Surface gravity waves in deep fluid at vertical shear flows

Special features of surface gravity waves in a deep fluid flow with a constant vertical shear of velocity is studied. It is found that the mean flow velocity shear leads to a nontrivial modification of the dispersive characteristics of surface gravity wave modes. Moreover, the shear induces generation of surface gravity waves by internal vortex mode perturbations. The performed analytical and numerical study show that surface gravity waves are effectively generated by the internal perturbations at high shear rates. The generation is different for the waves propagating in the different directions. The generation of surface gravity waves propagating along the main flow considerably exceeds the generation of surface gravity waves in the opposite direction for relatively small shear rates, whereas the latter wave is generated more effectively for high shear rates. From the mathematical standpoint, the wave generation is caused by non-self-adjointness of the linear operators that describe the shear flow. (c) 2005 Pleiades Publishing, Inc.