Background current affects the internal wave structure of the northern South China Sea

The internal wave modal equations are solved with the consideration of background currents. Analytical and numerical solutions of some specific examples, including observations in the northern South China Sea (SCS), are obtained to investigate the effect of background current on internal wave vertical structure. The effects of current shear and curvature on internal wave vertical structure are evaluated separately. It is found that the phase speed and wave structure are modified by background currents, the current shear has little effect on wave structure, whilst the current curvature could have a strong impact on the wave structure. The extent of the effect by the current curvature on the wave structure depends on the magnitudes of current curvature, relative wave speed, and buoyancy frequency, sometimes the effect by the current curvature may even cause the wave to attenuate severely with depth. A new method to obtain the real eigenfunction with depth in the case that the waves become evanescent is also put forward. It is shown that the residual tidal current in the northern SCS is strong enough to cause the wave to attenuate severely at the upper layer.