotropic forcing is already in place. In this combined analytical and numerical study, we investigate how internal wave generation or scattering at topographic sites is affected by the presence of both barotropic and baroclinic forcings. Specifically, we study the effects of the amplitude ratio and phase difference between the two forcings, height ratio and criticality of the topography, and the stratification profile, A modal decomposition analysis of the wave fields indicates that even relatively weak baroclinic (barotropic) forcing can significantly affect the efficiency of generation (scattering) of internal waves. Sub- and super- critical topographies are both studied.