Observation of Internal Tides in the Qiongzhou Strait by Coastal Acoustic Tomography

In this study, power spectral density and inverse analyses were performed to obtain the frequency characteristics and spatial distribution of temperature in the Qiongzhou Strait using reciprocal sound transmission data obtained in a coastal acoustic tomography experiment conducted in 2013. The results reveal three dominant types of internal tides (diurnal, semidiurnal, and terdiurnal). Spectral analysis of the range-average temperature deviation along the northern and southern transmission paths shows that along the northern path, the energy of the diurnal internal tides was significantly larger than that of the semidiurnal tides. The semidiurnal internal tides, in contrast, were more pronounced along the southern path. A terdiurnal spectrum with an energy level equivalent to that of the semidiurnal internal tide was discernable for both the northern and southern paths. These three types of internal tides can also be recognized in the time variation of the zonal-average temperature deviation. The diurnal internal tides were strengthened along the northern coast, implying their westward propagation and the existence of coastally trapped effects. The other two types of internal tides, which have smaller wavelengths than the diurnal internal tides, were less resolved over the entire tomographic domain due to the insufficient resolution of the inversion. The data quality was verified to be satisfactory by error estimation.