The issue of internal wave–mesoscale eddy interactions is revisited. Previous observational work identified the mesoscale eddy field as a possible source of internal wave energy. Characterization of the coupling as a viscous process provides a smaller horizontal transfer coefficient than previously obtained, with vh ≅ 50 m2 s−1 in contrast to νh ≅ 200–400 m2 s−1, and a vertical transfer coefficient bounded away from zero, with νυ + ( f 2/N 2)Kh ≅ 2.5 ± 0.3 × 10−3 m2 s−1 in contrast to νυ + ( f 2/N 2)Kh = 0 ± 2 × 10−2 m2 s−1. Current meter data from the Local Dynamics Experiment of the PolyMode field program indicate mesoscale eddy–internal wave coupling through horizontal interactions (i) is a significant sink of eddy energy and (ii) plays an O(1) role in the energy budget of the internal wave field.
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Kurt L. Polzin (2009) studied this question.