On the excitation of resonant double Kelvin waves in the Barents Sea Opening

Abstract

In the northern Barents Sea Opening (BSO) the K1 tidal energy is predominant in the diurnal tidal frequency band, suggesting the generation of a topographic wave with the K1 tidal frequency. Tidal energy of the K1 component becomes strong where bottom topography undulates in the BSO and the scale of the undulation is close to the wavelength of the K1 wave. An analytical model is developed to investigate the energy enhancement mechanism of the tidally induced topographic wave due to a resonance between tidal current, a topographic wave and periodic topography. The wave excited by the resonance is identified as a resonant double Kelvin wave (DKW) and the significant K1 energy in the BSO could be due to the excitation of the resonant DKW.