DECAY OF A NEAR-INERTIAL WAVE

The decay of a downward propagating near-inertial wave was observed ov er four days. During this short period, the energy of the near-inertia l wave decreased by 70%. The shear layers produced by the wave were re gions of enhanced turbulent dissipation rates. The authors estimate th at 44% of the observed change in the near-inertial energy was lost to turbulence. Estimates of the wave energy lost at the survey site due t o the wave propagating out of the region were smaller. Energy lost by horizontal advection of the wave out of the survey region was more dif ficult to estimate; the horizontal extent of the near-inertial energy was unknown. Advection could account for more than half of the observe d energy lost. However, the authors did not detect the near-inertial w ave during a 40 km X 40 km ADCP survey after completing the six-day st ation.